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Powerful yet efficient GPU for HTPC

post #1 of 20
11/12/12 at 12:42pm
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I'm gonna finish my HTPC media server build this week and while I don't yet have a video card, I plan to pick one up around Black Friday.

I pretty much want to get something that is very power efficient/silent (my PC will be on 24/7) and also powerful.

From reading around I found the following two cards. Let me know what you guys recommend. The gaming will be done on 55" Samsung TV.

My price range is $230 or less

1. 560 TI
2. XFX HD7870
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post #2 of 20
11/12/12 at 1:57pm
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Probably the 560ti, it has less TDP and should be quieter. The 7870 beats it from a performance/watt perspective though.
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post #3 of 20
11/12/12 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Massive17 View Post

I'm gonna finish my HTPC media server build this week and while I don't yet have a video card, I plan to pick one up around Black Friday.
I pretty much want to get something that is very power efficient/silent (my PC will be on 24/7) and also powerful.
From reading around I found the following two cards. Let me know what you guys recommend. The gaming will be done on 55" Samsung TV.
My price range is $230 or less
1. 560 TI
2. XFX HD7870

This is for a HTPC for video playback only?

What's your current build? The IGP of a FM2 CPU should be plenty. It scores 199/210 on HQV 2.0: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6335/amds-trinity-an-htpc-perspective/3


Otherwise, get a GT 640. It scores 178 out of 210 on HQV 2.0 but has better custom frame rate controls and can handle madVR: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5969/zotac-geforce-gt-640-review-/6


Quote:
Originally Posted by Legonut View Post

Probably the 560ti, it has less TDP and should be quieter. The 7870 beats it from a performance/watt perspective though.
HTPC GPU selection has almost nothing to do with raw performance though.

It has to do with software support and image quality.
Edited by DuckieHo - 11/12/12 at 2:04pm
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post #4 of 20
11/12/12 at 2:00pm
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Cool. Power efficiency and quietness is what I'm looking for.

As long as the 560 TI can max out most games at 1080p then I'm happy:D
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post #5 of 20
11/12/12 at 2:09pm
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No this is not for just video playback.

I plan to game on it and I want to be able to max out most games @1080p .
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post #6 of 20
11/12/12 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Massive17 View Post

No this is not for just video playback.
I plan to game on it and I want to be able to max out most games @1080p .

Then it's not really just a HTPC.... you are just looking for a video card to max out most games at 1080p.....
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post #7 of 20
11/12/12 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 
Well, yea.

It's an HTPC/Media Server/Gaming machine biggrin.gif

It will be used mostly as a media server, but I do want to game on it when I get home from work and I want to make sure it's not heating up my case when I'm not gaming.

My last 2 cards have been the least efficient cards in history. The HD4890 and the GTX 480. I wanna break the trend of buying nuclear power plants for my video cards.
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post #8 of 20
11/12/12 at 2:34pm
check out the new radeon hd 7000 series like a 7870 or GTX 600 series like a GTX 660
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post #9 of 20
11/12/12 at 3:08pm
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The extra memory is not really necessary since I won't be running multiple monitors, right? 1 GB should be OK?
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post #10 of 20
11/12/12 at 3:58pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Massive17 View Post

The extra memory is not really necessary since I won't be running multiple monitors, right? 1 GB should be OK?

Good question. I'm looking at a video card upgrade now. I can see in Afterburner that Skyrim on high at 1680x1050 is using 800M of video card memory with the SkyrimHD Lite mod installed. I would guess the full version of the mod or going to 1080p or having a card that can run Ultra would push me over 1G, at which point paging to system memory would cause a bottle neck. I am thinking going to 2G is necessary but I am interested in hearing other opinions on the matter.
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