Asus Graphics Card - Choice(s)

rozel · 06-14-2009, 09:14 AM

Hi

Just bought what I thought was a "bargain" - an Asus EN9500GT 1GB HDMI Graphics Card from a local shop when going in there to buy some SATA cables. Paid £65 ($100us) for it.

Then I did some basic research - my normal net supplier is selling it for just over £50! Then did some more and realise that my existing 8600 has DDR3 memory whereas the 9500 has only DDR2.

There are other differences but I am not up todate with what the specs mean and so thought I would come on here to ask some more.

I am taking delivery of an Iyama 26" Prolite monitor tomorrow - I do not play games at all so I do not need a state of the art Graphics Card. I play downloaded HD .mkv files and want to play back in 1080P quality. My existing monitor is not HDPC equipped and as good as it is, I need better quality reproduction as well as a bigger screen.

I thought the purchased card would cut it - plenty of memory and has a HDMI output to match the monitor's HDMI input.

Then I realised that my existing card, although without an HDMI output socket has 2 x DVI sockets and came with a HD cable (if I can find it!) but not sure what the ends of the cable terminate to at this point in time - I need to rummage through all my cable stuff in my loft lol! Will it terminate to a HDMI plug or to Component plugs ? It does seem capable of doing the same as the new card but I'm unsure and do not know whether to buy another card stick with the existing one or to install the recently bought one.

Specs for the new 9500 card:-

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Specs for the existing 8600 card:-

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Specs for new Iyama 26" monitor:-

iiyama

Could I ask an expert or two/three to check these specs out for me and advise/recommend what I should do please? Remember I do not play games just a whole lot of watching HD stuff and video rendering. I do stream to my PS3 via PS3MS software the .mkv files I download, but this bypasses the graphics card - but I do want the best quality for normal viewing on my new upgraded monitor.

Thank you for any help/assistance you can offer me

roz

Vheox · 06-14-2009, 01:37 PM

Not that I'm anything close the being an expert, I don't think the difference in memory speed (800 vs 1400) makes up for the difference in memory amount: 256 Mb vs 1 Gb (!).

Furthermore, the 9500 has an HDMI out port. The 8600 needs an adapter. Whenever you have an adapter, you have loss in quality.

06-14-2009, 09:14 AM	#1
rozel Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Enland UK Posts: 108	Asus Graphics Card - Choice(s) Hi Just bought what I thought was a "bargain" - an Asus EN9500GT 1GB HDMI Graphics Card from a local shop when going in there to buy some SATA cables. Paid £65 ($100us) for it. Then I did some basic research - my normal net supplier is selling it for just over £50! Then did some more and realise that my existing 8600 has DDR3 memory whereas the 9500 has only DDR2. There are other differences but I am not up todate with what the specs mean and so thought I would come on here to ask some more. I am taking delivery of an Iyama 26" Prolite monitor tomorrow - I do not play games at all so I do not need a state of the art Graphics Card. I play downloaded HD .mkv files and want to play back in 1080P quality. My existing monitor is not HDPC equipped and as good as it is, I need better quality reproduction as well as a bigger screen. I thought the purchased card would cut it - plenty of memory and has a HDMI output to match the monitor's HDMI input. Then I realised that my existing card, although without an HDMI output socket has 2 x DVI sockets and came with a HD cable (if I can find it!) but not sure what the ends of the cable terminate to at this point in time - I need to rummage through all my cable stuff in my loft lol! Will it terminate to a HDMI plug or to Component plugs ? It does seem capable of doing the same as the new card but I'm unsure and do not know whether to buy another card stick with the existing one or to install the recently bought one. Specs for the new 9500 card:- ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Specs for the existing 8600 card:- ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Specs for new Iyama 26" monitor:- iiyama Could I ask an expert or two/three to check these specs out for me and advise/recommend what I should do please? Remember I do not play games just a whole lot of watching HD stuff and video rendering. I do stream to my PS3 via PS3MS software the .mkv files I download, but this bypasses the graphics card - but I do want the best quality for normal viewing on my new upgraded monitor. Thank you for any help/assistance you can offer me roz __________________ Asus P5K Deluxe/WiFi AP (Bios 08.12) : Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz (with Side Stepping) : Corsair Twinx 4 x 1Gb 2048-6400C4 DDr 800 : Cooling Ninja Plus : Case Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 : Graphics Asus EN8600 GTS Silent : PSU Nesteq ECS 7001 700 Watt : RAID Arrays - OS 2 x Western Digital Raptors 140 Gb 10000 rpm SATA in RAID 1 config Storage 4 x Samsung 350 Gb SATA in RAID 10 config (both arrays on Intel ICH9R controller : LG Blu Ray HD DVD Rom GGW-H20L : OS's XP Pro 32-bit and Vista Ultimate 64-bit
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06-14-2009, 01:37 PM	#2
Vheox Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,572	Re: Asus Graphics Card - Choice(s) Not that I'm anything close the being an expert, I don't think the difference in memory speed (800 vs 1400) makes up for the difference in memory amount: 256 Mb vs 1 Gb (!). Furthermore, the 9500 has an HDMI out port. The 8600 needs an adapter. Whenever you have an adapter, you have loss in quality.
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