video card for htpc

[justinn]

Building an HTPC but can't decide on the video card. Should I use my old 8800 with 2x DVI and 1x S-Video ports or get an HD 4550 with HDMI for about $40? Anyone fill me in on the advantages/disadvantages of both?

 

[Tbirdkid]

cheaper the better. the 8800 is still a good video card for gaming! hell, its better than what i have...

 

[Modelworks]

A card with HDMI that does audio would be my main requirement. Simplifies things quite a bit.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Agreed with the HDMI audio. It is really hard to beat the ATI 5xxx series for HTPC use. Even the 5450 would be good. I upgraded from a 8800GT to a fanless 5750 just a few weeks ago, and it really did make a difference in terms of connectivity (especially bit streaming the new audio formats to my pre-processor).

 

[kalrith]

Another plus for an 4xxx or 5xxx HTPC card over the 8800 is lower power consumption and lower noise (usually). I picked up a silent 4550 for $17 AR, which uses very little power, passes HDMI audio (but no bitstreaming), and plays video files really well.

 

[Fox5]

Depends on what software you're running. I don't think the 8800 has the latest version of purevideo though, it may not be able to accelerate hd content, so if the cpu is not up to snuff, you could have choppy blu ray playback.

 

[Fallen Kell]

The 8800 can accelerate hd content (I previously used it), but I had to use coreavc to really do that. I believe it has some support without using coreav, but I recall it not working as well.

 

[Chapbass]

The 8800 can accelerate hd content (I previously used it), but I had to use coreavc to really do that. I believe it has some support without using coreav, but I recall it not working as well.

Yep, the 8800 doesn't really have it built in (at least out of the box), but it can get it done. the 8600 and 8500 vid cards were the ones to really champion the HD acceleration (MAYBE the 8400, but its been a while since I looked at it).

 

[kalrith]

Depends on what software you're running. I don't think the 8800 has the latest version of purevideo though, it may not be able to accelerate hd content, so if the cpu is not up to snuff, you could have choppy blu ray playback.

Only the most-recent nvidia cards (i.e. GT 2xx and newer) have the latest version of purevideo. The OP didn't say what 8800 he has. If he has an 8800 GTS 320/640MB or 8800 Ultra, then those have the very first version of purevideo and aren't good choices for a HTPC.

 

[Sust]

In f/u to a previous and distant thread, the same friend had unearthed an old ideq 220n which was a SFF nforce2 mobo with an undervolted athlon XP-M to 1 Ghz. Doing what any reasonable person would do, he installed a PCI 8400 GS card he found on sale and decided to give HD video content a go after he wiped the drive, re-installed WinXPsp3, and re-installed drivers + MediaPlayerClassicHomeCinema only.
It was amazing to see the CPU utilization at ~15-20% the whole time 1080P was playing whereas before it would drop whole minutes of HD video with CPU pegged(even when clocked up to 2.2Ghz). We only saw 1 video, so we'll see if it holds up to other videos as well.

In short the 8400GS has it goin on with HD material.

 

[kalrith]

Yes, the later revisions of the 8400GS supported VP3, which is only one step behind the current VP4 (Source). The OP's 8800 either has VP1 or VP2, depending on the model.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Do you already have the cpu and motherboard? Get an i3 and you don't need a separate video card, which is even better for keeping it cool.

If you do get a card, I'd be sure to get hdmi capability (including the ability to output audio over hdmi).