Good Mame Cards w/S-Video for under $100? Is OEM ATI ok?

[Silly Burrito]

I'd like to know your opinion for the best video card for Mame under
$100.00. I know a lot of people who like ATI cards, but I don't know if they use OEM or retail cards. I've heard that some OEM cards have crappy S-video output. Can anyone recommend a good ATI OEM card? Are Sapphire and Hercules good ATI OEM cards?

The ultimate card I'd like would have great S-Video output, good for Mame (it's for a new computer which will eventually become a Mame cabinet), good for The Sims (for the wife), and a price under $100.00. It doesn't have to be the latest technology, but I don't want something that will be extremely outdated as soon as I buy it. I'm currently looking at the ATI Radeon 8500LE and the 9000, but I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks for your help!

[SirPoonga]

Get an ATI Radeon VE, they are only like $40.  Any ATI will have good svideo.

[OSCAR]

I don't think its the OEM ATI cards that have the poor TV-out, its the "Powered by ATI" cards that have a sub-par TV-out chip.  I've seen more than a few posts that warned against using these cheaper import cards rather than a true ATI card.

Typically OEM means that it won't come in a retail package and it *may* not come with dongle cables/software.

You can find an ATI Radeon 8500 for about $60 and they have good s-video out.

[Silly Burrito]

See, I thought anything that was OEM ATI was actually manufactured by another company.

Oscar, if you can tell me where you see the ATI 8500 for $60, I'd be much obliged!

Thanks!

[Jakobud]

Dude I'm using a GeForce 2 MX with SVideo and it's great.  Looks like it's running about $40 on pricewatch.com now.  Don't forget, you don't need a crazy $300 video card to play Mame games

[Silly Burrito]

Thanks for the advice, Jakobud! However, my wife has been waiting for this new computer because I was going to go from the integrated video in an old computer to a new computer with a shiny new fast video card. So, the card has to play the Sims without being so freaking choppy and possibly run other games I've wanted to try but couldn't (Star Trek: Elite Forces, Black & White, The Ur-Quan Masters )

Still, I plan to make this my Mame machine once I build the cabinet, so it's got to have a decent S-video out. I plan on using it with a 27" TV, but I haven't bought that yet anyway. I guess that's going to be another topic!

[SirPoonga]

See, I thought anything that was OEM ATI was actually manufactured by another company.

Oscar, if you can tell me where you see the ATI 8500 for $60, I'd be much obliged!

Thanks!

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, Original being the key word.

I have always like ATI, they've always had great svideo.   Even when it was nvidia and 3dfx fighting it out to be the best in 3D, ATI was known for it's other features that are good for business.

My ATI 3D Rage II has awesome svideo.

[JLR2000]

I don't think you can find them anymore, but I'm using a ATI Expert@Play98.  I think I paid $30 for it online.  Works fine for me...

[OSCAR]

See, I thought anything that was OEM ATI was actually manufactured by another company.

Oscar, if you can tell me where you see the ATI 8500 for $60, I'd be much obliged!

Thanks!

Hmmm, how should I put this?  All OEM cards aren't necessarily a "Powered by" card, but all "Powered by" cards are OEM as far as I know.

I bought an OEM Radeon 8500 from newegg.com a while back for around $70, and it just came in a white box, no retail packaging and it was advertised as an OEM card.  I see that newegg doesn't carry these cards anymore, but through Pricewatch I found that http://www.buyxtremegear.com/ati8500le64mb.html has them for $60.  I have never purchased from this company before and I'm not sure what their shipping costs are, so take proper precautions...

[Silly Burrito]

Thanks, Oscar! I just sent them an email asking if it was an actual ATI card.

Still, I don't see a lot of reviews on the net for Powercolor, Sapphire, Hercules, or other "Powered By" cards, so I can only ask others for their quality.

I'm not hung up on it being built by ATI if another vendor has the same S-video quality, but I don't want to plunk down 75 dollars for something that works great for most stuff but has bad S-Video for Mame....

[Jakobud]

Gotcha, in that case you should be able to find a GeForce 4 MX for about $100.  It will have fine SVideo out.

[SNAAAKE]

I don't think its the OEM ATI cards that have the poor TV-out, its the "Powered by ATI" cards that have a sub-par TV-out chip.  I've seen more than a few posts that warned against using these cheaper import cards rather than a true ATI card.

 

I could be wrong BUT i believe they are all same..
i got a true ati rage fury pro(made in Quebec) and  one from Twian(spelling ) and both are exact *SAME*.why i have 2?because i bought mine long time ago and my brother also wanted exact same thing(because it has rca input and s-video out) card so he bought this OEM version while i have the so called *REAL* one.i tested both with s-video and both gives me equal result .
as for the original poster,as SP mentioned...radeon VE would be more then enough if you dont plan on playing playing powerfull pc games(pc games should work fine though but some games need better video card thats all).Besides can you really beat $30 deal ?
you should be fine with a VE even if you plan on playing lot of pc games..(i play medal of honor and some other pc games without any problem using my rage fury pro which is also only 32mb agp)

[SirPoonga]

No, not all ATI Powered cards are good.  As in the VE, only the OEM VE was good with dual monitors.  There were reports that the third party cards were very crappy in comparison.

[OSCAR]

I don't think its the OEM ATI cards that have the poor TV-out, its the "Powered by ATI" cards that have a sub-par TV-out chip.  I've seen more than a few posts that warned against using these cheaper import cards rather than a true ATI card.

 

I could be wrong BUT i believe they are all same..
i got a true ati rage fury pro(made in Quebec) and  one from Twian(spelling ) and both are exact *SAME*.why i have 2?because i bought mine long time ago and my brother also wanted exact same thing(because it has rca input and s-video out) card so he bought this OEM version while i have the so called *REAL* one.i tested both with s-video and both gives me equal result .
as for the original poster,as SP mentioned...radeon VE would be more then enough if you dont plan on playing playing powerfull pc games(pc games should work fine though but some games need better video card thats all).Besides can you really beat $30 deal ?
you should be fine with a VE even if you plan on playing lot of pc games..(i play medal of honor and some other pc games without any problem using my rage fury pro which is also only 32mb agp)

So you agree with me...  

OEM ATI cards (not the "Powered By ATI") are the same as the retail cards in your experience since you compared a real ATI vs. an OEM, not a "Powered By".

From everthing I've heard, it's the Powered By cards that you have to watch out for.  OEM doesn't necessarily mean its a Powered By ATI card.  It also depends upon the reseller.  Some resellers brand anything not in retail packaging as OEM, so the key point is that you have to tread carefully when swimming in these waters.  

Here are a few pics of my OEM card, so perhaps someone can verify if this is indeed a true ATI card or not.  For the record, I also agree with Jakobud, too.  A GeForce card with the Conexant TV-out chip is also a very good card and compatible with TV-Tool.  I've used both ATI's and GeForce cards, and I have been happy with both of them.

[SNAAAKE]

exactly...agree..

i would buy if its got ati chipset and exact same card as ati's only except that they are manufactured in some other country(low labor cost).In other words *OEM*.

WATCH OUT for so called *powered by* cards..i heard fishy stories about the powerd by whatever cards.

[Silly Burrito]

Now the fun part is to find a reputable dealer who'll sell an actual OEM ATI card! I've also heard stories about "Powered By" cards, but I wanted to ask people here since MAME will be the primary focus of this computer in a year or so.

This is the first that I've heard about Geforce cards with Conexant TV-out chips.  I guess I always heard about ATI being better than the Geforce cards.  I'll have to do some googling to find out good cards.

Ah, the work we do for fun, huh?  

[kalkin]

I did a little comparison between Radeon 7000/VE and 8500 in regard to TV-out. ATI seems to have this technology for improving TV-out called "Video Immersion". VE has "Video Immersion 1" and 8500 has "Video Immersion 2". No idea what it does or how much better the second alternative would be.

This is how ATI describes it:

The RADEON

[lightspeed]

Oscar - that card looks to me to be a "Built by ATI Card."  

The "Powered By" would have the ATI stamp only on the video chipset itself - the actual board and other components are manufactured elsewhere, but your's appears to have the logo everywhere.

For those of you wondering, I believe the first time this issue arose was posted by me here:  

http://www.arcadecontrols.com/wwwboard/messages/42030.html

I unfortunatley learned firsthand that the "Powered by" cards may indeed suffer from quality problems with the video out.  

[Silly Burrito]

Well, I decided to buy the Radeon 8500LE:

http://www.directron.com/directron/ati8500.html

I called Directron and they said it was an actual OEM card built by ATI. It was 72 dollars, but I'm going to try to pricematch it with buyxtremegear.com which has it for 60.00. If you want 10.00 off the price, add CES2003 for a $10.00 discount!  So, if I can get the pricematch (they actually don't pricematch, they meet halfway), I'll have bought this card for 56.00 plus shipping.

However, I saw a black Enermax case with rainbow LED lights that was very cool.  Now, I've already bought a case but I now plan to use the computer I'm building as a new main computer and buy spare parts on the side for the Mame computer.

So, the hunt starts again! This time, since I don't have to support Windows XP, the Sims, or anything else BUT mame, I have to find a new motherboard/CPU/memory, video card, sound card, and hard drive.  I hope to keep this under $300.00! Wish me luck!

Again, thanks to ALL who responded! This message board is actually very active and helpful!

Edit on January 23: I received the card from Directron. It's actually a Sapphire ATI. Doh! I called and was told that whoever I spoke to Monday must have misunderstood. However, since I essentially received $26.00 off of this card ($48.00 8500LE!! - 10 coupon, 10 new customer, 6 pricematch), I'm going to stick with it. Besides, the Mame machine will actually have to use a built by ATI card, but my new computer won't....