What video card for Freeview|HD once AGAIN.

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › What video card for Freeview|HD once AGAIN.

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401 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#199631 6-Mar-2009 15:13

Oh went for the 9500GT cause it doesn't use any more power (or heat) than 9400GT, only costs $20 more. And had HDMI native with SPDIF passthrough.

Couldn't find a 9400GT or 9500GT in New Zealand that was 1. fanless, 2. HDMI Native 3. SPDIF passthrough.

cshaun

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Ultimate Geek

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#199633 6-Mar-2009 15:21

ARG still can't believe I didn't think of it not fitting that way. GRR

This doesn't look like it will fit either. 228mm long.
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/vga/t-rad2/installation_vga_cooler_t-rad2.html

Did you look at this one?
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=2_&mID=105&language=en

215mm in length about 1cm give if mounting holes of gpu are in the perfect position.

There aren't DVD/Blu-ray drives that are a bit shorter to reduce the issue are there?

Hope I'm got getting stuck wtih a video card with a fan!

Nety

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#199635 6-Mar-2009 15:40

Trust me I spent a couple of weeks and a LOT of time trying to find a solution. I have seen them all. The only one that remotely looked like it might fit was the zalman 1000 thingy (cant remember the exact model) but that got very average reviews.

The added problem I have is that the northbridge cooler is right by the primary PCIe slot. I have the HR-05 chipset cooler which reduces the room for me even more.

As for the optical drive my 401 blu ray drive basically stops in line with the bay in the case. The problem is that all the drives have the plugs at that end.

If you have the case and the VGA cooler now just try holding the block that goes on the GPU about 30mm up from the bottom of the case. If it clears then you might be alright. Of course the bar that goes from the back to the front of the case is also in line with the video card but I think if push comes to shove you could always leave it out.

I did like the HR-03 GT the best out of the coolers because unlike almost all the others it pulls the heat over to where the CPU is which is also where the best cooling is.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Nety

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#199636 6-Mar-2009 15:42

By the way sorry I did not pick up on the CPU cooler. I did not catch your last list so was not until your I have purchased this that I noticed the GPU cooler and then the CPU cooler.

cshaun

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Ultimate Geek

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#199639 6-Mar-2009 16:00

Yeah no problem. It's just nice being able to communicate with people with similar hardware configs trying to basically do the same thing...

All very helpful to know as yeah it's been very difficult finding reliable information either way as to wether things will work.

I've never ever had this much trouble building a PC...

Well if it does fit I'll be sure to let you know...
9500GT = 50W
8500GT = 45W

But 9500GT double the grunt just going on core config.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_Graphics_Processing_Units & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_Graphics_Processing_Units)

Well the one really nice thing about the mobo I'm getting is it's got two 16x pcie slots. So I'll be able to avoid that bar on the case. Just annoying I can't avoide the optical drive bay thing too... would have given some more space.

HR-03 GT did seem like the best - but I didn't find any review comparing them. Well just decided it was good enough in the end and prefered it just looking at the pics etc.

Nety

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#199640 6-Mar-2009 16:06

Take it you checked out SilentPC? Fairly sure they had a review.

By the way as for 64 bit the only gotya is if you need to install video codecs. Some do not support 64bit. If I was building again I would go for 64bit as I have found that Totalmedia theatre gives me all the codecs I need and supports 64bit.

cshaun

401 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#199646 6-Mar-2009 17:22

Reason for Totalmedia theatre?

What are most people here using? Media Portal. (Assuming it would be Vista MCE if freview HD worked right?)

Haven't thought to much about the software side of things. Another headache I assume.

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kiwijunglist

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#199913 8-Mar-2009 16:01

Most people using vista on MP forum are sticking to 32bit because

1. Some of the drivers will be 32 bit i think

2. Just about all the codecs are 32 bit

3. MP is 32bit

4. If you have 64bit then MP sits in c:\program files(x86) this non default directory can be annoying when setting up certain plugins/epg grabber etc.

Of course you miss out on the ram, but HTPC doesn't need more than 2gb, even 1gb can be ok.

I spend a lot of time comparing vista32 and xp for my system around 3 months ago, and found everything worked nicer + more stable in xp. easier to setup MP for XP as well, and no annoying UAC/security permissions etc, altho my setup is less grunty (AMD 4200+ / HD3200 / 2GB RAM) and this PC is HTPC only, i have another computer running Vista64 for games etc.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

limegreen

103 posts

Master Geek

#199987 8-Mar-2009 23:11

I'm a bit late to this, but I would suggest not worrying about over the top cooling solutions until you have got it sorted. I was very careful to get cool and quiet bits to start with (I'm especially pleased with my psu on that front).

I have the L16 case, and I've been very happy with the stock AMD CPU cooler (straight after POST it slows down and stays slow), and the L16 fans. I should qualify that with pointing out that I only have one of them plugged in (to the variable speed Mobo header), and actually that seems to keep the whole thing fine. For completeness I've just been playing round with the other L16 fan (I added a 56 Ohm resistor today to drop its speed back, but that's still a work in progress).

Apart from the optical drive-video card gap (my passive 9400GT fits fine), the large and open case seems to keep it quite cool.

cshaun

401 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#200016 9-Mar-2009 09:28

limegreen: I'm a bit late to this, but I would suggest not worrying about over the top cooling solutions until you have got it sorted. I was very careful to get cool and quiet bits to start with (I'm especially pleased with my psu on that front).

I have the L16 case, and I've been very happy with the stock AMD CPU cooler (straight after POST it slows down and stays slow), and the L16 fans. I should qualify that with pointing out that I only have one of them plugged in (to the variable speed Mobo header), and actually that seems to keep the whole thing fine. For completeness I've just been playing round with the other L16 fan (I added a 56 Ohm resistor today to drop its speed back, but that's still a work in progress).

Apart from the optical drive-video card gap (my passive 9400GT fits fine), the large and open case seems to keep it quite cool.

Kinda what I was thinking, but if people here are complaining about noise - figure it'd probably bug me too. The Noctua fans are 10dba (double) as quite as most generic fans for the same airflow. Last MUCH longer too, so figured it's worth it if they last and don't have to worry about it...

Rest of stuff arrived this morning (except psu & cabling). GPU mounting RIGHT at the bottom of the card - so will be interesting to see if the thermalright fits... It's going to be very tight if it does.

Any issues with the Asus 9400GT Silent? That's what I was looking at from the start... Put off by lack of HDMI. Does it have spdif passthrough via DVI->HDMI converter? Couldn't work that out at the time.

limegreen

103 posts

Master Geek

#200027 9-Mar-2009 09:42

cshaun:
Any issues with the Asus 9400GT Silent? That's what I was looking at from the start... Put off by lack of HDMI. Does it have spdif passthrough via DVI->HDMI converter? Couldn't work that out at the time.

Card has worked very well (including with the Windows 7 Beta). I have no idea about the SPDIF bit. If you can tell me what I'm looking for I could have a nose or take a picture?
My plan was to run the sound (only in stereo) through my much loved circa 1980 amp with vintage speakers. This hasn't actually worked out so well, as the amp is picking up interference from the HTPC. Soundwise that is much worse than fans, and the stock L16 fans make less noisy when set up as above than the WD Greenpower Terabyte drive. Actually, my tip would be to buy another HDD! My first TB is already full (been up and running for about 2 and a half months! But I should point out that I have backed up all my CDs to a lossless format -- which is great!).

cshaun

401 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#200054 9-Mar-2009 11:33

My spdif connects to a 2 pin header labled "J8". Up near the SLI connector. Asus 9500GT...

Comes with a cable - believe your one doesn't.

Analog out? Yeah onboard not to great for analog... assume you're using the back connectors (not headphone jack cause that's worse - plenty of interferenced passed through the connecting cable).
Either need to use digital out and have an external DAC (reciever etc) or get a good discreet soundcard.

I bought 2x 1TB Greenpowers right off the bat. One's already full, before system even assembled...
Mmm so you think they're noisier than the reduced voltage case fans - will have to see.

And yeah I'm using FLAC for my music collection.

limegreen

103 posts

Master Geek

#200057 9-Mar-2009 11:39

cshaun: My spdif connects to a 2 pin header labled "J8". Up near the SLI connector. Asus 9500GT...

Comes with a cable - believe your one doesn't.

Analog out? Yeah onboard not to great for analog... assume you're using the back connectors (not headphone jack cause that's worse - plenty of interferenced passed through the connecting cable).
Either need to use digital out and have an external DAC (reciever etc) or get a good discreet soundcard.

I bought 2x 1TB Greenpowers right off the bat. One's already full, before system even assembled...
Mmm so you think they're noisier than the reduced voltage case fans - will have to see.

And yeah I'm using FLAC for my music collection.

I used Ripstation Micro to simultaneously convert to FLAC and high quality MP3 (the latter for moving to portable devices). So yeah, that took up a little space.

Will have a look at the graphics card next time I have the box open and see if I can see anything. The heatsink obscures most of the card.

As for my audio issues, I don't think it's to do with the sound processing in the HTPC. The interference occurs even listening to an alternate audio source. It only requires that the machine be on, not that I'm listening to it.

cshaun

401 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#200065 9-Mar-2009 12:10

Is the AMP sitting on top or very near the HTPC?
Or perhaps cable running near...

I'd just transcode from flac to another format when needed - doesn't take too long. But guess depends on the usage application - I don't often take music 'with me'. Amost always at home. (work from home)

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#200066 9-Mar-2009 12:16

Nety: Just so you know I finished up getting the Scythe Ninja Mini Heatpipe CPU cooler which does fit in the case and I have found I can run without a fan (just using case fans).

GPU I did not have any luck with. The only coolers I found that were not too high were too long. I am just sticking with the passive heatsink that came with the XFX 8500GT I have. It does run very hot at around 80 deg but from what I have read on the NVidia site anything up to 100 deg is ok

I have a Zalman VNF100 on my MSI 8600 GT, it is not made for the 8600 series card but fits and works well I have 67 degree max temps when watching Freeview | HD. If fits nicely into the Silverstone GD01 MXR case which is a very similar layout to the LC16. The MSI card originally came with a bulky thermaltake silent cooler that did not fit into the space available because of the 5 1/4 drive bays.

I would say that any silent GPU cooler that reaches over the video card and slots in between the video card and CPU cooler shuuld work nicely as long as you have a CPU cooler pushing air away from it. I use a ThermalTake Ultima 90 (with a few extra heatpipe bends to fit into the case) to do this. CPU maxes at 48 degrees and GPU maxes at 67 degrees.

The newer 9x00 series cards have the GPU core further back on the card so mounting a GPU cooler on them pushes the cooler further back and right into the 5 1/4 bays :-(

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=358911

Unfortunately the Zalman is no longer available, or at least not made by Zalman anymore.

cheers
db

Home Server: AMD Threadripper 1950X, 64GB, 56TB HDD, Define R6 Case, 10GbE, ESXi 6.7, UNRAID, NextPVR, Emby Server, Plex Server.
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