New Video Card for HTPC

[Dougtron]

I built myself a new computer last year and I've mainly just been using it browsing and watching videos, mostly 720p stuff encoded in x264. I've been using the integrated GPU and it's mostly been doing the job pretty well but sometimes the video is a little jerky, especially when I try to play 1080p videos. Lately I've been thinking of turning into more of a dedicated HTPC and I've been fooling around with XBMC. It runs pretty well in just navigating but the video playback leaves a bit to be desired so I think it's time I got a dedicated video card. Here is my current setup:


System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:
Intel Core i5-655K Clarkdale 3.2GHz - Overclocked to 4.2Ghz

II. Current Graphics Card:
Onboard Graphics

III. Display Resolution:
1920x1080

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:
OCZ StealthXstream II

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341040

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):
RAIDMAX Quantum ATX-798WB, with a GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156241

Purchase Details:

I. Budget?
Looking to spend around $100, preferably less if the card will do the trick.

II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
Nothing in particular as long as it will play any type of video I throw at and be buttery smooth.

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
ATI CrossFireX support

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
Not really.

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
I'm pretty much just going to be using it to play HD video.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
Not if I don't need to.

I'm pretty sure just throwing in a video card will solve my playback problems but I'm also thinking about upping my ram from 4GB to 8GB. I'd really appreciate any help, thanks!

 

[fralexandr]

you probably don't need any more ram, although if you're running single channel, dual channel might improve the IGPU performance
i'd recommend a passively cooled gpu since your case is well ventilated anyway
you don't need a dual gpu solution unless you need more outputs, and even then it wouldn't be run in crossfire
HDMI is the preferred connector for HTPC's, i think most cards come with it anyway though

the 5450 or 6450 (64-bit, ddr3, 1gb) should be good as a htpc gpu

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0363818
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150567
if you don't mind the mail in rebates, either of these are ok
if you really want lifetime warranty <3 xfx

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I recently went through four GPUs in my quest for perfect playback on my Sandy G620 machine:
1. EVGA GTS 450 - very loud, returned
2. Sapphire 6670 - not bad, quiet but serious audio synch issues, returned
3. PNY GTX 550 Ti - very loud, hacked BIOS to make fan noise acceptable, glitchy playback under madVR, kept this too long to return (trying to get it to work well), now trying to sell at a loss.
4. HIS Radeon 7750 - finally, HTPC bliss

I am picky. I want perfectly smooth 23.976Hz video with no dropped or repeated frames, madVR post processing, and LAV video decoding through MPC-HC. I've finally got it with the 7750.

If you care about quality and smoothness don't skimp. I wish I had just ponied up the $109 for a 7750 at the beginning (although to be fair it wasn't available at the time).

 

[Stayfr0sty]

A 50$ card should be enough even for full 1080p playback, no need to spend 100$

 

[DaveSimmons]

There is also a fanless Sapphire 7750 now, SilentPCReview just reviewed it:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Sapphire_HD7750_Ultimate

It might be worth an extra $15 if your case is big enough for the giant heatsink