Should I upgrade this video card?

[NOkontrol]

I just picked up a PC tower on CL for $100. It's an older custom built thing that came from a company office, nothing fancy but seemed like it would do for my first MAME project.

Pentium 4 3GHz chip with windows XP and a wireless card. 1GB ram. I'll probably add another GB.
This is the MOBO
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/motherboards/detail_spec.aspx?ID=en-us0000111

I'm planning to set this up with a TV (looking for one with component and/or S-video connecs.)

As you can see the onboard vid for this board only has VGA out so I could either get one of these..
http://sewelldirect.com/PC-to-TV-Converter.asp
*EDIT* this convereter doesn't have component out..so I guess that's out?

...or just upgrade the video card with this ;
http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.memorySearch4&model_id=51532

Right?

I've been told that using the component inputs on the TV will give a better picture than S-video so does that mean the converter would give a better picture?
This PC should run most MAME games ok right?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Have you considered an HDMI out?  What kind of TV are you connecting to it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125277

This is the one that I have and I wholeheartedly recommend it (I bought another since then, since I was so impressed and happy with it).  Not only does it work with a CRT or LCD computer monitor, but it can also be hooked up to a LCD TV and last but not least an actual arcade monitor, since the program "Soft-15KHz is fully compatible with it (I verified this and it's now listed on the "adapters that work" forum).

Also, you may want to check your local craigslist for 21" CRT monitors.  You can probably snag one for $20 to $30.  Or maybe even FREE!  Then you could use the onboard video which would work fine with MAME and save yourself the trouble of buying a new card!

Good Luck!

DeLuSioNaL

[BobA]

The card that was linked is PCI express. I think his mb is AGP.

[NOkontrol]

Yeah the MOBO is AGP and I'm looking for a cheap CRT TV so I doubt I'll find HDMI inputs anyway...
 21" CRT monitor isn't a bad idea but I was kind of set on the bigger screen. I don't have the TV yet but since I'm trying to do this first setup on the cheap I was just looking for an older CRT TV with the inputs I would need. S-Video connection seems the easiest and some say the quality is fine but others say that it sucks and component is the way to go.
Obviously both the hardware and software settings have to make a difference so I can see why results vary. :

[bkenobi]

Component inputs only matter if you are using an HDTV.  If the set is no HD, then the connection is better, but not significantly enough to worry about it.  SVideo is the way to go if you can find the right set and your video card supports it.

[mvsfan]

one thing neat is if you can find an American Tv that has the same board and case as a European TV. Companies Often do this to cut costs but if you do find it, youve hit jackpot. I owned a couple over the years. some even had a plastic knockout on the back of the case for where they left out the Scart connector, or added it depending on the market where it was sent. On many of these all you have to do is buy it and add it to get true rgb.

[Dr Zero]

Check out Freecycle also for monitors there was a fellow here giving away 3 20/21 inch monitors for free and I missed them the other day.

Also I might have some AGP cards with svideo and dvi and vga left not sure on the memory though they are Nvidia geforce 5200 I think, if you are interested I can check.

http://www.freecycle.org/