Best PCI video card?

[Einz]

I recently got a cheap Atom based motherboard to play around with and was wondering if anyone has any experience upgrading the video card? The integrated video works for most things, but I want to have DVI and maybe HD acceleration even... 1080p is a bit too choppy for the dual core Atom. Anyway, best I could find was a 2400Pro here but I dunno if that'll decode HD adequately. Anyone know? What's the best available PCI based video card right now?

 

[AgentUnknown]

Been there, done that. Seriously.

 

[videogames101]

There isn't one.

 

[tcsenter]

There is GF 8500GT in PCI (Newegg doesn't have it):

http://www.geeks.com/details.a...nvtid=SF-PC85GT256U2-P

That is the best PCI card at present time. HD 2400 PRO or GF 8400GS would be below 8500GT, but above everything else currently in PCI. HD 2400 PRO should offer better HD decoding performance (particularly VC-1), but 8400GS isn't a bad choice.

 

[Ika]

That 2400 Pro in PCI form is probably the best you can get. I'm quite surprised that it's actually made in PCI, actually. The 8400GS isn't so bad either.

 

[themisfit610]

Yeah, no HD decoding over PCI would be my bet

Should've gotten one of those boards with Intel's integrated GPUs that can do the decoding.

You're probably SOL..

~MiSfit

 

[Einz]

Sounds like I'm SOL. Thanks all for the replies!

 

[tcsenter]

Give the HD 2400 PRO a try, its not really that expensive. There is no reason HD video could not be decoded over PCI bus. Most TV Tuners and capture cards are PCI bus. Just be sure to download the latest drivers from the card manufacturer. The drivers from ATI probably are not going to support the PCI versions.

Realistic bandwidth over PCI bus should be at least 80 MByte/sec, excepting some crappy BIOS programming or multiple PCI devices. That's well over the 50 MByte/sec available from firewire that is widely used for HD A/V interface.

The Atom is going to be your limitation long before the PCI bus will.