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<blockquote data-quote="nst6563" data-source="post: 135391" data-attributes="member: 14655">If your not going to be doing any postprocessing, a lot of the decoding work can supposedly be dumped off onto the GPU now instead.&nbsp; Both Nvidia and ATI offer hardware decoding support for h.264 these days, you just have to use a compatible decoder (Purevideo and the latest Forceware drivers for Nvidia, and Cyberlink 7+ and the latest Catalyst drivers for ATI).Do remember though that only the ATI x1k series and the Nvidia 6xxx, 7xxx, and 8xxx series offer the hardware decoding support.&nbsp; Using a 9800pro will get you next to nothing as for hardware accelerated decoding of h.264.&nbsp; I wouldn't recommend anything less than the x1650xt if you go ATI for hardware accelerated h.264 though from what I've read.&nbsp; Not sure about the Nvidia side as for a 'minimum' card.here's a handy link to nvidia's reference on what purevideo features each gpu supports: <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html" target="_blank">http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html</a>And upgrading the cpu would be a good idea as well...but I upgraded recently from a 3.2Ghz P4 to an AMD X2 4800+ and the new setup is MUCH easier to keep cool.&nbsp; May look into watercooling if you want silence with a higher end P4.&nbsp; Something with a large radiator (2x120 or 3x120) would do the trick nicely.&nbsp; Next to silent since you won't need the fans to be on anything but low.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="nst6563, post: 135391, member: 14655"] If your not going to be doing any postprocessing, a lot of the decoding work can supposedly be dumped off onto the GPU now instead. Both Nvidia and ATI offer hardware decoding support for h.264 these days, you just have to use a compatible decoder (Purevideo and the latest Forceware drivers for Nvidia, and Cyberlink 7+ and the latest Catalyst drivers for ATI). Do remember though that only the ATI x1k series and the Nvidia 6xxx, 7xxx, and 8xxx series offer the hardware decoding support. Using a 9800pro will get you next to nothing as for hardware accelerated decoding of h.264. I wouldn't recommend anything less than the x1650xt if you go ATI for hardware accelerated h.264 though from what I've read. Not sure about the Nvidia side as for a 'minimum' card. here's a handy link to nvidia's reference on what purevideo features each gpu supports: [url]http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html[/url] And upgrading the cpu would be a good idea as well...but I upgraded recently from a 3.2Ghz P4 to an AMD X2 4800+ and the new setup is MUCH easier to keep cool. May look into watercooling if you want silence with a higher end P4. Something with a large radiator (2x120 or 3x120) would do the trick nicely. Next to silent since you won't need the fans to be on anything but low. [/QUOTE]

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