Purchased an HD 3450

[lopri]

And so far the experience is very positive. I had a high hope for the G35 when I purchased a P5E-VM HDMI, only to realize its unacceptable performance and various issues.

HD 3450 handles every HD material I throw at it flawlessly so far. Vista Aero and other 2D GPU tasks are a breeze. Mine came with a fan and a native HDMI port.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814103055

While I haven't tried 3D yet (and I didn't/don't intend to), I am already impressed by its mighty performance for its tiny profile. Temperature stays below 40C at all times. While idling it's usually close to 30C, and when playing an H.264 1080p clips it climbs up toward 40C, keeping an E2140 @20~30% usage. The fan is very quiet, which was a pleasant surprise considering its size.

One thing I was misinformed about - that AMD cards can work with LCD TVs via digital connection. That wasn't the case. I connected the card with a 40" Samsung LCD TV via HDMI, and the result was the same fuzzy text. There is overscan control in the CCC, but it doesn't solve the problem. Still the only way to have a usable Windows desktop is via analog VGA.

I don't know how some folks use TV's as PC Monitor via HDMI or DVI? (Unless they're not dealing with text) What's the secret?

Anyway, this card is great for HTPC folks on Intel side. I wasn't sure about this card because reviews were scarce, but now I can say with confidence that this card does what it's supposed to do.

 

[ther00kie16]

Although I don't personally know the solution, I can tell you that it's a widespread problem that's well documented with solutions over at avsforum.

 

[IndieSnob]

I've actually used both VGA & Component via my 7600GT & 9600GT to hook my computer up to my 19" Advent LCD, and text looked completely fine to me.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
Although I don't personally know the solution, I can tell you that it's a widespread problem that's well documented with solutions over at avsforum.

Do you have a link? I remember seeing a thread but I can't seem to find it.

Originally posted by: IndieSnob
I've actually used both VGA & Component via my 7600GT & 9600GT to hook my computer up to my 19" Advent LCD, and text looked completely fine to me.

Yeah, and that's the problem. Analog signal gives better text than digital signal on LCD TVs. (although I am not sure if you're talking about LCD monitors or LCD TVs)

 

[IndieSnob]

Originally posted by: lopri

Originally posted by: IndieSnob
I've actually used both VGA & Component via my 7600GT & 9600GT to hook my computer up to my 19" Advent LCD, and text looked completely fine to me.

Yeah, and that's the problem. Analog signal gives better text than digital signal on LCD TVs. (although I am not sure if you're talking about LCD monitors or LCD TVs)

Sorry, I meant to say that it's an Advent LCD 720P/1080I HDTV.

It doesn't have DVI nor HDMI so I couldn't tell you how text looks like via a digital signal.

 

[stepone]

I've got a dvi-hdmi cable running from my 8500gt to my 1366x768 res samsung R87 lcd tv and text is the same as on a regular pc monitor.

In fact I've used my sammy tv as the sole tv/monitor for my pc for all tasks (inc writing this) since I got it 6+ months ago & it has been superb!

Does your tv have 1:1 pixel mapping (my samsung does)? Because I think this is the cause of a lot of probs as when lcd tv's are forced to run outside their native res they tend to do much more poorly than regular monitors.

Also I set the drivers to use my tv's scaler rather than the 8500gt's & this definately helps with PQ. Is there a similar option in the ATI drivers? If so give it a try!

 

[lopri]

Hmm.. I will check it out. (1:1 pixel mapping) Thanks for the tip.

 

[fwacct4]

Originally posted by: lopri
Hmm.. I will check it out. (1:1 pixel mapping) Thanks for the tip.

Has there been any update on whether the DVI connection is truly faulty or if there was just a setting that needed to be corrected?