HTPC/Media Box Vid card

[Mattd46612]

Would a DX8 card work for this? Just figuring some DVD/divx/emulator stuff? Tryin to get a idea. A friend said his works great with a 9200SE, just dont want to underdo it.

Also, if anyone knows a cheap soundcard that would do the trick link me. Guessin Ill hook up the sound optial or coaxial I can do either.

 

[Matthias99]

If you're not doing 3D gaming... yes, pretty much anything will work.

Newer cards may have better hardware video acceleration (such as NVIDIA's 'PureVideo') for newer formats like MPEG4. This can lower the amount of CPU time needed for playback/deinterlacing/scaling of video.

Also, just FYI... your sig is really long. Please consider either putting multiple items on one line, cutting some things out (SCSI controller?), or building a profile page and just linking to that.

 

[Childs]

I'm using the digital coax on my motherboard. All it needs to do is passthough so it works fine, and I would think any card would work alright.

 

[Mattd46612]

ordered a DX9 Radeon 9550 128mb, and a chaintech AV-710 for the sound. didnt wanna cheap out on the vid card cuz who knows if ill try to play some wc3 dota or all my emulator games on it. I hear of alot of poeple using the digital coax from onboard sound, maybe its just me not buyin a mobo over $75. Always been a tightwad on mobos, paid 65 for this sli and i can overclock my opty through the roof, onboard sound is garabage though... figures..

 

[ethebubbeth]

Currently using my old Radeon 9800 with a DVI -> Component adaptor. It works great and image quality is excellent.

For a cheap soundcard, anything with Dolby Digital/DTS passthrough via a digital connection.

If you want more options for surround, go for a card that supports Dolby Digital Live.

 

[TheCanuck]

Up until a year ago I was just using an ATI 7500 for my HTPC and was running at 1280x720 with no problems. Upgraded to a super fast Geforce 6200 for $30 and now I'm operating at 1920x1080. Looks great and it'll keep me happy till HD-DVD / Bluray becomes more mainstream and I'm forced to upgrade.

So far anything that is 720p/1080i plays great...haven't tried any 1080p content yet though.

 

[mooncancook]

Depends on whether you'll play games on your HTPC. I just upgraded to a X1950Pro for my HTPC so that I can play the latest games like GTR2, Oblivion, NBA Live 06 on my HTPC at 1366x768 (or whatever max resolution available) with high detail settings. I don't want to cheap out on the video card coz I want to impress my guests with some gorgeous graphics. If i have a 1080p TV I'd get a 8800GTS.