HTPC discrete graphics

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aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#180728 19-Sep-2015 14:23

Hi Guys,

I hope I can get few quick answers regarding a suitable discrete graphic card to run a HTPC (MediaPortal). Most forums discussing this topic are from 2008 - 2009, I am sure the cards evolved since then (and prices came down). Long story is like this: I used a discrete nVidia EN8600GT silent, when I built the HTPC many years ago it was recommended as a good option. I used to get the video to the TV using DVI and the sound through a separate cable.

Now I have replaced the TV and the new TVs have a shockingly limited number of connections, only HDMI is available (no more DVI + audio IN). I have removed the graphic card and I am currently using the on-board HD3200 through HDMI. Pretty awful picture quality, and I know that the inability to get proper deinterlacing done with on-board ATI chips was extensively covered in many posts along the years (was there any progress?). I am now looking at getting another nVidia graphic card but it needs to have HDMI connection.

QUESTION 1: was there any progress in getting proper deinterlacing working on Gigabyte ATI HD3200 on-board chips? I am upgrading to Win 7 and also installing MediaPortal 2 (which actually does not run on Vista?) and also planning to use PowerDVD 15 codecs.

QUESTION 2: what would be the minimum spec for a suitable PCI-e graphic card for the new system (Win 7 / MediaPortal 2)? There is nothing else running on that PC which needs high end graphics (like games), only the MediaPortal. Would something like this be OK? http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/components/video-cards/pciexpress/auction-950136533.htm

QUESTION 3: these days the RAM on the graphic cards comes in many flavors (both in terms of quantity and speed - DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, etc...). Are these parameters very important for a HTPC? I was under the impression they doi not have too much to say, these become extremely relevant for games.

Many thanks.

mobo Intel DH55PJ, RAM: 4GB RAM, Nova-T 500 HD + Avermedia Trinity tuner card, Geforce 520 video, 120GB SSD Sandisk + 640 WD + 1000SG, Win7 Home Prem 64-bit, Media Portal 1.15.0; BTC 9019URF Cordless Keyboard, Panasonic 55" (HDMI cable), HTPC Case Silverstone Grandia GD05B.

rlevis

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#1390310 19-Sep-2015 16:17

I have an old HTPC with ATI HD3200 onboard graphics which use to be in the lounge but now in use as a MediaPortal TV Server in the office hooked up to an old 32" TV used rarely for viewing. It deinterlaces using BOB perfectly fine.

I wanted Vector Adaptive deinterlacing in the lounge, and after some research found the minimum spec AMD graphics is the HD6450. I purchased this card on Amazon http://smile.amazon.com/Asus-HD6450-SL-2GD3-L-ASUS-Graphics-Card/dp/B0091N2P1E?tag2=httpwwwstatio-20

I suggest setting manually to Vector Adaptive in CCC and switch off "Enforce Smooth Video Playback".

Killerkiwi2005

374 posts

Ultimate Geek
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Trusted

#1390344 19-Sep-2015 16:51

You can get a rpi2 with kodi as a frontend for cheaper than most cards now

aucklander

478 posts

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#1392285 22-Sep-2015 22:13

rlevis: I have an old HTPC with ATI HD3200 onboard graphics which use to be in the lounge but now in use as a MediaPortal TV Server in the office hooked up to an old 32" TV used rarely for viewing. It deinterlaces using BOB perfectly fine.

what codec are you using for TV in MediaPortal please? Currently the onboard HD3200 works nice but the CPU is at 90-95%. With some codecs and settings, I get the CPU down to 30-35% which means that some acceleration happens, but then the picture quality is really bad. So I reverted back to what it works. PowerDVD8 codec. (or maybe 9?).

rlevis

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#1392367 23-Sep-2015 00:27

I use the LAV Filters included with MediaPortal. Mine is a 3 core Phenom I processor and very little CPU usage. Ensure LAV Video Hardware Acceleration is set to DXVA2 (native).

JWR

821 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1392380 23-Sep-2015 02:21

Killerkiwi2005: You can get a rpi2 with kodi as a frontend for cheaper than most cards now

I think it would be a better overall solution too.

kiwijunglist

2983 posts

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#1393161 23-Sep-2015 22:55

Any video card from 2009/2010 onwards would probably be fine.

(1)

Don't need PDVD15, LAV which is bundled with installer is preferred.

The HD3200 will be fine for 1080p, but may struggle slightly with 1080i (de-intrerlacing). I'd recommend against the onboard hd3200 as there are several tweaks needed and you can buy a second hand card for $20-$40.

(2)

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/components/video-cards/pciexpress/auction-951017211.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/components/video-cards/pciexpress/auction-953314729.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/components/video-cards/pciexpress/auction-953728643.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/components/video-cards/pciexpress/auction-953376842.htm

(3) Basic htpc duties are not resource intensive.

I might have an HD4670 that you can have for cheap (based in wellington), It needs a DVI-HDMI adapter though.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1393987 24-Sep-2015 22:49

kiwijunglist, all the cards you listed are ATI, I was under the impression that ATI cannot do proper deinterlacing, ever. Full stop. Only nVidia can do, something to do with their PureVideo feature. I have got a Geforce 520 but I could not get an idea if it is solving the situation or not as the PC decided to overheat today... out of the blue... if the CPU is busy for more than 2 min at 70-80% then it shuts down (I use SpeedFan and it shows the core temp rapidly going up and at 82C it shuts down).

I will try again in the morning when it is cooler in the house, maybe I can at least install the drivers for the 520 and see if it works better than the on-board HD3200...

kiwijunglist

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#1393991 24-Sep-2015 22:57

I'm more familiar with ATI cards, that is why I listed ATI cards. Both are fine. You are under the wrong impression regarding ATI and deinterlacing. The cpu usage is because hardware acceleration is not working. The Geforce 520 is better than the hd3200. There is no point in buying another video card if you already have a working geforce 520.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1394478 25-Sep-2015 16:25

Hi, the 520 is the one I just got , to use instead of the HD3200. I have installed it and I would say the picture is indeed smoother (I can say by looking at the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen - not perfect like on the TV itself but definitely much better than before). The CPU goes up to max 30% on TV3 and 15-20% on TV1 and TV2. Everything happened fairly quickly this morning (the swap), not enough time for testing, I noticed only one instance where the picture had a bad glitch, pixelation, it entered in a 0.5sec loop (picture and sound), then 3-4 sec later it all came back to normal...

"shift + 1" keys (how do you call the graph which is displayed?) shows a MUCH nicer graph than before. I know that ideally they have to be smooth (straight line) but the red graph will never be straight. The point is that after few minutes it only had 4-5 dropped frames, I guess this you do not even notice. With the HD3200 the red graph used to have peaks reaching both the upper limit and the lower limit but now it is "oscillating" on fairly narrow band either side of the yellow and green graphs. With the HD3200 the "actual FPS" was shown to be approx. 24-25fps, now it is 49.999 and the figure does not change anymore, it is more stable.

However, I will keep trying different settings and codecs as the picture is not as crisp as it can be (in my opinion)...
I am using PowerDVD8 codec, for some reason the DXVAChecker tells me there is no DXVA available for the LAV codecs installed?
I will take my time and go through the other codecs listed in the drop down list in MP and see how they perform.

aucklander

478 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1394482 25-Sep-2015 16:37

On a different note:

- initially I had 8600GT, using DVI cable to the TV with the sound through a separate 3.5mm / 2xRCA cable. All worked OK.
- I had replaced the TV and the new TV does not take sound input anymore, only HDMI (and composite, etc)
- this is why I took the 8600GT out (no HDMI) and got an HDMI-HDMI cable and started to use the on-board HD3200 - but this did not work too great.
- now I have the 520 with HDMI port, so everything should be back to normal.

Question:
I have read that you can get the sound through the DVI port but only on some cards, and they should have on their board a 2-pin connector where you bring the SPDIF signal from the mobo. Then, the card will push the audio through the DVI port, but because the pins mapping is not entirely standardized (for the spare pins I mean...) then it is a matter of luck if the old cable DVI-HDMI would work or not. Is that right? Plus, I could not see any 2-pin connector on the 8600GT, hence the decision to get a (low cost) card with HDMI.

Would it be possible to get the 8600GT (which I already had), to work in this configuration? (sound over DVI?)