Am I stuck with my onbaord gfx forever? (1 Viewer)

[Inker]

I need a gfx card too...

My HTPC currently only has cheap onboard intel chip (GMA950) which I put up with so far. I actually bought a passive HD3450 a few months ago, I think it was this one, but the thing go so hot I was scared. I returned the card after a few days for this reason.

Another problem is that the mobo has very little space between my cooler (Ninja) and the PCI-E slot, the card has maybe 5mm room towards the end of the card, on the side facing the cpu.

I'm really looking for a cheap (~50€, max 80 but only if its really worth it), if in any case possible passive, PCIE card that has DVI and hdmi out. I don't need any gaming, but the card should stay halfway cool. If it has a fan it should be extremely quiet. And it also can't have any cooling or other "parts" on it's underside (because of the proximity to the cpu cooler). I'd prefer ATI, but I'm willing to go NVIDIA. Do they now support sound over HDMI?

I know I'm picky, but what else is out there? The HD4xxx Series seems to be expensive. Is the 8400 or 8500 series worth anything, in particularly does anyone have a passive one? Can it do full BluRay?

I once had a ATI 9600 (or was it 9200?) passive AGP card in my old htpc....it did its job nicely and stayed cool. Do they make cards anymore that are passive and cool at the same time?

Am I stuck with my crappy onboard forever?

 

[seco]

My motherboard has integrated Intel HDMI GPU which I just discarded and bought ATI Radeon HD4850.

The SD picture is so great and smooth, I haven't got ANY judder/stutter since I installed it. HD capabilities are also great and better than any nVidia card at the moment (see wikipedia for nVidia Purevideo and ATI UVD / UVD2).

So far the problems are that card is not very cheap and generates a lot of heat. Yet the card is powerful enough for games, so I must say that Flatout Ultimate Carnage looks awesome on 1080p screen and playing is just great with Logitech Rumblepad 2

I would say that you should wait for the low-end 4xxx series cards which should be out pretty soon, I'd guess they're lot cheaper and might have passive cooling. They should also have same video processing capabilities (UVD2) which I can really recommend.

 

[Ruud]

Hi Inker,

If you are looking for audio and video HDMI and want passive cooling then you should have a look at these products.
They are aiming specificaly at the HTPC market and know what is important in our arena (e.g. one of the few suppliers that still support PCI as this is mainstream on mini-itx motherboards).

Sparkle

regards,
Ruud.

 

[bigj]

I'm looking at getting this:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Though I can't vouch for how good it is.

My requirements are:
Lowish power, but enough grunt for Bluray/HD.
Dual-dvi / hdmi - so I can clone to LCD-TV and projector.
Silent or very quiet.

This card is x3 more powerful that 3450 (for post-process/GPU based stuff.)
Hopefully it can be automatically clocked down when idle/underutilised.

I will be getting a new case too - and would probably look to add a case fan near the GPU to come on and move air if/when things get a little too toasty.


I'll post back my experience when I get new system.

HTH
BigJ.

 

[Inker]

Thnx guys,

the 3650 looks good, but if even my passive 3450 got way too hot I don't even dare imaging the temperature of a 3650.

Sparkle seems to only have NVIdia, any recommendations as to which models are good for HTPCs? Do they get as hot as ATI?

If nothing comes up I'll probably go with what seco said and wait for the budget HD4xxx models, apparently due out in september /4650 or 4450 or something). I'm hoping they might stay a bit cooler.

 

[Spragleknas]

Did you ever consider underclocking (and volting) it?

You could also read about ATi's PowerPlay technology - which I thought was implemented in the HD-3xxx-series
ATI PowerPlay™

 

[Inker]

Did you ever consider underclocking (and volting) it?

You could also read about ATi's PowerPlay technology - which I thought was implemented in the HD-3xxx-series
ATI PowerPlay™

No not really, but I don't have it anymore anyways. But you're right, that may be an option....

Powerplays seems only enabled for HD38xx products, which neither my 3450, nor the 3650 is :-(

 

[flokel]

How did you measure the temp of your card ?

Simply touching the heat sink you may get a wrong impression
as a temperature of 50°C may already feel pretty painful to your fingers.
Whereas these temperatures are normal for passively cooled graphic cards.

According to the really good articles of german computer magazine c't
ati 3450 is right now the least power hungry graphics card
and therefore (depending on the cooling solutions) the coolest cards.

 

[Inker]

I did touch it, and even just after booting, maybe 15 minutes into doing nothing but showing an idle desktop it was not only warm, like a heatsink on a cpu that has 50°, but really really hot. I also remember looking at the temp in the catalyst, don't ask me any specific numbers but I think it was ~65 or so. It went up to over 85° when doing some 3d stuff. On the desktop machine I have an overclocked HD2600xt (but with a fan of course) and on an idle Vista desktop it never exceed 50°, I think it gets close to 75-80 under load, but I'm not sure.

Do you think this is normal and I should have kept it? I figured it heats the (small) htpc case way too much so that other components will get hot too.

 

[flokel]

with the software reporting 65°C in idle state I would feel a little uncomfortable as well

about the amount dissipated:
the same card heats up the case the same way
regardless of it's cooling solution/temperature
(except for cooling solutions that blow the air directly out of the case)

If you don't mind the current issue with ati cards
( 0001192: Flickering Tv-guide and other overlays with EVR enabled - MediaPortal Bugtracker)
I'd go again for an Ati 3450 with a larger heat sink.
I'd just make sure that the pci slot next to the graphic card/ heat sink is not in use
and that the pci bezel (Blende?) is not mounted so that cold air can directly flow over the heat sink
(this really helps a lot when using passively cooled cards)