TV Tuner card help

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MrHood22

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
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I'm looking into getting a TV Tuner card. Would I need to connect it to my GPU or anything? Would it be a matter of putting it in my PCI slot, pluging the coaxial in and then it's fine or would I have to connect it to my 8800GT via S-Viideo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815276008

Is that the best one for the money? I really don't want to spend over $45ish.

Thanks
 
You don't have to connect the TV tuner card in any way to your video card. Put it in, install the drivers, and connect the coaxial to the tuner card, and you should be set.

As to whether or not that particular card would do the trick. I don't know. I'm personally a fan of the Hauppauge WinTV series tuner cards, but they cost at least $70 for a decent OEM model. You may want to perform a Google search, or check out the Home Theater PCs & Equipment forum here, for more reviews and feedback. (I wouldn't rely on NewEgg reviews. Those reviews don't go into much detail as to what was wrong, nor do they mention the minimum specs needed for "smooth" playback.)
 
tiraides said:
You don't have to connect the TV tuner card in any way to your video card. Put it in, install the drivers, and connect the coaxial to the tuner card, and you should be set.

As to whether or not that particular card would do the trick. I don't know. I'm personally a fan of the Hauppauge WinTV series tuner cards, but they cost at least $70 for a decent OEM model. You may want to perform a Google search, or check out the Home Theater PCs & Equipment forum here, for more reviews and feedback. (I wouldn't rely on NewEgg reviews. Those reviews don't go into much detail as to what was wrong, nor do they mention the minimum specs needed for "smooth" playback.)
Click to expand...

What "minimum specs" do you mean? What would it rely on?
 
Here are the minimum specs, based on the NewEgg product page:

Operating Systems Supported:
Windows XP + Service Pack 2

System Requirements:
CPU Intel Pentium IV 2.8GHz or higher
One available PCI port
512MB RAM or above
1GB HDD space for Software operation (Recording-shifting)
AGP Graphics card with 128MB memory and DirectX 9.0C installed
Sound card (or onboard AC97 Audio)
CD-ROM drive for installing software
TV signal source (Cable or antenna)
Click to expand...

But in many cases, it will perform slowly, or not at all, unless you have a stronger processor (like a dual-core) and at least 2GB of RAM.

Looking at the specs in your sig, your system (whichever one you decide to use) is more than capable of handling the card. But I know next to nothing about that particular card, let alone its performance and/or reliability.
 
Assuming your motherboard doesn't predate USB ports, don't discount the possibility of USB-based TV tuners either. They are usually very inexpensive and hassle-free.
 
I went with a K-World card when it was onsale at fry's for $10 and I like it. The only thing I do not like about the software is that I can't figure out how to keep the aspect ration when full screening on a widescreen monitor.

Otherwise, it works great. I can use the preview mode and see a live feed of every channel on the screen at once. It's freaking cool.
 
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