Hardware Htpc Graffics Cards

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Hey up guys.

Going to build myself a htpc, any recommendations on a decent not expensive video card ? around the 50-60 quid mark.

Cheers John :xmas:
 
The integrated GPUs in the last and current gen Intel CPUs and AMD APUs are more than enough for 1080/60p.

However, if you are using a pre-SandyBridge Intel or pre-Bulldozer AMD, have a look at the Nvidia GT 210, and GT 610 through GT 640, or the AMD Radeon HDs ending in 450, and the new R7 240.
 
Thanks very much mate. Still undecided weather to build a new one from scratch or utilize some old components i have lying around.
 
The integrated GPUs in the last and current gen Intel CPUs and AMD APUs are more than enough for 1080/60p.

However, if you are using a pre-SandyBridge Intel or pre-Bulldozer AMD, have a look at the Nvidia GT 210, and GT 610 through GT 640, or the AMD Radeon HDs ending in 450, and the new R7 240.

Pob is right although I'm not entirely sure the GT 210 or radeon 4000 series carries sound over hdmi which is important for a htpc, maybe pob can confirm but as far as amd go anyway I thought it was the 5000 series onwards that introduced sound over hdmi
 
I should of added the reason i wanted a graphics card and not onboard was i'll be using dual monitors (lg tv and asus monitor) and all thou sound is important on at least one monitor it not on both so dual hdmi would be good i could get away with 1 x hdmi 1 x dvi .

Thanks again guys its much appreciated
 
Pob is right although I'm not entirely sure the GT 210 or radeon 4000 series carries sound over hdmi which is important for a htpc, maybe pob can confirm but as far as amd go anyway I thought it was the 5000 series onwards that introduced sound over hdmi

The spec sheet on nvidia's website implies the GT 210 has a SPDIF header for pass through. Though I guess that's only of use if you've got a SPDIF header on the motherboard.

As a discontinued product, I don't think the 4000 series are generally available, but was worth noting for the second hand market.
I should of added the reason i wanted a graphics card and not onboard was i'll be using dual monitors (lg tv and asus monitor) and all thou sound is important on at least one monitor it not on both so dual hdmi would be good i could get away with 1 x hdmi 1 x dvi .

Thanks again guys its much appreciated
On board HDMI would be no use for dual monitors, unless you use a splitter (which would only give cloned desktop). You can only use HDMI or DVI, not both. Also, last I heard, you had to reboot to switch between the two.

If you install drivers for onboard and discrete graphics you should be able to power 2 HDMI monitors. Only hardship would be having to go into control panel to switch between the active sound device.
 
Your still correct little_pob regarding the sound detection but I'm not concerned about both monitors having sound just the tv the monitor is primarily just incase I want to use the htpc and my son is using the tv, my gaming rig is right next to my tv and the monitor has triple input so might as well utilise it. I'm aware that I won't be able to use on board graphics hense asking for a card :) going to have a look at your suggestions later tonight and apologies I should of made it a bit more clearer.

Thanks mate John
 
If you are looking for add on card just for media playback then you can't go far wrong with 5450 which can be picked up for around ยฃ25. You can run it fan-less and it comes in low profile if you want to it to a small case. Also carries sound but possibly not

Its slightly out of date but more information here,

Review - Radeon HD 5450 Review: HTPC Heaven? | bit-tech.net


For integrated video, latest chips from AMD and Intel pretty much all support dual output these days and will at least on par if not much ahead compared to 5450 for gaming performance. This is a typical H77 Intel chipset motherboard. It has VGA, HDMI and DVI of which you can use two at a time.

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-H77-D3H (rev. 1.0)

Some boards have 2 x HDMI instead of a DVI if you dig around.
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-H77N-WIFI (rev. 1.0)
 
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Thanks very much mate, I doubt I would us it for gaming but quietness is certainly a factor


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If you are looking for add on card just for media playback then you can't go far wrong with 5450 which can be picked up for around ยฃ25. You can run it fan-less and it comes in low profile if you want to it to a small case. Also carries sound but possibly not

For integrated video, latest chips from AMD and Intel pretty much all support dual output these days and will at least on par if not much ahead compared to 5450 for gaming performance.

Its slightly out of date but more information here,

Review - Radeon HD 5450 Review: HTPC Heaven? | bit-tech.net

the 5450 does indeed carry sound over hdmi. it'll do 5.1 infact if you have an amp.

A quick word of warning about running two screens though, I always find that whichever screen is not set to the primary, I get screen tearing on the other, I assume its a v-sync issue which is strange as both screens are running at 1920x1080 and 60hz, it has done this on every card I've tested, all AMD (5450, 5670, 5770, 5870 and my current 7950)
 
the 5450 does indeed carry sound over hdmi. it'll do 5.1 infact if you have an amp.

A quick word of warning about running two screens though, I always find that whichever screen is not set to the primary, I get screen tearing on the other, I assume its a v-sync issue which is strange as both screens are running at 1920x1080 and 60hz, it has done this on every card I've tested, all AMD (5450, 5670, 5770, 5870 and my current 7950)

running a 4650 in my main PC with 2 monitors no problem.
 
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