Video Graphics Card for HTPC.. suggestions pls

Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › Video Graphics Card for HTPC.. suggestions pls

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

Topic # 66345 17-Aug-2010 14:42

hi guys

i know some of you guys are THE PROs on this field, unlike me, a newbie

i have had enough with my Radeon card (see other thread), so i am going to purchase another one, the one that will definitely work this time (they i want it to)

my criterias for the video card are :
- up to $150 max
- have to be able to output vga and hdmi simultaneously (at the same time)
- at least 512mb ram
- can do 24fps for blurays
- quiet

this will be used mainly for playing movies (blurays, hd-dvds, dvd) so have

suggestions ?

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Uber Geek
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Reply # 368714 17-Aug-2010 15:31

Will you be gaming or just home theatre stuff?

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 368725 17-Aug-2010 15:49

99% will only be movies and browsing, so very minimum gaming involved (ps3 and wii only)

Batman

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Reply # 368738 17-Aug-2010 16:08

suggest HD5450 but i am not sure if it can do all the things you want. cheap and fast and very very very low power consumption

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 368827 17-Aug-2010 18:40

joker97: suggest HD5450 but i am not sure if it can do all the things you want

which part ?

AdmiralSarek

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 368846 17-Aug-2010 19:14

Depends on if you need the sound to go down the HDMI as well, if you don't then the NVIDA cards are probably cheaper and as far as I cen tell from posts here people have had more luck with them.

Batman

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Reply # 368855 17-Aug-2010 19:29

GReX:
joker97: suggest HD5450 but i am not sure if it can do all the things you want

which part ?

hdmi + vga. on looking back it should be FINE. it's about $95 and meets all your criteria. latest drivers have no problems with htpc-ing.

you need to research WHICH brand you want as there are hundreds of 5450s out there!

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 368966 17-Aug-2010 22:47

yeah, i do need a card that is capable of putting through lossless hd-audio (eg. DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD) via HDMI as i eventually will connect it up with my onkyo receiver for the surround purpose

i'm actually thinking of getting either
Amaze ATI HD5670 PCI-E 1GB or Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB

how much different would it be between the two, especially in terms of capacity (1GB to 512MB) to performance wise ?

any thoughts about these 2 ?

Batman

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Reply # 368995 18-Aug-2010 00:09

512mb vs 1gb does NOT matter unless you do have 21MP RAW photoshopping or play crysis to the max setting ... make sure you get gddr5 and not lower (eg gddr3).

fahrenheit

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Reply # 369006 18-Aug-2010 00:40

i'm actually thinking of getting either
Amaze ATI HD5670 PCI-E 1GB or Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB

I have this card. I initially planned to swap the fan for a passive heatsink but once I actually installed the card and started using it, I discovered it was whisper quiet and has never bothered me (and I'm fairly fussy about noise). Just be aware that there is a model with DVI/Display port/HDMI and one with DVI/VGA/HDMI.

HD5670 is the bare-minimum you should be considering. Its not powerful enough to play demanding games but it is powerful enough to pass all the current HTPC requirements (like the cheese slices deinterlacing test which every card under it struggles with).

Niel

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Reply # 369015 18-Aug-2010 05:54

I've got a virtually identical question/requirements and keen to know if the Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB will do dual display (extended desktop) with a monitor on DVI and a TV on HDMI. I want to watch TV while browsing the internet. TV will be only MPEG2, maybe the odd movie off Freeview HD. Thanks.

You can never have enough Volvos!

GReX

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Master Geek

Reply # 369032 18-Aug-2010 07:45

thanks guys

i think i can't go wrong with 5670

will probably just go with 512mb one instead of the 1gb

fahrenheit

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Ultimate Geek
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Reply # 369151 18-Aug-2010 10:19

Niel: I've got a virtually identical question/requirements and keen to know if the Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB will do dual display (extended desktop) with a monitor on DVI and a TV on HDMI. I want to watch TV while browsing the internet. TV will be only MPEG2, maybe the odd movie off Freeview HD. Thanks.

I use mine with my 1080p plasma on HDMI and 1920x1200 monitor on DVI.

GReX

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Master Geek

Reply # 369154 18-Aug-2010 10:21

fahrenheit:
Niel: I've got a virtually identical question/requirements and keen to know if the Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB will do dual display (extended desktop) with a monitor on DVI and a TV on HDMI. I want to watch TV while browsing the internet. TV will be only MPEG2, maybe the odd movie off Freeview HD. Thanks.

I use mine with my 1080p plasma on HDMI and 1920x1200 monitor on DVI.

excellent ! at least i know this time should work *fingers crossed*

what OS you're using ?

fahrenheit

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Ultimate Geek
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Reply # 369155 18-Aug-2010 10:22

GReX:
fahrenheit:
Niel: I've got a virtually identical question/requirements and keen to know if the Sapphire ATI HD5670 512MB will do dual display (extended desktop) with a monitor on DVI and a TV on HDMI. I want to watch TV while browsing the internet. TV will be only MPEG2, maybe the odd movie off Freeview HD. Thanks.

I use mine with my 1080p plasma on HDMI and 1920x1200 monitor on DVI.

excellent ! at least i know this time should work *fingers crossed*

what OS you're using ?

Windows 7 Professional

GReX

88 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 369161 18-Aug-2010 10:27

well.. hopefully i won't have any problem with this card running with vista home edition

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