Use http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127214
as an example...
Basically, I have 4 questions:

1)how can you tell if it can handle dual monitors? Is the only way to see if it has two monitor plug ins? Or can some cards do dual monitors with one monitor plugged in the card, and one in the mobo? Is there some specification that says "dual monitor capable"?

2) Same question for watching cable tv on my computer. What specification is it that lets you know it's capable?

3) Since I'm budget savvy, is it a good idea to get one SLI capable, and when it stops pulling its weight in a few years, throw another one in? Or is SLI kinda shitty and it will be cheaper/better to just buy a better card in a few?

4) If I'm thinking about splurging and getting a big HD lcd monitor, are there video cards that incorporate tuners and everything so I could control everything through my computer, and watch HDtv cable through it? What exactly do I need?

Explanation: Lookin for a PCI E card that can handle dual monitors, and has a coaxial plug in to watch cable/do tivo stuff. Price range: low as possible to be able to play games that come out for the next 2 years (at low settings as required). Im upgrading from a 9800pro (agp =/ need a new mobo and don't want to fuck with agp any more) I've been looking at online sites to gauge the quality vs price for current cards, but finding recent comprehensive reviews is difficult. Best prices I can find come from newegg, and seems like you get what you pay for. While youre at it, if you want to throw me your top recommendation for a core 2 duo mobo and why the chipset and brand makes it better than the others then I'm all ears. Sorry it's so long, thanks for reading! and gnight.

[Edited on December 10, 2006 at 1:16 AM. Reason : late]

12/10/2006 1:01:25 AM

1) look for two monitor (VGA and/or DVI) connectors
2) ATI All-in-Wonders do have cable tuners on them.. you just gotta look
3) SLI requires two identical cards.. buying one now and another one later may get tricky.. you may not be able to find the exact card in a few years
4) HD tuners on video cards are rare if non-existent. You will have to spend over $100 just for the tuner.. Dvico makes an PCI-E HD tuner for ~$150. Hauppauge, ATI, myHD and many others also make HD tuners but none are integrated with GPU's.

My suggestion is to go for an x1k series ATI card, or a 7000 or 8000 series nvidia. Especially if you want better video/HD performance.. those cards have more advanced video acceleration (PureVideo(nVidia) and AVIVO(ATI)) that'll give you improved performance with video acceleration, and the prices are dropping rather quickly as well. Older cards (the x100 series, the 6000 series) will also work though.

You may be able to find an HD tuner that has a NTSC (cable) tuner on it as well so you can hook an antenna for HD OTA and cable to another and not have to switch the cables all the time when switching between HD OTA and standard cable. Just look for HD tuners with two coax inputs (one for antenna, one for cable)

[Edited on December 10, 2006 at 9:14 AM. Reason : ]

12/10/2006 9:11:58 AM

are you sure its a PCI-e slot that you'll be using?

12/10/2006 10:46:54 PM

if i get an HD hook up to my 20 inch widescreen HD LCD, can i play a 360 in HD?


that would be hot.

12/10/2006 11:03:29 PM