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Best Cheap HTPC Card?

A

Asacolips

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
272
I've been trying to configure a low-cost pc for my fiance's mother, as she's needing a new computer quite badly compared to her old one. Anyways, I've been interested in the prices I'm finding for HTPC parts on new egg, so I've decided that would be a nice route.

The main intention here is for a system that is not slow for everyday tasks/social networking/etc. Additionally, she watches a lot of dvd's on it. Finally, I'm trying to leave open the possibility for blu-ray, since they recently got a 46" samsung at 1080p.

Anyways, I'm trying to decide on the best performance/price ratio of a low-profile card. Performance isn't the most important thing, but it does need to handle Windows 7 (which everything I've looked at can) as well as fully take advantage of Blu-Ray at 1080p, in case we decided to upgrade the optical drive.

At the moment, the main choices I've leaned towards are a $54 HD 4650 and a $69 GT 220. I'm not sure how nvidia's and amd's video technology compare, which is really what has me on the fence here. Plus I've heard that the 220 is faster than the 4650, but not sure it's worth the additional cost. There's also the possibility of the 210, as I've seen those go as low as $42.

Anyways, what would be the best performance/price value for a low-profile card? Leaning more towards the low end of price as well, and not willing to go above $70 for the price.

Here's the other specs:
HTPC Case (Going by price/looks/bays)
GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
(2 sticks) CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
LITE-ON Dvd Drive

Also, here are the 3 cards I've been looking at the most. Again, I'm open to different suggestions, if they're a better value. This isn't my personal pc, after all.
Sapphire Radeon HD4650 512mb
MSI GeForce 210 512mb
ASUS GeForce GT220 1gb
 
Somthing like this would probably work: Powercolor Radeon HD3450. I actually snagged one last week for $15 shipped and it should handle any of the tasks that you are looking to have this PC do.

Edit: Here is a 4650 for $29.99 after MIR.

I personally would prefer a 4600 series card over a 4300, older 4300, or nVidia option. I've used them for HTPC's before and the performance is flawless. Having the extra shader processors is nice too.
 
The ATi 4350's will handle 1080p playback and typically run $30-$40 (sometimes lower with rebate). They are low profile, passively cooled and silent.
 
^ I agree with him. Unless you're planning on playing games, that card will be sufficient for blue ray playback
 
Thanks for the suggestions. 4350 is looking nice too. I'm having trouble finding power requirements for these cards...will the included 270 watt psu handle the 4350/4650/etc?
 
Why not just get an nVidia 9300 chipset based motherboard? Should do the trick without add-on GPU required.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Mostly cost. As far as video goes, I would assume the integrated gma 4500 (apparently a decent intel gpu) to handle similarly to the 9300. Also, this motherboard is only around $60 and the cheapest nvidia gpu mobos I saw were at or above $100. Not to mention, there was a powercolor 4650 that was $44 and $30 and MIR. That more or less negates the cost difference, and I'm guessing the 4650 is miles better than an integrated geforce 9300.
 
Asacolips said:
Mostly cost. As far as video goes, I would assume the integrated gma 4500 (apparently a decent intel gpu) to handle similarly to the 9300. Also, this motherboard is only around $60 and the cheapest nvidia gpu mobos I saw were at or above $100. Not to mention, there was a powercolor 4650 that was $44 and $30 and MIR. That more or less negates the cost difference, and I'm guessing the 4650 is miles better than an integrated geforce 9300.
Click to expand...

Yup, investing on an Nvidia chipset motherboard is not recommendable since they pretty much killed off their chipset division. You do not want to be stuck with technology that will stop being supported.
 
Asacolips said:
Mostly cost. As far as video goes, I would assume the integrated gma 4500 (apparently a decent intel gpu) to handle similarly to the 9300. Also, this motherboard is only around $60 and the cheapest nvidia gpu mobos I saw were at or above $100. Not to mention, there was a powercolor 4650 that was $44 and $30 and MIR. That more or less negates the cost difference, and I'm guessing the 4650 is miles better than an integrated geforce 9300.
Click to expand...

If you go for motherboard IGP's stick with the AMD GPUS 3200 3300 4100 4200 all good built in graphics will handle your video needs. nothing Intel based GPU wise is worth it and nvidia IGP is dead in water.
 
When I was building my HTPC I first started with a mobo with integrated Intel 4500HD and the drivers were terrible, no control over anything and very few options. I now have a mobo with integreated nvidia 9300 and it works great, Im confused by what people are bashing about it.
 
I believe they're bashing it's potential to die, considering nvidia's state with their chipset division. As I said a minute ago, It's virtually the same price for the selected mobo and a 4650 as it is for 9300 mobo, so the 4650 option is preferred. That said, I'm gonna look up the prices for a 3200 motherboard.

[EDIT] Just looked up a radeon 3200 integrated motherboard, turns out they're all amd. Price of the motherboard is almost exactly the same, and a faster processor is significantly cheaper. My only question is, how do the two processors compare? I haven't used an amd in forever, and thus have to rely on heresay, while all of my core 2's have been amazing performers. Anyways, this particular one is a socket am3 Athlon II x2 at 3.0ghz. How does that compare to the 2.8ghz pentium dual core I posted earlier (which is apparently a wolfdale core 2...)?

Here's the direct links:
AM2+/AM3 Athlon II X2 3.0ghz with integrated 3200
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
 
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I have a 8200 mobo and works great with everything I throw at it. Talking from experiance nvidia cards work great with MPC-HC with DXVA/CUDA enabled. For cpu I use a little AMD 5050e cpu @ 2.8Ghz (plenty of power)

However, 8200IGP cannot do both hdmi/dvi outputs at the same time, so I'm forced to upgrade. As for the video card I'm considering buying GT220 with a dual head support or 4670 (I love the HSF on it, pushing all hot air from the case).

I don't want to hijack you thread, but does anyone know if 4670 has a dual monitor support? So I can drive one from hdmi and the second one dvi.

Basically I need a solid HTPC video card with a true dual monitor support. I don't game on my HTPC nor I pass the audio over hdmi.

BTW...for a rough video card wattage usage you can use www.gpureview.com

Asacolips said:
I believe they're bashing it's potential to die, considering nvidia's state with their chipset division. As I said a minute ago, It's virtually the same price for the selected mobo and a 4650 as it is for 9300 mobo, so the 4650 option is preferred. That said, I'm gonna look up the prices for a 3200 motherboard.

[EDIT] Just looked up a radeon 3200 integrated motherboard, turns out they're all amd. Price of the motherboard is almost exactly the same, and a faster processor is significantly cheaper. My only question is, how do the two processors compare? I haven't used an amd in forever, and thus have to rely on heresay, while all of my core 2's have been amazing performers. Anyways, this particular one is a socket am3 Athlon II x2 at 3.0ghz. How does that compare to the 2.8ghz pentium dual core I posted earlier (which is apparently a wolfdale core 2...)?

Here's the direct links:
AM2+/AM3 Athlon II X2 3.0ghz with integrated 3200
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
Click to expand...
 
I'll pass on a mini-itx form factor. As for your upgrade, are you sure you want a 220? Would a 9600 gt perform better? Shouldn't be too hard to find one with two dvi ports, and get adapters for those.
 
Asacolips said:
I'll pass on a mini-itx form factor. As for your upgrade, are you sure you want a 220? Would a 9600 gt perform better? Shouldn't be too hard to find one with two dvi ports, and get adapters for those.
Click to expand...

I was considering GT220, because of latest nvidia's pure video 4 support. No doubt 9600GT is more powerful card. However I set my mind now on the upcoming ATI HD5670...
 
Just get a 4650 and not hate yourself later. It's really good with playback and if you decide on playing a few games here and there (Like I do on my HTPC... Mirror's Edge and the like) it'll run really well.
 
amd7674 said:
I was considering GT220, because of latest nvidia's pure video 4 support. No doubt 9600GT is more powerful card. However I set my mind now on the upcoming ATI HD5670...
Click to expand...

Good choice. A 5670 or 5750 would all be a lot more powerful options than a GT220. Doesn't anybody look at the benchmarks when they talk about buying a GT210/220??

Just look at which video card is DEAD LAST on those benches, and you have yourself the GT220. Only the GT210 is even worse. such a ripoff with the Nvidia rebranding.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gt-220-review-test/5#
 
In my case, it's because I'm needing a low-profile size graphics card for the HTPC form factor. In something like that, performance is less important. Also, who in their right mind would try to play with a 220 level card in 1920x1080?

On a side note, the 220 is not a rebranded card. It's just a really weak card. That may be because it's so low on power consumption though.
 
The only true answer to the OP's initial question is the 4350.
 
4350, have one as my secondary. Runs two screens flawlessly, even playing 1080p files.
 
only thing about the 4650, is I've been able to find 4650 for comparable or less with MIR. On a side note, is Hybrid Crossfire any decent? I've heard bad things about nvidia's hybrid sli, but I'm assuming ati's scales differently. I've decided on using the 3200 integrated motherboard, because of how low price the Athlon II X2's are, and realized it could possibly hybrid it up with another ati card later, if absolutely needed.
 
IMHO, I would still recommend buying 8200 mobo instead of 3200 mobo with a good AMD cpu.... X3 are getting cheap... ;) The 8200IGP with combination of MPC-HC/DXVA or MPC-HC/CUDA/CoreAVC will allow you to play 720P/1080P H.264 flicks. The only thing I hate about 8200 is not to be able run two displays using hdmi/dvi at the same time. However using vga/hdmi is fine... :rolleyes:

Either way I like your approach and if you need to upgrade you can do it so later on.. ;)

http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watching-h264-videos-using-dxva/

http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/watching-h264-videos-using-compute-unified-device-architecture-cuda/

Don't forget early next year ATI will realease lower end HD5xxx card, which also will more likely lower prices for HD4xxx and nvidia's GT220/240 cards. This is a good news for everybody...

I know everybody is bashing GT220/240 mainly due to its bad gaming performance and price tag. However for the right price and their pure video 4 (VP4) support, they still would be a good choice for a none-light gaming HTPC machine.

Asacolips said:
only thing about the 4650, is I've been able to find 4650 for comparable or less with MIR. On a side note, is Hybrid Crossfire any decent? I've heard bad things about nvidia's hybrid sli, but I'm assuming ati's scales differently. I've decided on using the 3200 integrated motherboard, because of how low price the Athlon II X2's are, and realized it could possibly hybrid it up with another ati card later, if absolutely needed.
Click to expand...
 
i ugpraded my htpc from a hd4350 to a 4650 and it made a nice difference in overall smoothness.. and i can now run 2x 1920x1080 with no issues
 
Asacolips said:
only thing about the 4650, is I've been able to find 4650 for comparable or less with MIR. On a side note, is Hybrid Crossfire any decent? I've heard bad things about nvidia's hybrid sli, but I'm assuming ati's scales differently. I've decided on using the 3200 integrated motherboard, because of how low price the Athlon II X2's are, and realized it could possibly hybrid it up with another ati card later, if absolutely needed.
Click to expand...

Hybrid crossfire is a waste imo. Thats because the onboard graphics chip in most cases will be significantly slower than discrete graphics. and the key with crossfire is that the video card pair will be limited to the speeds of the SLOWER gpu. So yes you have two gpus, but limiting them both to the speed of the slower gpu would pretty much waste any performance gains you would have gotten or gimp it signficantly enough not to be worth it. Either go with onboard graphics and accept the limitations or get discrete graphics and accept the additional power draw, but also better performance.
 
Hybrid limits to the slower card as well? I knew regular crossfire scaled to the lower model, but I was under the impression that hybrid would be different in that regard. My reasoning for thinking that was that they offer multiple discreet gpu's for hybrid. If it all scaled to say a base 3200, I wouldn't see any point in offering multiple gpu's.

On a side note going back to earlier: how does the athlon II x2 at 3.0 ghz compare to the pentium dual core at 2.8ghz? I'm assuming the edge will be on the athlon II in this case, but not sure. Would an x3 be worth the small additional cost ($20 or so methinks)?

Thanks again for all the input!
 
4350 is hands down the best choice for any HTPC user, I have a 4550 only because the 4350's with an HDMI plug were out :(. Either way I paid $30 for the 4550 and the 4350 would have been $25!

So, my recommendation is get the 4350 or 4550, mine plays blu-ray, normal 19x10 rez video, and anything other then gaming flawlessly.

Oh it also alows me to only have one fan in my case and thats the PSU fan.
 
ejlamb said:
The ATi 4350's will handle 1080p playback and typically run $30-$40 (sometimes lower with rebate). They are low profile, passively cooled and silent.
Click to expand...
I have this card in my HTPC, it works beautifully. Shop around at a place like Newegg that shows all the outputs though. Most of them are different. Some have HDMI out, but require the ATI adapter...and only some of those include the adapter.

Mccaula718 said:
Also case wise, i'd take a look at the COOLER MASTER Elite 360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...195&cm_re=coolermaster-_-11-119-195-_-Product

Thats the case i plan on putting my htpc into. Case is all your choice though, so get what you like
Click to expand...
I have that exact case. In hindsight I wouldn't have purchased it except that the manager at Microcenter price checked it wrong at $7. It is extremely cramped. You can't fit a normal sized video card (length of motherboard, e.g. 4850) in it because of the orientation of the PSU. The PSU cables will get in the way. Modular PSU's and lots of zipties for cable management is a necessity for this case. Also, the rubber feet won't stay stuck on, so I was forced to glue them on.
 
I suppose Athlon II might be a better option compared to Pentium, unless you already bought the system.
 
System hasn't been purchased yet. Also for a cheaper costs (and since this isn't actually for me) I'm more or less considering now to just try the integrated 3200 out first, and then go up to a 3450 or 4350 if it proves necessary. Currently no Blu-ray to be driven by it, so I doubt it will at the moment. That said, I'm still *trying* to lobby for them to get a Blu-ray drive, since there's such a nice 46" samsung in their living room...
 
If you have Fry's near you I picked up an All In Wonder HD for $40. Its $70 at fry.com.

Its a 3650 w/HD TV Tuner.
 
Asacolips said:
System hasn't been purchased yet. Also for a cheaper costs (and since this isn't actually for me) I'm more or less considering now to just try the integrated 3200 out first, and then go up to a 3450 or 4350 if it proves necessary. Currently no Blu-ray to be driven by it, so I doubt it will at the moment. That said, I'm still *trying* to lobby for them to get a Blu-ray drive, since there's such a nice 46" samsung in their living room...
Click to expand...

board with 785G chipset have HD 4200 integrated, much better option than HD 3200.
and also considering DDR3 is the same price as DDR2 these days.

BIOSTAR TA785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
 
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That combo is really nice, and I think I'll look for more. The only thing is I don't want 2 x 1gb for ram, because that cut's out upgrading on this motherboard. Also, that 4670 is nice, but it won't fit the form factor I'm going for.
 
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