# GTX 970 video card to S-Video **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579 "2016-03-01T00:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/1 "2016-03-01T00:08:31Z")
So I am building a new computer [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19127659#post19127659](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19127659#post19127659), and was wondering about connecting it to my TV. My current video card has an S-Video port, and I have that cable going to the S-Video port on my TV. My TV has 2 HDMI ports, that are both already being used, and I already have the S-Video cable in place. So if I used this “StarTech DVI to VGA Cable Adapter” [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Female-Connector-Black-DVIVGAMFBK/dp/B004G3WCLM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1456789985&sr=1-4&keywords=dvi-i+to+vga) in the DVI-I port, connected to this Insten VGA to TV S-Video 3 RCA PC Computer AV Adapter Cable [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Insten-S-Video-Computer-Adapter-Cable/dp/B006I0IKVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456788899&sr=8-1&keywords=VGA+to+s+video), I could then connect that to the S-Video cable and send video to my TV, correct? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/2 "2016-03-01T01:10:56Z")
not necessarily. those adapters are just that, dumb pin adapters. your video card needs to be able to _output_ an S-Video signal, and the adapters would just connect the proper pins to an S-Video port. If your video card can’t output an S-Video signal, then you’ll need a converter/transcoder which will cost a lot more than $5. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/3 "2016-03-01T01:59:49Z")
Why not just get an HDMI switching device? They might run a little more than the cable (~$40+), but will at least will allow you to use multiple HDMI if that comes up in the future. And the chances of it actually working is higher. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/4 "2016-03-01T02:35:46Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > So if I used this “StarTech DVI to VGA Cable Adapter” [http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Female-Connector-Black-DVIVGAMFBK/dp/B004G3WCLM/ref=sr\_1\_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1456789985&sr=1-4&keywords=dvi-i+to+vga](http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Female-Connector-Black-DVIVGAMFBK/dp/B004G3WCLM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1456789985&sr=1-4&keywords=dvi-i+to+vga) > in the DVI-I port, connected to this Insten VGA to TV S-Video 3 RCA PC Computer AV Adapter Cable [http://www.amazon.com/Insten-S-Video-Computer-Adapter-Cable/dp/B006I0IKVM/ref=sr\_1\_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456788899&sr=8-1&keywords=VGA+to+s+video](http://www.amazon.com/Insten-S-Video-Computer-Adapter-Cable/dp/B006I0IKVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456788899&sr=8-1&keywords=VGA+to+s+video), I could then connect that to the S-Video cable and send video to my TV, correct? Few modern cards support TV out, which is what you would need to use the Insten VGA to TV S-Video. You would need something just a little smarter like [this unit](http://www.amazon.com/Lenkeng-104724-Monoprice-VGA-RCA/dp/B001CJOLBW), which is available from a host of different companies. I use one myself to hook a computer up to an old CRT TV. I will second **thelurkinghorror** ’s recommendation of using an HDMI switcher (or cheap audio receiver with that function). The quality difference is night and day. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/5 "2016-03-01T04:22:05Z")
Yep, I’ve been using this hdmi switcher for the last year - [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030AZ44O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref\_=oh\_aui\_search\_detailpage](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030AZ44O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage) I’ve got the cable box in hdmi 1, then this switcher on hdmi 2, with roku on the lowest priority and a dvd player on higher priority. $15. Works great. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/6 "2016-03-01T09:08:47Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > So if I used this “StarTech DVI to VGA Cable Adapter” [http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Female-Connector-Black-DVIVGAMFBK/dp/B004G3WCLM/ref=sr\_1\_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1456789985&sr=1-4&keywords=dvi-i+to+vga](http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-Female-Connector-Black-DVIVGAMFBK/dp/B004G3WCLM/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1456789985&sr=1-4&keywords=dvi-i+to+vga) GTX 970 is a chip and different cards may have different capabilities, but at least one GTX970 card does support VGA (analog) output from the DVI socket. The adaptor is to convert the DVI socket pin outs to VGA… you can also buy cables which are DVI at one end and VGA at the other. However thats no use to you because the step of converting VGA to SVIDEO require a complex convertor box. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/7 "2016-03-02T21:37:13Z")
I’ll get an hdmi switcher and an hdmi cable. Thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/8 "2016-03-02T22:58:40Z")
What GTX 970 are you getting? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/9 "2016-03-03T21:17:05Z")
You should also see a massive improvement in video quality, IMO better than you get from the card upgrade. Svideo is limited to SD resolutions–HDMI isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/10 "2016-03-03T22:56:33Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > What GTX 970 are you getting? [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487077](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487077) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gtx-970-video-card-to-s-video/747579/11 "2016-03-05T20:13:58Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487077](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487077) Nice. Among the best choices in terms of value. To get even more performance, you’ll want to overclock and overvolt it. I was scared of it at first but it turned out to be fun. Since that model comes with 2 BIOS, you might even replace one BIOS to unlock the maximum voltage and really turn it up to 11.