[Robilar]

Building a media centre PC to hook to my TV's.

Will be watching video, mostly MKV, VOB, AVI files and the occasional DVD.

The card must have HDMI out and be able to carry video and audio to a variety of 1080P televisions.

I will be running XP Home.

I've looked at a variety of cards but have little experience with media centre systems.

Any recommendations?

ATI or Nvidia is fine. Ths system will not be used for gaming of any kind, only video playback.

I'm leaning towards a Sapphire 5670 at the moment.

 

[koven]

Hd4870

 

[Robilar]

Can't find one of those for under $100 anywhere in Canada though.

 

[spanielcheckers]

Try a 4770, then. Not too bad for a HTPC. A 5670 would suit you just fine, too.

Sapphire is a good company.

 

[pioneerisloud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven Hd4870

Quote:

Originally Posted by spanielcheckers Try a 4770, then. Not too bad for a HTPC. A 5670 would suit you just fine, too. Sapphire is a good company.

Grab a 5650 or a 5670. Either will be MORE than sufficient for full HD playback. If you want to go the green team, grab a GT220 or GT240. Anything less than mentioned would be pointless. Anything more would be overkill (assuming no gaming).

 

[djsi38t]

Onboard video can practically do that.I wouldn't spend over $50.00.The hd4550 was very popular in home theater systems.

 

[Volvo]

HD4550.

Or up it a notch and get a HD4670.

Both are good cards I've used before.

Both are available in fully passive or active cooling depending on spec and brand.

 

[hyujmn]

My vote goes for a 220/240GT. I've used both in 1080p on a 60in widescreen and each one of em performed admirably.

 

[The Master Chief]

get a 3450 or cheap ass card man.

a 2600xt does 1080p with a socket 478 p4.

 

[Robilar]

The 5450 is dirt cheap (as in under $40) but a member here commented on issues he had with the card in conjunction with HDMI out.

 

[epitek]

XFX 5670s are nice...

 

[ZealotKi11er]

Hd 5550.

 

[pioneerisloud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by epitek XFX 5670s are nice...

And worry about XFX's warranty? No thank you

.

Robilar:
Don't hesitate, grab the Sapphire 5670 you're looking at. It might be a LITTLE overkill for media use, but it will handle hardware decoding easily. And the HDMI out should function fine on it.

The main problem with lower end cards (below the 5650 / GT220) is that they cannot handle FULL hardware acceleration on HD content. If your CPU can handle it, then that's great...go for the lower cards then. But the GPU acceleration should be what you're using in this budget range. And the 5650 / 5670 or GT220 / GT240 is what you'll want.

 

[Volvo]

The only issue here is what CPU you're gonna be using..
I know my PD + 4550 can't cut it on 1080p, but the very same 4550 with a C2D could do it.

 

[Robilar]

Using a 2.7ghz Dual core E5400

 

[DuckieHo]

Just a note.... the HD6xxx will bring UVD3. The current cards are UVD2.2.

 

[darkwaffle]

GT 240, great value (after rebate typically), small + cool.

 

[Robilar]

Decided to go with the Sapphire 5670 512MB. Getting it for $82 so its quite reasonable.

 

[to_the_zenith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by djsi38t Onboard video can practically do that...

^^^ For sure, I was running onboard 3200 and it was perfectly fine, only upgraded cause I play the occasional game.
If you want something cheap, just pick up a 2nd handy, easily under $50

 

[T D]

I have a HD4550. It accelerates h.264 1080p video with <1% CPU usage on my E6200.