Your recommendations if you will. (1 Viewer)

SwiftShock

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October 24, 2009
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I started building and HTPC about 4 months ago now out of a relic desktop I had laying around (this is my first PC build). It started with the purchase of a Nvidia Geforce 9400 gt 1gb PCI video card and now the only thing that is left from the original PC is the power supply and case.

The video card seemed so good the time, but now is the weakest point on the computer(aside from the ugly case). Now that I am slightly educated, I think I should have done a little more research. Card's performing well, but video while browsing MP menus stutters a bit and Blu-rays hiccup every ten minutes or so.

My question is, for what I'm doing, what would be a good card for me? I'm obviously running MediaPortal (1.1.0), watching DVDs, Blu-rays, and playing music. I also might be gaming on it eventually.

Any recommendations would be great. Middle of the road preferably. I already have a lot of money into the PC.

:D

My setup:
Windows 7 Home Primium 64bit
AMD Phenom II x4 965 B.E.
Kingston 4gb of DDR3 R.A.M.(2gb x 2)
Nvidia GeForce 9400 gt 1gb PCI <-this is what In would like to change. I have PCI and PCI-E ports available.
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2 Mother board
80gb HDD for OS and programs
1.5tb HDD for media files
DVI to HDMI to Vizio 42" display
 

Spragleknas

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  • December 21, 2005
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    MediaPortal Forum » General Forums » Other HTPC Applications (no support)

    Wrong category? ;)

    :::Moved:::
     

    kiwijunglist

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  • June 10, 2008
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    If you want ATI card then I recommend PCI-E HD4670 as minimun - It is most recommended by ATI experts on avsforums, i have HD4670 works great with mediaportal. It also has low power usage. HD4670 is only fast enough for very light 1080P gaming. Yes you might get away with HD4650, but it has some limited deinterlacing options in some circumstances, so why risk it?

    If you want to go with ATI and don't want to game, and don't want HD Audio over HDMI then I recommend HD4670.
    If you want to go with ATI and want HD audio over HDMI then you need ATI 5XXX card.

    I can't comment much on nvidia, except to say that 9400 is probably a bit slow for mediaportal + 1080i ; not sure who recommended you this card?!?!?
     

    Paranoid Delusion

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  • June 13, 2005
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    Well my GS7900 (multipurpose rig, pre PS3) just went west memory wise, so I have just ordered a gt 220, reasons, if I want to play games then use my PS3, but want HD playback and the ability to rip movies using the gpu as well as the cpu, really surprised about the 9400 chipset, as that is pretty standard on a lot of motherboards, but then it may just be to weak to run MP's GUI, say against a 9500GT, which seem's to be the minimum recommended by a lot of video experts on various sites, regarding good DirectX support.

    I think a lot of people are awaiting passive versions of the gt 220 card, but think it will be April\May time before you see availability to the masses :(, just because it will be used in conjunction with a cpu for doing various video work.
     

    SwiftShock

    Portal Member
    October 24, 2009
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    I can't comment much on nvidia, except to say that 9400 is probably a bit slow for mediaportal + 1080i ; not sure who recommended you this card?!?!?

    No one really recommended it. I was just impatient and tired of looking for PCI cards, seeing that the mother board then didn;t have a PCI E slot. This was pre-newegg for me. Now, thank you for your knowledge of ATI, but I was looking just slightly higher. Thanks for looking out for the cost however! Very reasonable cards!

    I'm not a fan of any company, but I have been keeping an eye more on Nvidia for some reason. I have been eye-balling a EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express on Newegg.com. Is this a decent one? For what I'm doing would this be too much? Is there a cheaper one with similar specs?

    Thank both of you, very helpful responses.
     

    Owlsroost

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  • October 28, 2008
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    Unless you need the 3D performance for gaming, don't bother with the GT250 upwards - they are older, more power hungry and don't have good HDMI audio support.

    Go for the GT220/GT240 instead - much more HTPC friendly (but check the reviews to find one with a quiet fan - the video card reviews on http://www.techpowerup.com/ include noise tests).

    Tony
     

    kiwijunglist

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    yup i agree generally for HTPC, go for a newer card rather than a faster older card. Of course you still need to stay above a minimun spec speed.
     

    SwiftShock

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    October 24, 2009
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    You cannot beat this community! So helpful. Many many thanks.

    Now, how about this one? Product #N82E16814130531. Is it smarter to let them over clock it? My mother board seems pretty flexible with that stuff, but I've never done it. I think you guys have sold me on a 240 GT! I would like speed preferably. Anything that will make MP shine a little more.

    I have done a little more homework too. I've gathered that the size of the memory doesn't matter that much? So is 512mb good for what I am doing? About the fan, noise doesn't bother me too much...unless it sounds like a fatal failure.

    Again, thank all of you so much.
     

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