Looking for a good HTPC and gaming card

[carguy83]

I am looking for a excellent HTPC and gaming card combo to replace a ati X1550 256meg PCI E card. I was looking at a Diamond Radeon 3870 512DDR4 on newegg.com for $194.99. I have a few questions

1. would this be an excellent card for what I am trying to do?

2. It has a huge hs/f unit on it will it be too loud for Blu-ray movies?

3. What performance level of Nividia card does this card compare too in gaming?

4. I have a Gigabyte DS3L board. The video card supports PCI-E 2.0 my board does not will that affect performance in a major way?

5. I have heard the the 3870 is faster and better image quality than a geforce 8800GTX is this true.

6. And finally what type of performance boost from my x1550 should I expect?

 

[v8envy]

1. For a windows based HTPC, yes.
2. GPU load should not cause fan to spin up to 'loud' settings just playing back video
3. 9600GT-ish
4. Not even in benchmarks
5. Same neighborhood.
6. Let's see. 2x boost 1550->9800, another 2x 9800->x850, another 2x x850->1950, and another 2x 1950->3870. Looks like only about 8x faster, so you should be able to game at 1080p at higher frame rates than you previously got at 480i. In reality, *MUCH* faster than the numbers indicate.

 

[nanaki333]

#3 & #5 don't make sense. you asked what the comparable card was, but yet, you already knew the answer?

 

[carguy83]

Thanks for the replies, I changed question 4 to make more sense. So the 3870 is like a 9600(nvidia) in gaming that sound like a good gaming card and it will do great video decoding so looks like I got a winner. Is there any other card that anyone would recommend other than the 3870(ATI). One more question what exactly is anti-alising and does it really affect performance in a major way.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

anti-aliasing is softening the edges of an image so it appears less jagged.

 

[vanvock]

Be aware that if you like to play some older games like UT-04 the newer nV cards suck & they don't care.

 

[carguy83]

To some of you this may be a dumb question but is a original soundblaster Live card(Sound Blaster SB0200 Live! 5.1, 4 CH.) better
than my onboard sound on my motherboard(ds3L). I have one and I was thinking of putting it in my computer for watching movies. The onboard sound just doesnt get loud enough for me. Thanks

 

[carguy83]

BUMP

 

[Zap]

Bumping a thread after 1/2 hour? You're not impatient, are you? :roll:

Regarding onboard audio, how about reading some other forum threads such as these ones:

I am now a proponent of integrated onboard audio solutions - Sorry Soundblaster our relationship is over

ALC888 onboard audio - Amazing!

Realtek HD Audio makes Audigy 2 ZS sound like ass - at least in Vista

 

[Slugbait]

Personally, I ran into a specific issue with onboard sound on my P4B533-MX that is in my HTPC (running MCE).

The mobo doesn't have Toslink, just COAX. And when I plugged it into my receiver, I could not get 5.1 audio from the optical drive...only stereo. I spent hours trying to get it to work.

I dropped in an original Audigy and connected it to my 5.1 inputs of the receiver, and voila...5.1 surround for movies. However, I could not get Pro-Logic audio from LiveTV...only stereo. I spent hours trying to get it to work.

So, I finally caved. I drop out to the desktop and go into the sound device properties, then switch sound devices based upon what I want to watch, and switch the input on the receiver. It's a PIA, but it works.

So you might need both...or you might not, I think it depends on the onboard solution for your mobo.

 

[jterrell]

Originally posted by: carguy83
To some of you this may be a dumb question but is a original soundblaster Live card(Sound Blaster SB0200 Live! 5.1, 4 CH.) better
than my onboard sound on my motherboard(ds3L). I have one and I was thinking of putting it in my computer for watching movies. The onboard sound just doesnt get loud enough for me. Thanks

The onboard chipset is much better than that card has. It has very highly rated sound quality.

Your receiver will determine a lot though as to which sounds better going through it.

 

[carguy83]

Zap,

The links were very helpful and I got rid of the SB LIVE:disgust: card. onboard sound is perfect for what I do anyway I just need a better home theater reciever.

 

[dino26]

"I just need a better home theater reciever"

might i recommend the new Onkyo line. There are better options but not for the money in my opinion. They have all the new bluray/hddvd audio features and hdmi switching at a super competative price. Harman Kardon, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite and Sony professional series are also good choices.

 

[mcnabney]

You might also consider the new Yamaha V663. J&R will send you one for $399 if you call and ask for the deal. It doesn't run nearly as hot as Onkyo and decodes all of the HD formats.