Best low-profile video card for HTPC duty? Gaming? PCI-E

[VirtualLarry]

I'm looking at 8400GS, Radeon 5450, or NV GT430.

Which one would be better for HTPC usage? The GT430 appears to be the most expensive.

I think not all 8400GS cards have the video decoding feature-set, it was added partway through production of those chips.

5450 should be solid, but I wonder if GT430 is better? I don't know much about the lower-end GT/GTX4xx series from NV, although I own two GTX460 1GB cards.




Radeon 5450:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127557

GT430:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134121

MSI GT430 - looks like Twin Frozr design:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127535

Edit: I added to the topic. What about low-profile gaming cards, are there any?

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

I'm looking at 8400GS, Radeon 5450, or NV GT430.

I think not all 8400GS cards have the video decoding feature-set, it was added partway through production of those chips.

5450 should be solid,

5450 may be under powered for scaling and post processing, dont remember where the article was here but it wasnt quite up to snuff on some SD content when scaled to 1920x1080.

AMD 6xxx series has tweaked video output vs the 5xxx series (HDMI 1.4a, couple other minor tweaks IIRC)

how about this low profile 6570? should have ample power for any post processing that you may apply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121441

I run a 6770 in my (full height) HTPC, video quality is superb.. much better than the 4850 it replaced.

I would forget the 8400 GS, I have one and its old tech, main claim to fame is <20 watt power usage.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That looks good, but I was thinking perhaps of a single-slot solution. That one sticks out a little bit from the profile shot. Do you think that I could fit a PCI-E x1 tuner card next to it?

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

looking at the "edge on" image at newegg its seems to be just over a single slot width.. way less than a double wide at least. its less than the 5450 and twin fan 430 anyway. but that 430 is a straight single wide.

as for a card right next to it.. looks to be pretty tight. no way to leave the slot next to it empty eh?

 

[tweakboy]

8600 GT or 2900XT lol wait x800 those still around or what ?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I'm using this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102934

I upgraded from a passive 5450 because the 5450 didn't have the umph to apply some post-processing options like de-noise. The PQ is stellar and the fan is virtually silent.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

^^^

perfect. 6570, low profile, true single slot. nice find.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm using this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102934

Looks good, except for one thing - there are no low-profile brackets shown in the pictures. Where do you get the low-profile brackets for that card then?

Edit: Good news. This was in a recent review:

Other Thoughts: It would appear that Sapphire and newegg have resolved the no 'Low Profile Bracket' problem. My package included two LP brackets obviously added to the contents. An LP Bracket sticker was added to the front of the packaging. Well done Sapphire and newegg!

So it seems recent packages include the low-profile bracket.


Edit: Reading this now:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4380/discrete-htpc-gpus-shootout/1

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Looks good, except for one thing - there are no low-profile brackets shown in the pictures. Where do you get the low-profile brackets for that card then?

Edit: Reading this now:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4380/discrete-htpc-gpus-shootout/1

The lack of brackets was an initial oversight that Sapphire corrected after receiving customer complaints. There were 2 LP brackets in the box sent to me.

 

[hectorsm]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127523

It is faster than three choices you listed. It is $46.99 AR and $6.98 shipping.


A friend of mine is using this card on his slim case Dell with a 250W power supply. He has been using it for around ~6 month and he seems happy with it.

Hector

 

[Spikesoldier]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127523

It is faster than three choices you listed. It is $46.99 AR and $6.98 shipping.


A friend of mine is using this card on his slim case Dell with a 250W power supply. He has been using it for around ~6 month and he seems happy with it.

Hector

nice a mini twin frozr lol.

hope its not whirling loud fans on that one.

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127523

It is faster than three choices you listed. It is $46.99 AR and $6.98 shipping.


A friend of mine is using this card on his slim case Dell with a 250W power supply. He has been using it for around ~6 month and he seems happy with it.

Hector

Very nice. I don't do rebates, so it's around the same price as the other ones then, but it has 512MB of GDDR5, which should be faster than 1024MB of GDDR3. Both ATI cards are 128-bit.

Unfortunately, they chose to equip the native ports with DisplayPort, not HDMI. I really need an HDMI output for my big-screen. And they don't seem to include an adaptor cable in the pictures.

I wonder why they made the choice of DP over HDMI. I would think that HDMI is more common.

Edit: I wonder if it comes with a HDMI-to-HDMI dongle like my ATI VisionTek HD4850 cards do? That would solve the problem.

Does anyone know if I could use a passive DP-to-HDMI cable, and get HDCP and audio over it?

Edit: WTF? Seriously, DisplayPort to HDMI adaptors are illegal now?
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/177295/20110710/apple-dell-hp-hdmi-port-cables-recall-illegal.htm

What about DVI-to-HDMI adaptors/cables? Are those now illegal too?

The article seems to say that only devices and cables that have HDMI ports natively, or HDMI plugs on both ends, are legal. WTF!?

Edit: DP-to-HDMI issue spun off into a seperate thread. I thought it was too important to languish here.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2177466