See the problem is that I didn't bother keeping up to date with the technology, now I'm not as informed as I should be.

and yah, that's a purty good price

sometimes decoder cards are nice though, because its pretty often that they have like tv outs on them. but your vid card mite have one too? i dunno

That whole decoder issue bugs me, it's only used for movies, so that means that if a DVD that contains something other than a movie, or a regular CD is being used, the decoder is essentially useless? I don't particularly like the idea of buying hardware that I'll only use once in a while. But you're right Snag, anything software can do, hardware can do better. I remember back to mpeg2 software codecs, those were awfull weren't they. I'm was so glad when it became a standard feature on graphics boards.

Thanks dudes.

The geforce cards from ASUS (ive got one v6600 and a v6800 at werk(both deluxe)) have a dvd decoder BUILT IN to the card, (just run the autorun off of yer driver disk that came with the card to see)

Then, go to asus.com.tw and get the latest beta versions of all stuff about dvd.

Also, check in yer bios if agp aperture size is 64 - if its not the card doesn't buffer the info correctly and gives you a tearing effect - youll be able to tell, trust me!

Hope that crapping on actually helps!!

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1, If the v6800 has built in DVD acceleration, how does the DVD-Rom connect to the 'puter? (I know that's the dumb question)

Take the dvd and place it in a free slot (its bout as big as a cdrom(i think) and then take the skinny little audio cable and put it in yer sound card (read snd card book for the right plug'hole)(PS if youve already got a cdrom dont worry bout the sound cable)

Then, get the dvd's ide cable and plug it into a free hole in yer board, or line it with something else, zip drive, other cdrom etc.

Then turn on the pc, make sure bios sez something about a new cdrom or even "pioneer dvd @ 16x" (thatd be cool!)

then windows should detect it, install the drivers off of its cd (to be safe) and then give yer beast a restart.

BUT here is the important bit!!!

In your asus box, you should have a cd with dvd stuff on it - "ASUS DVD" YOU MUST INSTALL THIS STUFF!!

after youve done that, and all went well (i reeeelly hope it did) then you should be able to open the asus dvd stuff and play yer dvd's!!

You asked me to, hahahaha

if you dont want to do it yerself then take it to a comp shop and theyll do it for you.

i hope that all helps man, sorry to be a r33333l bore!!

Parsout, thanks for answering both questions, although what I really meant by "How does the DVD connect?" I thought for a second that you meant to connect it right to the card using the VIP video expansion port, which wouldn't work. Anyway, now that I've got it straight my descision is a little easier to make.

Thanks all

he he he! i used to think that was how to connect the dvd, (to that VIP) I WAS SOOO STOOPID!!!

What does that VIP do anyway?

but, to confirm your statement - YES!!! long live metal

Parsout