ATI HD3450 for Freeview? (Or any other Low profile silent cards capable of Freeview!?)

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › ATI HD3450 for Freeview? (Or any other Low profile silent cards capable of Freeview!?)

mcraenz

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#35826 15-Jun-2009 22:53

Even though I'd prefer to use an Nvidia card for a new htpc I'm building...I want a silent (fanless) card that is also low profile; it seems no such thing exists in the Nvidia camp so I'm wonding can some confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the ATI HD3450 can do hardware based freeview dvb-t decoding with the PowerDVD codec under Vista EVR?

This is the exact card I'm looking at:
http://www.pctown.co.nz/product_info.php/-p-02437

And if that won't do what abou the HD4350:
http://www.pctown.co.nz/product_info.php/-p-02437

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MrThc

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#225443 16-Jun-2009 00:16

Yes, the HD3450 can, but only upto certain resolutions. 1680x1050 is fine, but 1920x1080 is not.

The HD4350 suffers the same problem.

The Radeon HD4550 is capable of full hardware acceleration at 1920x1080p on 2 displays.

There is a Sapphire HD4550 available that is passive, with DVI, HDMI and VGA outputs. It also includes the low profile bracket. I had to beg the supplier to bring them in after they dropped the non-passive HD4550 from their range entirely.

http://www.pctown.co.nz/product_info.php/-p-8039

mcraenz

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#225461 16-Jun-2009 07:59

Great thanks for that! Anyone else know of any other low profile silent cards capable of Freeview?

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borgia

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#225613 16-Jun-2009 15:08

I have this low profile card http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/3d_graphic/overview.asp?lineid=1&pronameid=381

Its an 8500gt tdh hdmi. works great. I guess the only issue is that it is hot, hot, hot, like 80 degrees when its working, so you need to ventilate your case well.

ivan

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#225643 16-Jun-2009 16:54

borgia: I have this low profile card http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/3d_graphic/overview.asp?lineid=1&pronameid=381

Its an 8500gt tdh hdmi. works great. I guess the only issue is that it is hot, hot, hot, like 80 degrees when its working, so you need to ventilate your case well.

ivan

I too use the 8500gt tdh hdmi. It is a half height card and seems to handle freeview HD okay. Tried the 4350 but immediately struck the standard ATI problems with blockiness and green-screen so back it went.

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meesham

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#225773 17-Jun-2009 10:42

I have the Sapphire HD 4550, it runs 720p and 1080i great - usually about 50C under load. I have 2x 120mm (42cfm) fans blowing air out from the side of the case, about 15cm from the video card.

I'm using the PowerDVD8 codec with hardware acceleration turned on, it requires very little CPU usage.

mcraenz

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#226138 18-Jun-2009 10:04

Thanks guys, that gives me some options :)

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mike872c

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#228309 25-Jun-2009 16:49

Hi there, can anyone put me straight on this DVB-T hardware acceleration thing?
What I'm doing is recording the odd Freeview show via my Avermedia card which produces a MP4 file. Playback of this MP4 file via MPC or even the junk Avermedia software causes a huge increase in cpu useage on this thread, most notably with TV3 (obviously). The laptop that I use for this has only a Nvidia GO7600 (M) video card. If I upgrade to a laptop with say 9600GT video, will this cpu useage drop considerably, without any other software, drivers, applications etc.

Ragnor

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#228327 25-Jun-2009 17:30

The software player you are using has to know how to leverage the hardware for decoding.

Have a go with Media Player Classic HC
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

richms

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#228357 25-Jun-2009 20:32

I just dont get why these cards are so hot when doing h264, whereas a dse/jc matthews settop barely gets above ambient without any fans at all.

Does anyone make a card without all the unneeded 3d stuff, but with h264 support as found in a settop box or similar?

Richard rich.ms

mike872c

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#228500 26-Jun-2009 11:27

Hi Ragnor

I'm using MPC HC now. Are you saying that MPC HC can ulitilise h.264 avc hardware decoding if it's available on the video card?

Ragnor

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#228511 26-Jun-2009 11:55

mike872c: Hi Ragnor

I'm using MPC HC now. Are you saying that MPC HC can ulitilise h.264 avc hardware decoding if it's available on the video card?

This page explains mpc hc support for direct x hardware acceleration and which models etc
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/DXVASupport.html

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mike872c

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#228514 26-Jun-2009 12:21

Hi Ragnor,

cheers for that link. As I suspected, nvidia 8x/9x cards only. So that'll be a good excuse to upgrade