Passive video card selection: PureVideo / Avivo

Brijn · 2006-01-31, 21:50

Hi,

Until now I was going to get a passively cooled Nvidia card that support PureVideo so that I would get smooth playback etc.

But now I read this article where they compare Ati and Nvidia (Avivo vs PureVideo): http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1916994,00.asp

The Ati technology is superior to Nvidia (and you save the purchase of the separate codec).

The card I was looking at was the ASUS EN6600 SILENCER GEFORCE PCX6600 PCI-E 256MB, http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15500, CA$ 154

It's not so easy to find a list of cards supported by Avivo (if anyone has a link!) but it seems the Radeon X1300 is supported.
A similar passively cooled card is the Sapphire Radeon X1300 256MB 128BIT DDR2 PCI-E, http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...cture=SAPPHIRE, CA$ 121

So, if i'm correct, I get better quality for a lower price by going with the Ati?

Any remarks

Tech Geek · 2006-02-03, 05:07

I just finished building my HTPC with the passivey cooled Saphire x1300 with 256K.

I picked up two of the OEM cards refurbished at newegg.com for $66 US each *with* shipping. (the system said they were sold out right after I placed the order... sorry)

Observations for the short time I've had them (3 days):

It gets poor 3D Mark 2006 #s but that software uses very high res and is a CPU hog so take that with a grain of salt. In a real world TV situation it's pretty fast. Playing state of the art games at lower resolutions/settings shouldn't be a problem. The performance is much better than my old 9600se which already worked fine with media portal and that card played HalfLife 2 pretty smooth. I'm sure future driver enhancments will improve performance even more.

The TV output looks better than the older ATi card and I haven't even started tweaking colors.

It generates a lot of heat so use a well ventilated case. I haven't had any lockups yet though.

The graphics output with the 3.0 shader and HDR lighting effects is stunning.

Avivo appears to be for real. I'm still messing with settings, codecs and such so I really haven't gotten to do much testing but what I have seen so far looks promising. I'd say it works as advertised. We'll see.

One important thing... the advertised max resolution *is* supported by the chip. But to output it *apperantly* requires dual DVI connectors. That's according to someone that tried hooking up an Apple monitor anyway. Without testing this myself I can't confirm or deny it.

Oh yeah, don't even bother with the included drivers. Download the latest from the ATi website. Also... the included overclock utility doesn't work on mine. It says it only works on a Saphire card. So what does that make mine? There has to be an update.

This card was perfect for my HTPC. YMMV

(BTW, this isn't my first post... jdiffend *was* my username but I can't login anymore)

Tech Geek · 2006-02-04, 04:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brijn

It's not so easy to find a list of cards supported by Avivo (if anyone has a link!) but it seems the Radeon X1300 is supported.

I missed that. To answer your question, all the new ATi series all have Avivo. You can tell by the model numbers which are new. They are numbered X1###.
X1300, X1600, X1800 and X1900. It includes all variations of those cards.

BTW, I'm getting no frame skipping at all in the tests I've done so far. That includes being logged on to my HTPC with UltraVNC at the same time I'm playing a video.

I will say that if you want to play the latest games in very high res with everything enabled you should look at getting an X1600 or better.

Brijn · 2006-02-04, 15:33

Hi tech Geek,

Thanx for your reply.. So you are saying the the passively cooled X1300 would be a good choice? I'm not at all interested in gaming on that system

Tx

Tech Geek · 2006-02-05, 00:54

Definately.

You can use cheaper cards but for the difference in price I think the Avivo and H264 support are worth the money. Once programs to build H264 videos are as common as DIVX and XVID you'll be glad you have it.

You also get shader 3 support which is nice for a little gaming and demos just to show off your system. (doesn't Vista want it as well??)

Unless you want to play a lot of graphics hog games there's no point in spending more money because you won't gain anything you need.

The more I use the system the more I think I got one heck of a deal on those cards.

Just remember... high performance passively cooled cards need lots of airflow. This card's heatsink has at least 3 times the area of the ones on the MSI x300 cards I use at work and trust me... it gets hot under a load.
A cramped case with little airflow could be a problem so plan your system accordingly.

Brijn · 2006-02-05, 01:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tech Geek

Just remember... high performance passively cooled cards need lots of airflow. This card's heatsink has at least 3 times the area of the ones on the MSI x300 cards I use at work and trust me... it gets hot under a load.
A cramped case with little airflow could be a problem so plan your system accordingly.

I'm planning to use the Ahanix MCE601, it has two 60mm fans on the back (+PSU fan). I hope that will keep the temp down.. Do they also get real hot if decoding mpeg? Or only if you would use them for games?

Tech Geek · 2006-02-05, 02:20

I haven't stuck a thermometer on it but I think it's safe to say that 3D is the biggest heat generator. The 3D circuitry occupies the largest portion of the die on that chip. Remember, it's almost like several custom math chips all calculating at once. Playing videos probably raises the temp slightly above just displaying the desktop but I wouldn't worry about it.

Callifo · 2006-02-05, 03:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tech Geek

One important thing... the advertised max resolution *is* supported by the chip. But to output it *apperantly* requires dual DVI connectors. That's according to someone that tried hooking up an Apple monitor anyway. Without testing this myself I can't confirm or deny it.

Not dual dvi, dual-link DVI which is completely different. It appears the card does have 1 dual-link dvi port and 1 single-link dvi port though.

Tech Geek · 2006-02-05, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callifo

Not dual dvi, dual-link DVI which is completely different. It appears the card does have 1 dual-link dvi port and 1 single-link dvi port though.

Ok... that makes much more sense than what the guy seemed to be talking about that was trying to hook up the Apple monitor. As near as I could tell he thought it required two cables and two physical DVI connectors.
I could have just misunderstood him.

Brijn · 2006-02-05, 20:14

Looking at the review that Tech Geek posted I noticed the cables that come with the card. I obviously want to connect my HDTV with HD resolution. My TV (a Toshiba 27HL85) has two ports that the manual lists as HDTV capable: HDMI (used by the DVD player, Sony DVP-NS70H) and (what they call) ColorStreamHD (Y Pb Pr)

Now I'm confused, would any of the included cables work? I have the feeling not, S-Video -> RGB cable is not Y Pb Pr??

What type of cable would i need?

Thanx again

2006-01-31, 21:50	#1 (permalink)
Brijn Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: North vancouver, Canada Posts: 66 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Passive video card selection: PureVideo / Avivo Hi, Until now I was going to get a passively cooled Nvidia card that support PureVideo so that I would get smooth playback etc. But now I read this article where they compare Ati and Nvidia (Avivo vs PureVideo): http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1916994,00.asp The Ati technology is superior to Nvidia (and you save the purchase of the separate codec). The card I was looking at was the ASUS EN6600 SILENCER GEFORCE PCX6600 PCI-E 256MB, http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15500, CA$ 154 It's not so easy to find a list of cards supported by Avivo (if anyone has a link!) but it seems the Radeon X1300 is supported. A similar passively cooled card is the Sapphire Radeon X1300 256MB 128BIT DDR2 PCI-E, http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...cture=SAPPHIRE, CA$ 121 So, if i'm correct, I get better quality for a lower price by going with the Ati? Any remarks

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2006-02-03, 05:07	#2 (permalink)
Tech Geek Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Denver, CO USA Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I just finished building my HTPC with the passivey cooled Saphire x1300 with 256K. I picked up two of the OEM cards refurbished at newegg.com for $66 US each with shipping. (the system said they were sold out right after I placed the order... sorry) Observations for the short time I've had them (3 days): It gets poor 3D Mark 2006 #s but that software uses very high res and is a CPU hog so take that with a grain of salt. In a real world TV situation it's pretty fast. Playing state of the art games at lower resolutions/settings shouldn't be a problem. The performance is much better than my old 9600se which already worked fine with media portal and that card played HalfLife 2 pretty smooth. I'm sure future driver enhancments will improve performance even more. The TV output looks better than the older ATi card and I haven't even started tweaking colors. It generates a lot of heat so use a well ventilated case. I haven't had any lockups yet though. The graphics output with the 3.0 shader and HDR lighting effects is stunning. Avivo appears to be for real. I'm still messing with settings, codecs and such so I really haven't gotten to do much testing but what I have seen so far looks promising. I'd say it works as advertised. We'll see. One important thing... the advertised max resolution is supported by the chip. But to output it apperantly requires dual DVI connectors. That's according to someone that tried hooking up an Apple monitor anyway. Without testing this myself I can't confirm or deny it. Oh yeah, don't even bother with the included drivers. Download the latest from the ATi website. Also... the included overclock utility doesn't work on mine. It says it only works on a Saphire card. So what does that make mine? There has to be an update. This card was perfect for my HTPC. YMMV (BTW, this isn't my first post... jdiffend was my username but I can't login anymore)

2006-02-04, 15:33	#4 (permalink)
Brijn Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: North vancouver, Canada Posts: 66 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Hi tech Geek, Thanx for your reply.. So you are saying the the passively cooled X1300 would be a good choice? I'm not at all interested in gaming on that system Tx

2006-02-05, 00:54	#5 (permalink)
Tech Geek Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Denver, CO USA Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Definately. You can use cheaper cards but for the difference in price I think the Avivo and H264 support are worth the money. Once programs to build H264 videos are as common as DIVX and XVID you'll be glad you have it. You also get shader 3 support which is nice for a little gaming and demos just to show off your system. (doesn't Vista want it as well??) Unless you want to play a lot of graphics hog games there's no point in spending more money because you won't gain anything you need. The more I use the system the more I think I got one heck of a deal on those cards. Just remember... high performance passively cooled cards need lots of airflow. This card's heatsink has at least 3 times the area of the ones on the MSI x300 cards I use at work and trust me... it gets hot under a load. A cramped case with little airflow could be a problem so plan your system accordingly.

2006-02-05, 02:20	#7 (permalink)
Tech Geek Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Denver, CO USA Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I haven't stuck a thermometer on it but I think it's safe to say that 3D is the biggest heat generator. The 3D circuitry occupies the largest portion of the die on that chip. Remember, it's almost like several custom math chips all calculating at once. Playing videos probably raises the temp slightly above just displaying the desktop but I wouldn't worry about it.

2006-02-05, 20:14	#10 (permalink)
Brijn Portal Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: North vancouver, Canada Posts: 66 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Looking at the review that Tech Geek posted I noticed the cables that come with the card. I obviously want to connect my HDTV with HD resolution. My TV (a Toshiba 27HL85) has two ports that the manual lists as HDTV capable: HDMI (used by the DVD player, Sony DVP-NS70H) and (what they call) ColorStreamHD (Y Pb Pr) Now I'm confused, would any of the included cables work? I have the feeling not, S-Video -> RGB cable is not Y Pb Pr?? What type of cable would i need? Thanx again