need low noise, low power ~100USD card for htpc+light gaming

[pctwo]

time for me to upgrade from my sad 7600gt. cpu is amd x2 3800 @2.4ghz. (ok, probably need to upgrade that too, oh well.)

I want something quiet, if not silent, low power, for around 100USD or less, for HTPC and light gaming. I don't expect to play crysis @1080p; but maybe something like left4dead @1080p and max eye candy. I want HDCP and avc/vc1 acceleration (which all recent cards have anyway.)

is this the best I can do right now?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-324-_-Product

the 240 got me excited -- low power, integrated audio -- but the price doesn't make sense. They need to drop it by $30.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

How about this 9800GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-032-_-Product

I bet it would be silent, when compared to the other noise inside your case.

 

[pctwo]

hmm it looks like the 240GT actually has better HTPC support than the more powerful cards. it's VP4 vs VP2, meaning it can do full bitstream decoding for all major codecs -- avc/vc1/wmv/mpeg4, as opposed to just GPU-assisted acceleration. damn you nvidia.

maybe I'll just wait for 240 price to drop, or nvidia to grace us with a more capable version.

I know newer ati cards do full bitstream decoding, but the most capable low power card it has is the 4670, which is even less powerful than the 240, though a bit cheaper. am I right?

 

[Highmodulus]

What about the Radeon HD5750? Might be a bit more, but it sips power and has little heat due to the 40nm construction- and certainly will allow pretty darn good gaming.

 

[yh125d]

4770 @ $110?

 

[Hyperlite]

hmm it looks like the 240GT actually has better HTPC support than the more powerful cards. it's VP4 vs VP2, meaning it can do full bitstream decoding for all major codecs -- avc/vc1/wmv/mpeg4, as opposed to just GPU-assisted acceleration. damn you nvidia.

maybe I'll just wait for 240 price to drop, or nvidia to grace us with a more capable version.

I know newer ati cards do full bitstream decoding, but the most capable low power card it has is the 4670, which is even less powerful than the 240, though a bit cheaper. am I right?

correct about the 4670

 

[v8envy]

The 4670 will have power roughly on par with the DDR3 version of the 240. In other words, not very much power at all. Cranking detail on L4D at 1920x1080 is not what I consider light gaming -- you're definitely out of the entry level / extreme budget class hardware with that requirement.

Please note there are many complaints about the loudness of fans for many 210 and 220 models. They are not very suitable for HTPC use from a noise standpoint. You'd be a guinea pig picking up a 240.

AFAIK an 8400 will play back any commonly encoded video with a $30 CPU. The AOL-proprietary VP4 is probably not something you'll see in the wild very much. And if you do, it'll be low enough bitrate that any CPU out there will cope with GPU assist. It's more likely your player won't have the support for the hardware acceleration with that card in the first place. At least not for a while.

Find a cheap, eco-edition 9800GT if you still can and call it a day.

 

[pctwo]

low power

http://www.frys.com/product/6030128

vs

silent

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...D&body=REBATES

no tax with TigerDirect, so money after rebate is about the same.

I guess I'll go to fry's and pick up the low power and see how it goes.