Hi folks. I just inherited an unwanted media center PC from a co-worker, and am planning on upgrading the video card. I've had favorable experience with Nvidia cards in the past and would like to get one for this.

What are opinions on dual-output Nvidia cards currently available (Dec 2007) recommended for AspectHD?

Ideally I'd like to run this with the option for component video on the second output, but that's not essential.

*NOT* an 8800, they are horrid for editing with Cineform.

C

Thanks for the warning, Carl.

Oh, BTW, I will also be replacing Vista Home Premium with XP Pro. Yes, I'm "upgrading to an older, more familiar experience." :) Therefore, Vista support is not a requirement.

On paper the Geforce7950 seems to be the best option, but I have not used it personally.

I have. 7950 works pretty fine

You need dual hardware overlay support, which the 8000 series of game cards will not support.

I've also used a workstation with an ATI HD7600 pro 512mb agp -which has dual hardware overlay support, (the new Catalayst control software provides the same features as Nvidia's), and I also used a Dell D630 laptop with integrated intel GPU (340mb) without issue.

If you want Nvidia, some of the 7000 series cards will do, or you'll have to go with a Quadro FX to get the dual overlay. Again, it's the overlay support you need, everything else is just a game :)

The nVidea 7000 series works fine; the nVidea Quadro fx 1500 works really well- that's what I am currently using.
The 8000 series does not do native full screen video overlay. This is not a Cineform issue. nVidea has, for some reason, disabled the video overlay at the CPU level of the card.