video card for htpc

shogun1964 · **video card for htpc -** 10-27-2009, 19:19 | posts: 11 | User is Offline

i am buildig a htpc and was wondering what card to use. i currently plan on using a ecs 8800gts 320mb and was thinking of getting another and running sli with that combo. do i need sli for bluray playback or will one 8800gts 320mb work? my cpu is a pentium d 3.4g with 2 gigs of memory. any thoughts would be helpful.

kylzer · 10-27-2009, 19:22 | posts: 14,690 | Location: Aberdeen, UK | User is Offline

Blue ray playback would work fine in most video cards even your 8800 without any problem.

you don't need sli for it.

but if you just want a card for blueray and high def stuff i would get a GT210.

Redemption80 · 10-27-2009, 19:41 | posts: 2,461 | Location: Glasgow | User is Offline

You can run BluRay off a very basic video card, i've had mine running perfect with the 9600GSO i use a PhysX card.

If you have a home theatre receiver that supports Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD, then the new ATI card would be handy.

If not, then a cheap Nvidia card and a basic copy of PowerDVD9 or TMT3 is all you need.
I say Nvidia as you can use Cuda to accelerate x264 mkv's with CoreAVC and upscale DVD's to HD with PowerDVD9 and TMT3, all will minimal CPU usage.

GenClaymore · 10-27-2009, 22:56 | posts: 2,802 | Location: Michigan,usa | User is Offline

a nvidia ion will also work for blu ray, personally I would sell off the 8800 if that same pc is your gaming pc as well. And just get something like a HD5850 or a GTX260 or whatever.

Two rocks with one stone. Unless this is another computer your talking about doing a HTPC with. if so then a GT210 or a cheap HD4### series card.

deltatux · 11-05-2009, 16:04 | posts: 5,850 | Location: Toronto, Canada | User is Offline

My crappy Radeon HD 3450 can play Bluray content without issues lol and that thing is no where near your GeForce 8800 in terms of performance.

deltatux

dcx_badass · 11-05-2009, 17:09 | posts: 5,623 | Location: UK | User is Online

My 7600GS could do HD-DVD fine. It's more dependant on the CPU, my Pentium D 3.0ghz, could just handle it. But if you have an 8 series card that does it in purevideo HD and takes the load off the CPU anyway.

Shroomalistic · 11-05-2009, 20:58 | posts: 23 | Location: At home | User is Offline

8800gts 320 doesnt do dxva or coreavc using cuda. Just a heads up. if you want to play back h264 stuff stay away from that card. I was cursed with it for a while and finally got rid of mine just for htat reason. trust me I tried everything.

Keitosha · **Memory**: OCZ 8GB PC6400 CL4-4-4-15

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltatux

My crappy Radeon HD 3450 can play Bluray content without issues lol and that thing is no where near your GeForce 8800 in terms of performance.

deltatux

Indeed. I have an HD3450 in my 1st HTPC (running in CFX with the onboard HD3300, lol!) and using an HD4350 in my 2nd HTPC and both are doing its job just fine.
No need to worry about that performance. The 8800 won't have any problems with it.

The only thing to worry about is whether your monitor is HDCP capable or not.

Loster · 11-08-2009, 00:17 | posts: 94 | Location: Germany | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun1964

will one 8800gts 320mb work? my cpu is a pentium d 3.4g with 2 gigs of memory.

Well if you are going to watch non High Definition stuff like DVD/Xvid up to (576i/p) so you will be okay.
For x264/h264 und HDTV 720p stuff you can try the "coreAVC decoder", it is optimised to use the CPU.

But if you wanna watch High Definition 1080p , vc1, h264, AVC (BluRay, HDDVD) or x264, you will need at least a dualcore CPU 2.4Ghz or a VP2 capable GPU.
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_..._.28HD.29_GPUs

Well.. long story short...
if your gpu has the G84/86 core than you will be fine.
If your gpu has the G80 core so you are not able to run MPEG4 HD Content (avc, h264, x264, vc1).
MPEG2 HD should run fine i guess.

shogun1964 · **hd video card -** 11-12-2009, 17:19 | posts: 11 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

Well if you are going to watch non High Definition stuff like DVD/Xvid up to (576i/p) so you will be okay.
For x264/h264 und HDTV 720p stuff you can try the "coreAVC decoder", it is optimised to use the CPU.

But if you wanna watch High Definition 1080p , vc1, h264, AVC (BluRay, HDDVD) or x264, you will need at least a dualcore CPU 2.4Ghz or a VP2 capable GPU.
see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_..._.28HD.29_GPUs

Well.. long story short...
if your gpu has the G84/86 core than you will be fine.
If your gpu has the G80 core so you are not able to run MPEG4 HD Content (avc, h264, x264, vc1).
MPEG2 HD should run fine i guess.

i see, so i need a 9800 gt or 9800 gts or gtx, i checked and they are vp2.

Loster · 11-13-2009, 00:00 | posts: 94 | Location: Germany | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun1964

i see, so i need a 9800 gt or 9800 gts or gtx, i checked and they are vp2.

Exactly

NVIDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_..._.28HD.29_GPUs any of the VP2, VP3 and VP4 GPU can be used. When buying, make sure it has at least 256MB of video RAM.

or

ATI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder any UVD GPU can be used.

Source:
http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watc...os-using-dxva/

shogun1964 · **ati? -** 11-13-2009, 10:32 | posts: 11 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

Exactly

NVIDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_..._.28HD.29_GPUs any of the VP2, VP3 and VP4 GPU can be used. When buying, make sure it has at least 256MB of video RAM.

or

ATI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder any UVD GPU can be used.

Source:
http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watc...os-using-dxva/

looks like ati is better. will it work on a nvidia motherboard?

Loster · 11-13-2009, 20:07 | posts: 94 | Location: Germany | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun1964

looks like ati is better. will it work on a nvidia motherboard?

Sure

shogun1964 · 11-14-2009, 06:45 | posts: 11 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

Sure

thanks for the input

Power_Down · 11-16-2009, 02:47 | posts: 34 | User is Offline

most cards will be fine

i have this for my media centre

http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=7h...z2h&templete=2

nice cheap little card requires no extra power and has built in hdmi and very cheap

shogun1964 · **next step -** 11-16-2009, 08:58 | posts: 11 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

Exactly

NVIDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_..._.28HD.29_GPUs any of the VP2, VP3 and VP4 GPU can be used. When buying, make sure it has at least 256MB of video RAM.

or

ATI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder any UVD GPU can be used.

Source:
http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watc...os-using-dxva/

ok, ive decide on the 9800gt 512mb. i heard you can break your tv if its not set right. the video card has a tv out and dvi out on it. im going to hook it to my 52 inch hdtv which has a dvi input on it. which should i use? the dvi or hdtv output?

Loster · 11-17-2009, 02:10 | posts: 94 | Location: Germany | User is Offline

the best option in your case is DVI to DVI
with that you will get the video.

and for the audio you will need your soundcard.

shogun1964

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

the best option in your case is DVI to DVI
with that you will get the video.

and for the audio you will need your soundcard.

i was about to get the 9800gt but i came across a gt240 with a core clock at 550 and a memory clock at 3588mhz! that has got to be the best card ive seen yet. its even faster than a 4870x2 with a memory clock of only 750mhz. plus the gt240 wwill only cost me about 120.00 new. i dont think i will be able to bet that for the money. whats your opion?

Loster

Quote:

Originally Posted by shogun1964

i was about to get the 9800gt but i came across a gt240 with a core clock at 550 and a memory clock at 3588mhz! that has got to be the best card ive seen yet. its even faster than a 4870x2 with a memory clock of only 750mhz. plus the gt240 wwill only cost me about 120.00 new. i dont think i will be able to bet that for the money. whats your opion?

Hi
as far as i know the 4870x2 has a gpu clock at 750mhz, and memory clock at 3600mhz (2x 1800mhz).

But how ever, in fact clocks are a factor but not as important as how many shader units, shader directx/opengl version and features the card has.

The fact is... you will not be happy as a enthusiast gamer with that card.
But it is perfect for your htpc to decode your hd videos as it is quiet , not getting hot and the energy consumption is low.

The GT240 seems to me to be a revision of the 9800GT.
So indeed the best choice.

Loster

shogun1964

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loster

Hi
as far as i know the 4870x2 has a gpu clock at 750mhz, and memory clock at 3600mhz (2x 1800mhz).

But how ever, in fact clocks are a factor but not as important as how many shader units, shader directx/opengl version and features the card has.

The fact is... you will not be happy as a enthusiast gamer with that card.
But it is perfect for your htpc to decode your hd videos as it is quiet , not getting hot and the energy consumption is low.

The GT240 seems to me to be a revision of the 9800GT.
So indeed the best choice.

Loster

cool, im not going to play games on my pc as i have a xbox360, just need a good card for my movies. thanks for info

Loster

your welcome