8600GT - which is better?

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aucklander

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#22932 12-Jun-2008 12:23

Hi!

am very close to decide what 8600GT to get and your suggestions would help.

In the budget I set for this I can find 512M / DDR2 or 256M/DDR3. Which would perfom better for DVB-T freeview HD?
This is the main reason of the upgrade from the on-board graphics. No games. Maybe a blu-ray drive in the (very far) future, when you will be able to rent them for a decent price.

It was already suggested 8600 would give better performance than 8500, so 8600 it is. But i would not go for the $300 cards. I would really appreciate a solution which works good for what I need and stays below $120 - $130. (just as a clarification, it is the motion trail i get which bothers me - tv1 and tv2 are not so bad due to progressive signal - but the scrolling at the bottom of the screen is really bad even on tv1 - for example the show Breakfast. I get the same programs through satellite (DVB-S freeview) and it is very smooth)

I am also afraid about how hot the silent cards get. At this stage the pc stays behind the cabinet so one panel is removed but when everything works ok I will move to a decent htpc case ($200?). (I got a new 460W PSU, I do not need a case with PSU. )

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gehenna

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#137596 12-Jun-2008 12:36

Either of those cards will give excellent performance for television and other HD content. I use an 8600GT DDR2 256MB for Blu-ray/HD DVD with no issues. Just make sure you get the GT and not the GS or GTS. Mine is a silent card and doesn't get too hot at all even when doing HD processing on the GPU. They work really well.

aucklander

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#137599 12-Jun-2008 12:42

I really like (the price of) this one:

http://www.c1com.co.nz/shop/step1.php?number=12527

If it is ok, I will go ahead with it...

They have another one which is a couple dollars more but it does not say HDTV / HDCP.

gehenna

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#137614 12-Jun-2008 13:09

I'd be wary of a card with active cooling - if this is going to be a dedicated HTPC then you'll quickly get frustrated with the sound of the fan

something like this perhaps: http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=364250

gehenna

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#137617 12-Jun-2008 13:13

also a good quality case with lots of airflow/drive bays/component aesthetic will run you around $300 for the low end ones.

Nety

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#137689 12-Jun-2008 19:15

aucklander:
It was already suggested 8600 would give better performance than 8500, so 8600 it is.

Yes the 8600 will give you beter performance... if you are playing games that is. Which you have stated you are not so... why throw money away? 8500 will play any HD stuff you can though at it.

Your money but hate to see someone spending money on something they dont need.

+1 for the passsive card. Video card fans are some of the loudest fan's in a PC case. Better to use large slow moving case fans then tiny video fans which have to spin much faster to get the same cooling.

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mcraenz

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#137720 12-Jun-2008 22:21

Dual DVI gives you the most options since you can always use adaptors, DVI +(VGA or HDMI) limits your options.

I got a 8600 gigbyte silentpipe 2. so far so good.

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aucklander

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#137773 13-Jun-2008 10:34

so this one should do the trick for Freeview HD, no special requirement for gaming or other applications?
http://friendlycomputer.co.nz/onlinestore/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1070

How important is for freeview HD decoding to have the following written on the graphic card box:
Nvidia Unified Architecture
Nvidia Quantum Effects
Lumenex Engine
GIGA thread
DirectX 10
Shader model 4.0
They appear in the specification for more expensive cards

I repeat this, I have to get a discrete nVidia card to get rid of the "motion trail" artefacts on some channels.
I will also have Vista and Powercinema 5.1 (and PowerDVD 8, if really brings any improvement in terms of codecs)

In the future I will definetely get a second tv tuner for DVB-S and analogue.
Am I going to run in any trouble still using powercinema 5.1 supplied with the Nova-T 500 HD card? Is Powercinema going to properly install and manage the new card? I did not decide what card is it going to be, first I have to sort out the picture quality. I assume the basic condition for the new card to be accepted by Powercinema is to be the same brand (Hauppauge) ??

gehenna

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#137781 13-Jun-2008 10:56

I'd be wary of the 8500. You have to make sure the clock speed is suitable for HD processing. Some 8500's simply aren't capable, while others are. Have you downloaded the Cyberlink HD Advisor tool? It runs a set of tests that will tell you what components you have that are suitable for HD, and what components aren't - then suggests recommended minimum specs for the components hat aren't suitable.

For the price I think the 8600GT that I posted the link for yesterday is a very good deal and will keep you going for a long time to come.

kinsten

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#137788 13-Jun-2008 11:43

I agree, silent pipe option makes a massive difference (no matter what card you get). As nothing anoys me more than watching a tv program or movie, and the sound goes quiet on the program and the fan noises go burrrrr.

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gehenna

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#137797 13-Jun-2008 12:13

kinsten: I agree, silent pipe option makes a massive difference (no matter what card you get). As nothing anoys me more than watching a tv program or movie, and the sound goes quiet on the program and the fan noises go burrrrr.

The only thing I hear on my HTPC is the quiet clicking of the hard drive accessing data :) Even those are the quiet drives. I can't stand noise in my lounge unless it's coming out of my speakers and I've told it to do so!

kinsten

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#137818 13-Jun-2008 13:52

@gehenna: The PS3 is probably noisier than your HTPC! haha

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#137882 13-Jun-2008 20:12

gehenna: I'd be wary of the 8500. You have to make sure the clock speed is suitable for HD processing. Some 8500's simply aren't capable, while others are.

What are you basing this on? I have read many reviews and have never found one that suggest that the 8500GT is not up to playing HD. As for some not doing it but other yes?? They are all the same. The only difference is the amount of RAM but for HD you dont need a lot of ram. OK some may be slightly higher clocked (over clocked) but at stock they should be fine so not sure why you think some are not up to the task.
I agree for gaming no but for HD it has plenty of gunt. Now the 8400GS on the other hand may have some problems.

By the way thanks for the suggestion of the tool from Cyberlink (which by the way gives the 8500GT the thumbs up).