HTPC video card

[coolVariable]

I have had a HTPC now for 2 years and absolutely love it. Since moving to Vista though (6 months ago) the video-card has been driving me up the wall, so I am finally caving and am planning to get a new card.

My issues with the current card are:
- I use DVI-HDMI to connect to my Panasonic LCD HDTV; when the computer resumes from standby about 50%-70% of the time the image remains black/no signal. Leaving the TV on, putting the HTPC to sleep and resuming again sometimes fixes the issue ... but most recently it usually doesn't. The only option is to force-shutdown the HTPC and restart. (and this is not some power management thing - all those are disabled)
- it does not support the actual native resolution of the LCD (1366*768); when I set it to that resolution I have a HUGE overscan (5% of the picture missing on all 4 sides) - only setting the resolution to some custom resolution can I get close to the actual resolution of the display (1240*700).
- I just got an HD Homerun device. The HTPC in general should be able to handle HD content without issues but actually watching HD it very quicky stutters and the audio is no longer in sync.


My current HTPC:
- P4 2.6GHz HT
- 2.5GB RAM
- ATI Radeon x300 (PCIe x16)
- Sound via the integrated HD audio
- Avermedia 1500 Ultra TV-Tuner
- Panasonic LCD HDTV (connected via DVI-HDMI and seperate audio cable)
- 3 HDDs for 750GB


I am looking for a graphics card that can do the following:
- when the TV is turned off/on the picture is always on (I assume the issue stems from the DV-HDMI connection: the PC senses when the TV is turned off but not when it is turned on)
- I want to address the HDTV in its native resolution without some @#$%@#$ overscan issues.
- should play HD television from the HD Homerun (or recorded) without any issues with my current HTPC
- should play games decently (should be better than my current card)
- should help my HTPC stay cool - the thing is a freaking oven, so an active cooling card might be a good idea if the fan has a smart control (only speeds up when necessary and still quiet)

Any recommendations?
My budget for the card is approx $50 - $100. I heard that should be enough?

 

[ther00kie16]

I'm no expert but I can tell you that avsforum.com is the place for these specific questions of yours, which few people on anandtech will be able to answer. I can tell you that ATi's 2000 series cards are great for HTPCs and so are their new 3400s and 3600s. Needless to say, they should be much better when it comes to gaming and a few have dual slot coolers that should help with venting some hot air out of the case.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
I'm no expert but I can tell you that avsforum.com is the place for these specific questions of yours, which few people on anandtech will be able to answer. I can tell you that ATi's 2000 series cards are great for HTPCs and so are their new 3400s and 3600s. Needless to say, they should be much better when it comes to gaming and a few have dual slot coolers that should help with venting some hot air out of the case.

I wanted to avoid registering for yet another forum and thought there might be the one or other HTPC enthusiast here on AT with a setup similar to mine.

 

[ther00kie16]

Well, they have very informative threads about the video cards. However, I think that ATi is still the way to go as they have better drivers so something from their newest line (3400s/3600s) would work very well for HTPC/light gaming.
The modern cards are all built with HD material in mind so there shouldn't be any issues that you have with the x300.

 

[coolVariable]

I will give AVS Forum a try.

How are the 3400's for games? Better or worse than the x300?
Are there any differences between the various manufacturers?

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
I will give AVS Forum a try.

How are the 3400's for games? Better or worse than the x300?
Are there any differences between the various manufacturers?

You cannot go past this 3450 for $22.49 AR- light years better than an X300.

 

[stepone]

I would say that the ASUS EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M with hdmi is your best bet.
Have a look here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121237

It's $89.99 has a dual slot passive cooler (ie silent but effective) & more importantly for your tv it includes the hdmi adapter which also carries hd 5.1 sound which is built into this card.

The Ati 3650 is also for good gaming with med-high settings at your tv's native res (1360x768) as long as you don't use AA.

Should be perfect for your needs!

Let us know what you go with.

 

[Overgloc]

I have a Brand new in box 8600GT for $70 Shipped

 

[coolVariable]

That Asus card looks really good.
I am very tempted. Need to check whether it fits into the case tonight.

Is PCI express 2.0 and PCI express 1.0 compatible?
I only know that I have a PCI express x16 slot ...

 

[JAH]

Originally posted by: stepone
I would say that the ASUS EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M with hdmi is your best bet.
Have a look here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121237

It's $89.99 has a dual slot passive cooler (ie silent but effective) & more importantly for your tv it includes the hdmi adapter which also carries hd 5.1 sound which is built into this card.

The Ati 3650 is also for good gaming with med-high settings at your tv's native res (1360x768) as long as you don't use AA.

Should be perfect for your needs!

Let us know what you go with.

Minor rant, I see a lot of video cards that are design for quiet environment such as an HTPC, yet many of them have heatsinks that extrude above the card. However, many people uses desktop case for their HTPC and cards that have high heatsink just simply won't fit.

I would have purchase that passive Asus card if it weren't for the the fact that the heatsink rises above the card, making it unfit for my desktop case (the Antec Fusion/NSK2400).

Edit: Right now I'm using the 7600GT for my HTPC, but I'm tire of its fan noise and looking for quieter replacement. However, I also do a lot of gaming with my HTPC, so I need a card that's powerful enough for 1920x1080 res gaming yet quiet at the same time.

 

[stepone]

PCI express 2.0 is fully backwards compatibile with older 1.0 mobo's...

@JAH - If you game at the 1920x1080 res & want to play modern games BUT have a quiet setup you're in a bit of a bind.
The sapphire toxic/atomic ed 3870 cards are apparently very quiet high performance cards which both use the same small single slot vapour chamber cooler for only $170.
See here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...2&Tpk=sapphire%2btoxic

The 8800gt may be better for gaming but they're also MUCH louder although if you don't use AA then the performance gap isn't so bad.

 

[ther00kie16]

If there's room, you can always go for a dual slot 9600gt/8800gt.
9600gt for $132 after rebate
8800gt for $187 after rebate
Both have excellent, quiet coolers. The 9600gt will match the 3870 in performance while the 8800gt will have a noticeable performance advantage in future games.
But if you are limited to a single slot card with cooling being a primary concern, then you are limited to the 3870 and the 3600s.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: JAH

Minor rant, I see a lot of video cards that are design for quiet environment such as an HTPC, yet many of them have heatsinks that extrude above the card. However, many people uses desktop case for their HTPC and cards that have high heatsink just simply won't fit.

I would have purchase that passive Asus card if it weren't for the the fact that the heatsink rises above the card, making it unfit for my desktop case (the Antec Fusion/NSK2400).

Edit: Right now I'm using the 7600GT for my HTPC, but I'm tire of its fan noise and looking for quieter replacement. However, I also do a lot of gaming with my HTPC, so I need a card that's powerful enough for 1920x1080 res gaming yet quiet at the same time.

I will have to measure it tonight.
My HTPC is a converted Dell Dimension 4700. I hope it has the necessary room.
What dimensions do I need to look for?
I thought it should be enough room if there is room for one more card on top ... does it need more?

 

[coolVariable]

Mmmmh. Not home yet but googled the Dimension 4700 for pics.

Do you guys think the card will fit in here? as I see it the large heatsink is on the bottom.
So the video card will take the PCIe x16 slot and will block the upper PCI slot.

The TV Tuner will have to go in the lower PCI slot.

http://www.shinyplastic.com/re...n-8400-motherboard.jpg

http://www.ascendtech.us/mmASC...s/dimension4700.02.jpg



My main concern though is that the black screen on resume will also happen with a new card.

Could it be a DVI fluke with my current card? It does not display a picture via DVI either until it boots into the OS (no Bios, no vista boot up)

 

[stepone]

I've found that problems with the resume function are quite common & more often then not it's the mobo which causes probs with the wakeup as some older boards aren't fully compatibile (sometimes a re-install of xp or updating board/graphics drivers solves the prob).
Which is why I find it better to leave my PC either on or off but turn on the power saving features of my HD's (spin down after 10 mins of inactivity) and the cpu so it downclocks itself when at idle thus saving power.

The 3650 also has amd powerplay so it not only clocks itself down but also disables inactive parts of the gpu to save alot of heat/power.

If your case there looks to be more than enough room for a dual slot cooler (given those pics are accurate), although you may want to make sure that your PSU is around the min 300watt mark to accomodate the extra power draw comfortably.

 

[stepone]

with regards to your display probs this is most likely down to the graphics drivers as I have a 1366x768 samsung lcd tv hooked up to my system (see below) & that has no overscan probs & shows the POST screen etc. 1 possibility is that your tv simply doesn't like the res which results in a blank screen until the xp custom res loads.
You should choose a res of 1360x768 (there's no 1366 res as standard) on the settings tab of display properties (not ati cc) to get the correct resolution for your tv.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[coolVariable]

1got the Asus card from Newegg... it's $69 now. I hope it helps.

 

[coolVariable]

Wow. Ordered Sunday ... shipped Sunday. Supposed to arrive Tuesday with UPS ground shipping.

Newegg is awesome.