Video Card for HTPC

[paul878]

I upgraded to 2600k and I want to retired my E8400 to HTPC duty.

What video card do I need to watch 1080P MKV files?
I would prefer a fan-less solution if possible.

 

[Arkadrel]

What video card do I need to watch 1080P MKV files?

If all you want is just decodeing + vector adaptive deinterlaceing, a 5450 is enough.
However the 5450 isnt powerfull enough "compute" wise to be able to handle lots of post processing effects as well. The 5570 is, which is why Anandtech named it the HTPC card of 2011.


So if you want to tinkere with video settings and do some postprocessing effects get the 5570.

HIS has a passive cooled version (for around ~59$):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161380


Remember to do some undervolting on your cpu/ram, get system stable,
running with less volts (overall power useage).

 

[kalrith]

Actually, from a more-recent HTPC GPU shootout (link), AT said the following:

If you prefer only AMD cards, the 6570 is the perfect HTPC card...It has the highest HQV benchmark score of any HTPC-oriented GPU that we have evaluated so far.

So, I'd recommend the 6570 over the 5570.