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Old 10-21-2004, 11:59 AM   #1
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 33
Question Do I need an external video card to watch DVD's?

Hi, I was wondering if the on-board video of my motherboard is good enough to play DVD's on my Samsung DLP HDTV. I don't plan on playing any games on it, so I just want the best DVD picture quality available. Is the video card as important to DVD viewing as it is for playing 3D games? The TV is a 50" widescreen model, and I will be connecting it to the computer through the VGA jack (the TV also has a DVI jack if that helps). Here are my motherboard specs (from Newegg):

ASRock "P4I65GV" i865GV Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL
Model# P4I65GV

Specifications:
Supported CPU: Intel Pentium 4(HT)/Celeron Processors(Prescott Ready)
Chipset: Intel 865GV + ICH5
FSB: 800/533/400MHz
RAM: 2x DIMM for DDR400/333/266 Max 2GB
IDE: 2x ATA 100 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X/4X(ASRock A.G.I. 8X), 3x PCI, 1x AMR
Ports: 2xPS/2,1xLPT,1xVGA,8xUSB2.0(Rear 6),1xLAN,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: 5.1-Channel AC97 Codec
Onboard Video: Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Onboard LAN: 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Onboard SATA: 2x Serial ATA
Form Factor: microATX

I have a 2.6D Intel Celeron Prescott processor and 512MB of DDR400 RAM in the system.
Thanks!

Last edited by goodstuff; 10-21-2004 at 12:02 PM.
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Old 10-21-2004, 03:35 PM   #2
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If you're going to use an RCA jack, then I suppose you don't need a video card. It seems, however that with such a beautiful TV, you would want the best picture possible. To achieve this, utilize the DVI input on the TV. Get a cheap video card (radeon 9200?) with DVI output.
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Old 10-21-2004, 04:32 PM   #3
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Thanks, I was thinking of picking up an OK card with DVI on it. I just didn't want to have to spring for a $400 card if it wasn't necessary! This comp was a cheap build, since I only wanted to use it for DVD playing and surfing with the TV.
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