i have a simple question:
today there is a boxing day sale, and i have my eyes set on 2 cards that are on sale, the ATI HD3850 for $199 and HD3870 for $249. i know for 249 i can get the Geforce 8800GT, but ATI card have video in feature which i really want (unless i'm mistaken, Nvidia cards don't have video capture)

anyways, my question would be, is HD3870 really worth the extra 50 bucks? or is HD3870 a good choice?
(or i guess, does anyone know if 8800GT has video capture function? i'll be willing to go Nvidia if it has)

thanks people

I think you'd better look closely at the specs of ANY card you're considering. There are few cards that feature "video-in"

i've actually owned quite a few ATI cards that has video in feature, 3 generations of them in fact
my 9700pro, x800xt, x1900xt, and my current x1950pro
i think it's a standard function for ATI cards, they call it VIVO (or video in video out)
but i really don't know if Nvidia has this or not

well, if we put video in aside, what do you think about the 50 extra dollars, is it worth it for hd3870?

LOL, I forgot that it's now listed as VIVO. I have seen it offered on some nVidia cards. For instance, this 7800GTX has it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...

Anyhow, the 3870 is definitely better than the 3850, the added $50 is a matter of how much you're willing to pay. Experiment with this chart & see what you think:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graph...