HTPC Video Card Advice

T

tbonepat11

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 2, 2001
Messages
412
Hey all! My console DVD player broke and I have an almost complete extra PC laying around and figured i would just turn it into a DVD player/HTPC. I just need a video card that has decent video output and performance. It will just be used for DVD playback on my TV so the right outputs would be nice. I would like it to be pretty cheap. I was thinking of a Radeon 8500? Any advice would be well appreciated. Thank you.
 
Originally posted by tbonepat11
Hey all! My console DVD player broke and I have an almost complete extra PC laying around and figured i would just turn it into a DVD player/HTPC. I just need a video card that has decent video output and performance. It will just be used for DVD playback on my TV so the right outputs would be nice. I would like it to be pretty cheap. I was thinking of a Radeon 8500? Any advice would be well appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...

What you need is a Realmagic Xcard. The best DVD card out there. You will be surprised what 10-bit colours can do :) I just wished it supported higher res for watching the movies on a PC though. It´s optimized for HDTV:s it seems.

But I usually sit in the couch and then the jaggies are a none problem :)
 
If it's just for HTPC stuff, and not heavy gaming, find an old Matrox G400 or G400max (not G450/550). It can run monitor+TV or just the TV. It's TV out is better than most newer cards, as it had an external Mavin chip dedicated to TV decoding.
I still use my old G400 in my HTPC rig, mostly for DVD and the kid's games, and it still works great.
 
Originally posted by Kruzin
If it's just for HTPC stuff, and not heavy gaming, find an old Matrox G400 or G400max (not G450/550).
Click to expand...
:D I'm looking to get one of those next month.
 
are you limited by your height? - most HTPC enclosured (or if you built one custom, like i did :D) are height limited and you need a low-profile card... might i suggest radeon 9200 (if you want cheap) or 9600 (if you want semi-cheap).
 
thanks for all the replies. Gave me some things to look at. I am not limited on height...i am using a standard ATX case. I couldnt find too many vendors that i trust selling the Realmagic XCards. I think i will check around some more and see what my options are. Thanks again for the replies.
 
If you want the Realmagic Xcard you could buy it from the company for $99. http://www.buyrealmagic.com/
I did find one review of the Realmagic Xcard.
Also depending on what DVD playing software your using you could get a Gigabyte card since they come with PowerDVD; some of the Albatron cards come with WinDVD. The Matrox G400 or G400max are legendary for their TV out capability; you can still get them from Matrox for about $60 I think but eBay goes for like $40 tops but I'm pretty sure that your going to have to get the little VGA to Tv connector from Matrox (it's about $11).
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...=48&manufactory=1314&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-170-042&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-170-027&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
http://www.matrox.com/mga/buy_matrox/buy_video/usa.cfm
eBay links
http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/Sa...itle=Matrox+G400+max&sosortproperty=1&from=R9
http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/Sa...&satitle=Matrox+G400&sosortproperty=1&from=R9
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top