GeForce 4 MX440 upgrade?

[sabre]

I would appreciate some input on the following. I currently have a GeForce 4 MX440 video card (yes, a bit older, but seems to do the job) on my HTPC server, sending output to SDTV. I was wondering how much PQ improvement I could get by going up to say a GeForce 6200, or other card. I do not want to spend a lot of $$, but was curious if an upgrade from this card could make a material diffence, or little at all.

Right now, using 4.16, i get some freezing and stutter, but not too bad (not sure its video card issue). Using VMR9, the picture is ok, but a bit washed out and a little fuzzy (compared to direct TV feed). Using Overlay is not really an option, as it is pretty bad w/ dark scenes. On my MVP upstairs, i get a really good picture (MVP on this TV similar to Overlay issues).

I have a Celeron D 2.93Ghz, 760 MB RAM. Using Purevideo decoders. Thanks for any input

[stanger89]

Not much, if any, on an SDTV probably.

[ben_95sl1]

wow, you're using vmr9 with a geforce 4 mx 440 card? isn't that a dx8 card? overlay usually looks good and doesn't tax your system like vmr, so with a weak vid card, most people seem to use overlay. There must be something setup funny with overlay and your nvidia drivers/display; it's usually the easiest to get working. I would recalibrate with overlay, chances are you'll get a better and smoother picture (I've never heard of major issues with overlay). It's funny, most people seem to complain about vmr until they recalibrate.

[sabre]

Originally Posted by ben_95sl1

overlay usually looks good and doesn't tax your system like vmr, so with a weak vid card, most people seem to use overlay.

I would recalibrate with overlay, chances are you'll get a better and smoother picture (I've never heard of major issues with overlay). It's funny, most people seem to complain about vmr until they recalibrate.

thanks for the replys. ben, i too thought VMR taxed the system much more and wouldnt go well w/ this card, but CPU use is only about 10-15%. I have tried to mess around w/ calibartion on the cards (150), but never got good output. Brights are good w/ overlay, but darks are really bad.

Bottom line, does not look like i will get big PQ upgrade w/ new card. Any suggestions on calibration for PVR-150 and Avermedia 1500?

[Wheemer]

I upgraded from a MX 440 to a FX 5500 and there was a very noticable improvement in VMR9 playback.

I believe the tv output has gotten better with the newer tv out chips used.

[ben_95sl1]

ok, but isn't it really VMR7 that is being implemented, and not VMR9? I thought I had read that VMR9 REQUIRES a DX9 video card? My ATI 8500le is comparable to your Geforce 4 and when I last tried it, VMR was crappy looking for me. I haven't even bothered since, as I have never had issues with overlay, which seems to be idiot proof. As a matter of interest, I will try vmr again and see what happens....

I'm still convinced you can fix overlay. What happens in overlay when you play a DVD? Do you have a calibration DVD? If so, use it, and or the THX thing on some dvds....to set up brightness and contrast. Overlay has its own controls for tv out, so I'd expect you could adjust them to fix the issue. Unless your card is defective. I have my overlay settings at default and I've found it often works well with most video cards (verify with DVD). Then I fix the pvr settings until the output is just like the output from the cable/set top box directly.

[Wheemer]

VMR9 can run on a DX8 card for sure, wether it runs well or not is another story. In order to get OK playback with my old MX 440 I hade to run with FSE mode.

[ben_95sl1]

yeah, you're definitely correct....nvidia decoder says it is running VMR9 when I enable in sage, so obviously it's possible. I used it for a few minutes and it seemed to run fine, about 40% cpu, nothing major. I realized that there are different deinterlacing techniques in vmr9 as well...I enabled pixel adaptive and that worked fine. I will investigate further to see how smooth it is, and compare the pic quality. I'm more interested in deinterlacing....bob and weave has always looked bad to me for moving objects.

[sabre]

Thanks for all the replys, although some of it is beyond me. Given Wheemer's comments, I was looking at newer cards and came across the following:

eVGA Geforce FX5500 256-A8-N313-LX Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130197
$39AR+ship

eVGA Geforce 6200 256-A8-N341-LX Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130233
$49AR+ship


Do these look like good deals, and would the 6200 be better than 5500, although lower bit speed. Thanks

[Commodore 64]

The 6200 is far superior to the 5500 for HTPC duty as it supports a lot (but not all) of the Pure Video features and the 5500 supports none. See here: http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html

Neither card will cut the mustard for deinterlacing HDTV with VMR9. If you aren't worried about HDTV, without question, get the 6200.

[sabre]

Thanks Commodore. In fact, looking at the 5500, i see it has a fan, which i do not want. Not concerned about HDTV right now, but good point about the future. Which are the favored cards that support HDTV, and are any in the sub-$100?

[Commodore 64]

Originally Posted by sabre

Thanks Commodore. In fact, looking at the 5500, i see it has a fan, which i do not want. Not concerned about HDTV right now, but good point about the future. Which are the favored cards that support HDTV, and are any in the sub-$100?

If you want to use VMR9 for HDTV you need an nV: 6600GT or better or ATi x1600 or better. At this time, I don't think any are under $100 but you should be able to find them around 120-130. FYI, I paid $162 for my fanless Gigabyte 6600GT.

That 6200 will work for HDTV with Overlay though. I used one for a little while with SageTV. I was never happy with the PQ from Overlay though.

[sabre]

Ok, so I got the 6200 card noted above. Put it in, and Stranger is right, there is not much of an improvement in PQ. Perhaps I get a bit more full colors, but I think i actually get more pixelation. I am using purevideo decoder. Any tricks needed to harness more of the abilities of this card vs. the MX440? Thanks