PCI vs. AGP???

[sherma]

Hey guys. I'm trying to help out someone I know with his video problem. He tells me he's got a Visiontek GeForce2 PCI. What he says happens is when he's watching a DVD, and he gets near the end, the screen starts "skipping" and he says the sound starts skipping as well. I was wondering if you thought an AGP card would work better for him. I already had him pull the modem and the NIC, and move the vid card away from the sound card, but that didn't fix him. Sorry I don't know the rest of his system specs, but I could find out. It's a Compaq that I believe he got at Radio Shack, not the best computer but he wants me to help him out since he just got the computer 6 months ago and thinks it should be working better. I told him to let me build him one that I know will work, but no dice. Thanks in advance.

[equinoxe3d]

Welcome to HWC sherma

I don't think an AGP card would change things (that is, he may even not have an AGP slot at all). If that happens near the end of every DVD, and it works OK for the rest of the movie, I might suspect the DVD drive to be faulty or something, especially if the sound also skips. I would try another DVD-ROM drive first (or maybe the same drive with another DVD player software), or updated drivers for the videocard could also maybe help.

Good luck!

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"Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it"

[pradhan_aditya]

U need a strong system for playing dvd movies
1)A good cpu
2)a fast video card[preferably agp]
3)a fast sound card
4)a nice dvd drive
5)updated drivers for everything
6)a good software dvd player

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Don't think you can..know you can

[Justintime]

not necessarily, you could get a DVD decoder card, if your cpu is of a low speed and graphics cards not up to par, i remember using one years ago when i built my first 'proper' setup with win 95 and a P166 MMX , which was the first comp i built with a DVD drive. memories....



[This message has been edited by Justintime (edited 02-16-2002).]

[Nu-b]

Can it be the DVD itself? If the DVD(s)have scratches that may be the problem. If not, then it probably is the DVD drive.

[K62]

hve you tried a dvd that is not scratched to see if that is the problem?

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[Jough]

Sometimes it takes a while for the acid to kick in

[Todd a]

The GeForce2 MX PCI is not the best but anything around a P2 450 or better should handle DVD playback. Make sure there is nothing else running. It sounds more like a DVD or drive issue sinse both sound and video start skipping. If it does it on all disks it is likely a drive problem.

Yes a DVD decoder card offloads about 90% or more of the load from the CPU. An ATI card with their theater chip ofloads about 60%. Most other cards ofload about 25-40%. ATI has always been the best for DVD unless you want a decoder card.

You can pick up a Sigma Design PCI RealMagic Hollywood+ Decoder Card Kit $41 here:
http://www.jazztechnology.com/P_342.htm

Here are the specs for it:
http://www.sigmadesigns.com/products/hollywood_plus.htm

The system requirements is an AMD or Intel based CPU of 133MHz or higher. Not much if you ask me.

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