The best low-profile PCIe x16 video card?

i have the hp s3100y also, added 2 gigs of ram bought 8400gs but want to upgrade. are there any good lp video cards coming out soon like the 9000 series, or is the 8600 gt the best deal. I was thinking about buying a bigger case with a psu and upgrading to a normal video card. Not sure whats the best atm.
 
The MSI 8600 gt is performing great even with the 160watt power supply. This low profile DDR2 version is not as powerful as the galaxy DDR3 version but for the price it is unmatched. It scores 5.3 gaming and 5.0 vista graphics in the performance score thingy. I use the official NVidia drivers not the MSI ones. The MSI drivers have the ablilie to overclock but I didnt want to push my luck!
 
The MSI 8600 GT runs a little hotter than my old ATI HD 2400 pro but no BSOD's to date!
 
Anyone spot a newer low profile card yet? Hoping a 3650 or 9600 rolls out sometime soon. I doubt well see one from the 9600 due to the amount of performance it offers but I can hope.
 
I was thinking the same thing! I would really like to see the 9600 in a low profile version but I too don't think it'll ever happen. Apparently it consumes 55W.
 
I heard that the new 9500 gt was gonna have the near same performance as the existing 8600 GTS!!! No mention of a low profile version but it WAS said that it was extreemly likely as it was up to the manufactures. As we know Leadtek and MSI, Galaxy and XFX all make existing Low profile LOW end Nvidia products and the New 9500 GT would be a prime example of a new LOW end, but hey! if thats true 8600 GTS performance Wa hay!!!!!
 
practal said:
Anyone spot a newer low profile card yet? Hoping a 3650 or 9600 rolls out sometime soon. I doubt well see one from the 9600 due to the amount of performance it offers but I can hope.
Click to expand...

When the 2600 XT was first released a company called Visiontek did a LOW PROFILE version of this card with HDMI socket!!!! So you never know 3650 Low Pro could very well be on the cards.... so to speak.
 
When the 2600 XT was first released a company called Visiontek did a LOW PROFILE version of this card with HDMI socket!!!! So you never know 3650 Low Pro could very well be on the cards.... so to speak.
Click to expand...

Damn it! :mad: Where were you a few months ago. I spent months trying to find a low profile 2600XT and couldnt even find a hint of one existing. Bah, to late now. As soon as a 3650 pops up you guys need to speak up.

Usualy the lintroductory Nvidia lower end cards come in low profile variants (5200/6200/7300/8500) so I would assume the 9500 would too. From what Ive read (internet rumors of course) we still have until summer before that hits. If thats the case, ATIs 4x00 series is rumored to hit the same time so well have plenty of options on the table.
 
practal said:
Damn it! :mad: Where were you a few months ago. I spent months trying to find a low profile 2600XT and couldnt even find a hint of one existing. Bah, to late now. As soon as a 3650 pops up you guys need to speak up.

Usualy the lintroductory Nvidia lower end cards come in low profile variants (5200/6200/7300/8500) so I would assume the 9500 would too. From what Ive read (internet rumors of course) we still have until summer before that hits. If thats the case, ATIs 4x00 series is rumored to hit the same time so well have plenty of options on the table.
Click to expand...

Sorry, only got my system two weeks ago. I'm surprised the 2600 hasnt been mentioned on this thread before tho. When I was searchin for a low pro for my setup I noticed the reviews of the Visiontek 2600 XT. They are a rare as rockin horse shit now, but it does give hope for the 3650... Come on Visiontek!!!!
 
Yeah I searched far and wide for a LP 2600XT for a few months and turned up nothing. I then started searching for a 8600 which lead me to this thread, never bough one as price to high. I did some searching for the 2600XT after I saw that and found some reviews but none for sale.

I did however stumble upon a Visiontek 2600XT X2 and it made me go WTF? Apparently Visiontek is a good company attempting to bring something new to the table by changing reference designs. Im definatly going to be watching what they do and hope for a newer low profile. Innovative companies that do this stuff definatly deserve our money to continue on.

I was real shocked that I couldnt find a single post on [H] about the 2600XT X2 or even the 2600XT low profile. As it stands now, Ill probably be going with a 3450 and 780G with side bar next month. Im hoping for something with a little more power to pop up before hand. Hopefully Hybrid Crosssfire opens some doors for more powerful low profile combos and ends up working out well.
 
practal said:
Anyone spot a newer low profile card yet? Hoping a 3650 or 9600 rolls out sometime soon. I doubt well see one from the 9600 due to the amount of performance it offers but I can hope.
Click to expand...
omjeremy said:
I was thinking the same thing! I would really like to see the 9600 in a low profile version but I too don't think it'll ever happen. Apparently it consumes 55W.
Click to expand...

Back on page 6 we mused whether a 256-bus was too big for a LP card. If so, the 9600GT won't work.

If 256-bit is too big, it would be interesting if 192-bit was OK ... LP 8800GS anyone? :)

Ajax9000 said:
Oddly enough I had been pondering for the past few months if a 192-bit GPU would see the light of day -- but I thought if I mentioned it I'd be laughed off the web. The reason is that there could be one possible use for a 192-bit interface -- low profile cards.

The continuing lack of 256-bit low-profile cards lead a couple of us in the low profile thread to speculate that it may be too hard to squeeze a 256-bit bus onto the PCB. But 192-bit may be do-able. If so, a LP 8800GS with SPDIF-in + DVI/HDMI could be an attractive proposition for a slimline HTPC.
Click to expand...
Or maybe there'll be a 192-bit 9600GS that could go low?
 
Im not happy with the temperature of my PSU. I think I'm gonna replace the the 8600 GT with a 3450 HD. The new ATI card only needs 7 - 10w whereas the Nvidia needs 30w. I might get away with it in the short term but in the long term...well replaceing the PSU on the HP slimline isnt friendly. I couldnt touch the back of my PC last night, it was that hot. No errors or anything but I KNOW it isnt right. Maybe If I had the INTEL version with the 180w power supply I might just get away with it.
 
JTBomb said:
Im not happy with the temperature of my PSU. I think I'm gonna replace the the 8600 GT with a 3450 HD. The new ATI card only needs 7 - 10w whereas the Nvidia needs 30w. I might get away with it in the short term but in the long term...well replaceing the PSU on the HP slimline isnt friendly. I couldnt touch the back of my PC last night, it was that hot. No errors or anything but I KNOW it isnt right. Maybe If I had the INTEL version with the 180w power supply I might just get away with it.
Click to expand...

seeing that you have a pocket media drive bigger hd which may help heating your psu up, and if you do get rid of your 8600gt hit me up ^^:rolleyes:
 
Ajax9000 said:
Back on page 6 we mused whether a 256-bus was too big for a LP card. If so, the 9600GT won't work.

If 256-bit is too big, it would be interesting if 192-bit was OK ... LP 8800GS anyone? :)


Or maybe there'll be a 192-bit 9600GS that could go low?
Click to expand...

It makes some sense, because it reduces the card PCB complexity, and also reduces the minimum component count to 6 memory chips.

Still, I think manufacturers are comfortable with 64-bit and 128-bit buses in low-profile; this gives them much thinner PCBs, and keeps the component count at a low 2-4 memory chips. This is not likely to change soon because low-profile 128-bit cards offer perfectly capable HD video performance, and they still pack 'acceptable' gaming performance for most people.

Really folks, I said the same thing a year ago in this thread, and nothing has really changed: the best cards still have 128-bit buses, good video decoding performance, but marginal gaming performance. It is unlikely that a vendor will make a low-profile performance card, because it is too expensive, and low-profile is not the target market for performance.

In fact, if you don't mind me quoting myself like you did...

Really man, if you got a case in mind that only accepts low-profile cards, don't expect miracles. These cards are mostly low-end because the market for media PCs doesn't really cater to high-end gaming. In addition, midrange and high-end cards are going to remain full-size for the most part because it's just not cost-effective to design them as low-profile cards, with all those components on them.
Click to expand...

I stand by what I said then, because it is still true now. Low-profile cards will always lag behind full-size cards; it is just the nature of the business, because we've hit the minimum profitable size for performance expansion cards already. If you want performance, you need a case that can accept full-size cards. If you must have a small media box with low-profile slots, you WILL sacrifice gaming performance. Make the decision before you buy your computer.
 
I think your arguments are perfectly reasonable, and I agree that we are not likely to see a significant jump in LP card performance.

However, I'm not sure I fully agree with this:
defaultluser said:
... low-profile 128-bit cards offer perfectly capable HD video performance, and ...
Click to expand...
... at least where Nvidia cards are concerned. Nvidia advises that lower end hardware may not be able to do the same amount of post-processing (image quality enhancement) as higher hardware -- note from Nvidia's PureVideo Support Table:
* Enabling Inverse Telecine, Noise Reduction and Edge Enhancements simultaneously requires additional processing power and may not be possible without dropping frames on some graphics cards.
Click to expand...
HardwareZone recently showed too how CPU usage scales differently between UVD/Avivo and Purevideo.

Whether these two factors are sufficent to "need" a GPU greater than a 8600GT, I don't know.
 
Ajax9000 said:
I think your arguments are perfectly reasonable, and I agree that we are not likely to see a significant jump in LP card performance.

However, I'm not sure I fully agree with this:
... at least where Nvidia cards are concerned. Nvidia advises that lower end hardware may not be able to do the same amount of post-processing (image quality enhancement) as higher hardware -- note from Nvidia's PureVideo Support Table:

HardwareZone recently showed too how CPU usage scales differently between UVD/Avivo and Purevideo.

Whether these two factors are sufficent to "need" a GPU greater than a 8600GT, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Well, I'd have to say that, from those graphs, there's a %2 difference in CPU usage with the 8600GT vs the 8800GT...not really significant. While I would agree that the 8500GT is a bit underpowered, and I wouldn't even bother with the 8400GS, the 8600GT is very capable, and readily available in low-profile form.

As for how much CPU you require, unless you're recording two channels at once while trying to playback an HD movie, I wouldn't worry my head over %20 processor usage. And if you are insistent on such a setup, then make a beefy back-end for recoding, and use whatever you like in the front-end, because the video card makes even the crappiest processor an HD powerhouse.
 
what i dont get is why you would go through so much trouble to find a low profile card when you could find a $50 case that is big enough to fit all the stuff u want
 
One reason why people are searching for the best low-profile cards are small cases. To supplement that, a lot of people have purchased HP Slimline PC. They are powerful little monsters, but upgrading their graphics card is troublesome cause you can only use low-profile cards.
 
Galaxy 8600GT low profile
102_0559.jpg

102_0560-1.jpg


Anyone want this?
 
I found out from Chaintech tech support that the Chaintech low profile card does not support HDCP

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814145153


My Question

Does the 8600GT model GSV86GT have HDCP so that you could play Blue-Ray and HD-DVD discs with it


Here is there response from my question.

dear sir
you need HDCP modle board.
low profile cannot support that.



********************************
Dragon.Ku
華東承啟科技(股)公司
Walton Chaintech Computer Co., Ltd
台北縣板橋市民生路1段3號12樓(正隆廣場)
12F, No.3, Sec. 1, Minsheng Rd., Banciao City, Taipei County 220, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2959-9888Ext.:278
Fax: +886-2-2959-9889
E-mail:[email protected]
Web:http://www.chaintech.com.tw/eng/index.php
********************************





How cool is it to have your first name be dragon though :) :cool:
 
For the Chaintech 8600GT(linked above), do you have to buy the low profile bracket seperately?
 
I emailed chain tech support last night and got this response.

"dear sir
GeForce 9 series card is still on working now.
please want will release in few month.


********************************
Dragon.Ku
華東承啟科技(股)公司
Walton Chaintech Computer Co., Ltd
台北縣板橋市民生路1段3號12樓(正隆廣場)
12F, No.3, Sec. 1, Minsheng Rd., Banciao City, Taipei County 220, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2959-9888Ext.:278
Fax: +886-2-2959-9889
E-mail:[email protected]
Web:http://www.chaintech.com.tw/eng/index.php"

not the best english but certainly clear enough to let me know to wait till this summer.:D
 
Guys - don't delay on this at all if you are interested.

The low profile Galaxy 8600GT with HDCP and DDR3 is back in stock at NCIX.com. It's got a $40 rebate. $105-$40 rebate = $65 + shipping.

I got my $40 rebate from Galaxy after about 2 months wait on the 8800GT I bought -- it arrived just today. So that confirms the rebates are good!

This card is out of stock nearly all the time and to my knowledge it's the best 8600GT low profile option there is for those of us who need a low profile 8600GT, because the chaintech card doesn't have HDCP.

Web link for card

http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=26441

Web link for rebate

http://docs.ncix.com/artman2/uploads/1/26441US-May-15-08.pdf

I picked one up for my HP slimline s3200t
 
I just ordered the Galaxy 8600GT for use in a Dell 530s. This will be upgrading from a 6800GT so I'm hoping to see good improvement. What is the known range for overclocking this card? I wanna get the best performance I can, but don't wanna burn the card out either.
 
Awesome news baryluk. I hope we don't have to wait too long to get them, but considering how long it took for the Galaxy 8600gt to be available in the US, I say we've got a while. It looks awfully long though.
 
Beat me to the LP 9600GT announcement. I was hoping for a low profile 9600GSO so a 9600GT is more then welcomed. I thought it wasnt possible to fit a 256-bit card into the low profile form factor? To me, the pic appears to be a normal card with a low profile cooler, not an actual low profile card. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And whats the difference between hardware and software SLI? If this thing performs well Ill be rebuilding my slim gaming system.
 
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