x850 XT PE Help

[DrPepperMan]

I have brought a ati x850 xt pe 256Mb card last month to upgrade my 9800 Pro. A friend of mine told me that I can connect my playstation 2 though the s-video and audio and play though the pc and onto my TFT and though my sound card. I have an s-video lead for my ps2 and a 2 female to 3.5mm phono jack for the sound as well as the other cables that came with the grahics card. Is it true I can play my playstation though my pc? Would I need any more equiment? Thanks in advance. DrPepperMan

[Rave]

You can only do this if the card supports VIVO (Video In, Video Out). Not all X850XT PEs do as I understand it. Post the model of the card.

As for the sound, you'd need to be plugging the sound cables from the PS2 into your soundcard (most likely with an adapter).

Welcome to the forums BTW.

[DrPepperMan]

I have the shappire (sic) x850 XT PE card. It does support VIVO and I have tried to connect the playstation to the video card but it only has 4 pins. The port on the card has more holes though. I have tried to connect the adapter cables that have come with the card but with no success. I have manged to get the sound working though. I used an adapter to then plug in the soundcard. I'm using a unofficail s-video playstation 2 cable. Hope this helps. Btw once I have the playstion connected to the graphics card do you know how to display the playstion screen once I'm in windows. Thanks again in advance. DrPepperMan

[Rave]

The breakout cable(s) supplied with the card should have an S-Video input socket, plug the lead from the PS into that.

As for displaying it on the monitor....I don't know for sure, having never had a VIVO card, but is there a tab on the catalyst control centre for VIVO options?

[DrPepperMan]

I have tried looking at the catalyst control center and there doesn't seem to be a tab. Also when I connect the s-video input cable it seems pretty loose. I know it works but getting there is proving hard enough!

[SilentDeath]

Why would anyone would want to play on a crappy ps2 when they have an x850xtpe ...

Shouldnt need to do anything in control panel.
If your card is VIVO then it will have a rage theater chip on the back.
Drivers should include the WDM driver but if not you can find it on ATI's site.
Good idea to update drivers anyway...

There is a cable which comes with ATI cards, it has 5 connectors:

8pin mini-din (if thats the correct name). This inserts into the ati card.
Some of those 8 pins are shared between the the two inputs/outputs. You cant use both the svid AND the composite inputs at the same time, but it doesnt matter if they are conneted.. if that makes sense....

Theres then 4 cables coming out of this:
Composite in, composite out, Svideo in, Svideo out.

You can use either the Svid or composite in, make sure you use the right one. They have arrows pointing the direction.

For software, I find ati's MMC 9.03 to work best. Later versiosn may also work but I had an issue or two when I installed 9.06. If you havent got any version of this with your card, you can download it from the ATI site.

Also theres an issue with Svideo which makes it black and white. No idea why, I doubt its related to the x850 though as im using a crappy pace tv box..

[DrPepperMan]

Cheers I will try that. The reason I wanted to play my ps2 though my pc is that durring term time at uni I live away from my parents and having to bring a tv with my is just wasting space. Thanks for your help. DrPepperMan