Best Vid Card for Media Center PC

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pizzleboy

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Aug 11, 2003
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Hey gang,

I currently have a Saphire HD 2600 that I have OC'd to the max, but I still get some lag during really intensive HD content.

I don't want a gaming card, just something with HDMI sound output.

Any recommendations as to a powerful upgrade without breaking the bank? No gaming needed.

Thanks!
 
OP, just having a decent GPU doesn't guarantee you are actually using it to decode video. You could put a GTX295 in a 1.6GHz single-core Atom powered mobo and unless you have the software setup correctly to do GPU decoding, you will still get laggy HD playback.

If you just want a GPU upgrade, just pick up an ATI 4*** series card with HDMI.
 
i think the 4850 512 is great for htpc's. its powerful enough for some 1080p gaming and with a rear exhaust cooled model is quite acceptable for the cramped confines of a desktop sized htpc case.
 
+1 on either the 4670 or 4650.

Also, criccio is right, what are you using for playback?
 
rennyf77 said:
i think the 4850 512 is great for htpc's. its powerful enough for some 1080p gaming and with a rear exhaust cooled model is quite acceptable for the cramped confines of a desktop sized htpc case.
Click to expand...

Way to read the OP. :rolleyes:
 
My HTPC has a 4550 and it's fantastic. I actually got the passively-cooled version, and ended up having to stick a fan on it - not enough airflow in the case when inside the cabinet. Approx 20W at the maximum load I've been able to put on it (playing back Blu-Ray and playing Guild Wars at the same time).

If you're simply wanting to playback Blu-Ray, etc then go for the 4550. You could also get the 4350, but it apparently doesn't quite have enough grunt to handle all Blu-Ray features (e.g. picture-in-picture at maximum bitrate). You will need a DxVA-capable program like PowerDVD 8 (PDVD9 apparently won't let you use the codec in other programs ...) or Arcsoft TotalTheatre to play back Blu-Ray.

If you just want to play back H.264 files with hardware offloading, you can use MPC-HCwhich will also allow you to playback soft-subtitles with hardware-offloading. MediaPortal is going to get the capability to use the MPC-HC softsubs via DxVA in version 1.0.2 (there's a patch to the 1.0.1 SVN to enable it).

If you want to do post-processing then you will need to use CoreAVC 1.9, and will have to get an nVidia card (e.g. the 9500GT). CoreAVC 1.9.0 has some bugs, but they're being addressed for 1.9.1 apparently. CoreAVC is also capable of playing back a wider range of H.264 files with hardware offloading than the DxVA codecs can.

For comparison, I was able to play back an unencrypted Blu-Ray image (AnyDVD HD rip) of Wall-E on a Sempron 3000+ (1.6GHz) with the HD4550 with about 10% CPU usage. Even if the CPU had been having to decrypt the disc, it still would have been easily playable.
 
Hey all,

thanks for the great replies.

I'm currently using a P4 3.0 HT OC to 3.3 and 2Gig of MEM.

Most of the stuff I'm watching is downloaded mkv files. Planet Earth in 720, for example.

Typically, the CPU is running about 45-50%, so I'm sure it must be the vid card that can't handle the load.

I'm using regular old WMP with the Klite codec pack. Which seems fine for 99% of useage, but during really intense video, like water with waves and fish etc... or massive flocks of birds it starts to chunk.

The plan is to eventually get a BR player, but for now, it just decoding ripped content.


Is this what you are all recommending?:

http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=021415&cid=999.243.272


Thanks again!
 
pizzleboy said:
Hey all,

thanks for the great replies.

I'm currently using a P4 3.0 HT OC to 3.3 and 2Gig of MEM.

Most of the stuff I'm watching is downloaded mkv files. Planet Earth in 720, for example.

Typically, the CPU is running about 45-50%, so I'm sure it must be the vid card that can't handle the load.

I'm using regular old WMP with the Klite codec pack. Which seems fine for 99% of useage, but during really intense video, like water with waves and fish etc... or massive flocks of birds it starts to chunk.

The plan is to eventually get a BR player, but for now, it just decoding ripped content.


Is this what you are all recommending?:

http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=021415&cid=999.243.272


Thanks again!
Click to expand...

yes it is. in fact there is an artical on this you might like to read
http://www.guru3d.com/article/accelerate-x264-1080p-movies-over-the-gpu-guide/1

using this method the decoding is removed from your cpu almost entirely. takes away your low end cpu issue. also I don't know about Canada but here you can simply add a blue ray drive for around 80-90 dollars, no need to get a dedicated player
 
an 8600/8500 is more than enough.

You can use PowerDVD or media player classic to do the hardware decoding.

Edit: My bad. Missed the HDMI requirement.
 
Thanks for the help all.

I've upgraded to the 4670, and am using the player suggested above.

My CPU never goes above 10%, which is great, but some of the really intense scenes still chunk up the video.

thoughts?
 
Personally, if I were building a HTPC I'd use this mobo with it's integrated graphics...works PERFECTLY. I have build several HTPCs with this board and it's wonderful. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128379

BUT that said, you want a vid card that will do all that you are asking. I see you got the 4670, which is a pretty good card. As far as your decoding issues go, I use the klite pack and disable a few options in the FDshow video codec and 1080p content plays fine.
 
pizzleboy said:
Thanks for the help all.

I've upgraded to the 4670, and am using the player suggested above.

My CPU never goes above 10%, which is great, but some of the really intense scenes still chunk up the video.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sort of seems like your power supply might not be hanging with everything else? If you are using an older hard drive, that might also be reason for the stuttering. What PSU and hard drive models do you have? Good choice on the card though. If you were looking to make a purchase in the coming weeks, I would have recommended either the 4670 or the upcoming 4770 based on the RV740 which is supposed to be pretty sweet.
 
pizzleboy said:
Thanks for the help all.

I've upgraded to the 4670, and am using the player suggested above.

My CPU never goes above 10%, which is great, but some of the really intense scenes still chunk up the video.

thoughts?
Click to expand...

I can't imagine that being a problem for that card. have you check the other possible issues?
 
Codecs probably aren't set up properly, as several others have already tried to explain in detail. Codec packs are the devil.
 
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