Dual head VGA & HDMI for video editing???

[dnar]

Any suggestions for a graphics card that supports dual-head with one VGA type connector and one HDMI. I have an older 19" flat panel monitor and a 42" HDMI LCD TV and want to do some basic video editing (Corel Videostudio X2) using both. I'd like to get at least 256mb of video RAM, more would be better, but also would like to keep the price down (e.g. $150 or less). Thanks.

[StringCheesian]

Here's a list of the 37 cards Newegg sells that match your specifications (under $150, 1 VGA and 1 HDMI, >= 256MB).

And here are the 31 with more than 256MB.

I don't know how to narrow it down from 31, because I don't know what's better for video editing on Windows...

Do you want video in? Do you have a preference on Ati vs nVidia? Will you be running Videostudio on wine? Is Linux performance a factor?

[dnar]

Thanks for the info...it is very encouraging that there are that many that meet those specs and at a very reasonable price. I don't know the answer to your questions, but have a bit more info that may or may not help narrow down my choice. The PC is a Dell dual-core processor with 2gb's of RAM running Vista. I'll likely want to add mroe eventually. The 42" LCD TV is a widescreen HD with a max res of 1366 x 768.

[dnar]

I guess I do know a few of the answers to your questions..


- Video in is not an issue. I plan on just using video from my digital camcorder, which has an SD card.

- Linux and Wine are not factors. I'm just running native Windows Vista Home Basic.

- The hardware is a Dell dual core AMD 4000+ with 2gb's of RAM.

Thanks, Glenn

[StringCheesian]

You should avoid fast gaming cards then. I wouldn't expect your Dell's power supply to have a 6-pin PCI-E connector, nor would I expect it to handle a card that uses a lot of watts.

Anyway, I doubt that Videostudio would be affected by graphics card speed. It's probably all CPU.

So even the cheapest of them should work fine for your needs.

BTW: Why do you want more than 256MB? Do you play games?

[dnar]

Hmmm...You may be right. It could be I could get by with 256mb of video RAM. From what I've read one of the pros to Videostudio is that it doesn't require much computing power at all. Reviews say that it runs fine on older single processor machines with low memory.

I don't really have a preference of ATI v. nVidea. Whatever works best is fine by me.

On PCI-E, I won't know until I open the case. At the moment, the computer is in my son's room and constantly in use, so I haven't had a chance. For some unknown reason, I can't find the documentation, but the computer is only 1-1.5 years old, so I thought it would likely have PCI-E.

The only game I play is MTGO, which I know will not need anything special. In fact, I'm not sure I'll even play that on this computer once I set it up downstairs with the 42" LCD, as it would require wireless access and that has never worked well in my house, but that's another story. Anyway, for the video editing, I won't need connectivity.

BTW, do most graphics cards with HDMI will also support a second monitor with VGA?

Thanks again for all the help.

[StringCheesian]

BTW, do most graphics cards with HDMI will also support a second monitor with VGA?

You mean a TV and 2 monitors? Or a computer monitor connected via HDMI or HDMI<->DVI/VGA adapter?

[dnar]

An LCD HDTV connected via HDMI and one 19" LCD monitor connected via VGA.

[StringCheesian]

All the cards in the list should be able to do that.

[dnar]

OK...thanks again for the help.