Specific video card requirements for HD playback?

[GLE3]

Wondering if I can get some guidance on what to look for when it comes to looking for a video card. I'm not much of a gamer but HD playback (H.264) is something that interests me. Should I focus on particlar specifications when it comes to choosing a card? I included a file with numerous ATI cards with specs. Suggestions on what specs I should focus on the most considering my needs?

video%20cards.bmp

[GLE3]

Any other additional info I should give to better ask the question?

[guns1inger]

You should be patient. Bumping your own thread in less that 24 hours is likely to get a mods attention, and not in a good way.

You might also mention any budget constraints you have.

You may well be limited in your choices given the age of your current system. Does it have a PCI-E slot, or is it AGP ? What size power supply does it currently have ? Are you prepared to upgrade it if necessary to support a newer card ?

[jagabo]

I believe all the 2000 series and up (2350 to 4870) support hardware h.264 decoding.

[INFRATOM]

Read the link below. Any of these are ok for playback. For 3D stuff the better it is the faster it would be. The top rated ones need lot of power and generate lot of heat. If you are using multi-display go for the good ones. Good=$120+ Better=$160+
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3538

[jagabo]

Virtually every Ati and Nvidia card made now is capable of hardware h.264 decoding. I would concentrate on other features like dual DVI (if you use more than one monitor) and silent (no fan) operation (in an HTPC). Obviously, for gaming you may need more horsepower than you get at the bottom end. An ATI 4850 will be sufficient for most gamers.

[GLE3]

You should be patient. Bumping your own thread in less that 24 hours is likely to get a mods attention, and not in a good way.

You might also mention any budget constraints you have.

You may well be limited in your choices given the age of your current system. Does it have a PCI-E slot, or is it AGP ? What size power supply does it currently have ? Are you prepared to upgrade it if necessary to support a newer card ?

Oh boy, less than 20 posts here and I’ve already managed to ruffle feathers. Sorry about that. Thanks for the etiquette info, because I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. It’s just that I posted a thread earlier that was never responded to and I figured it was because of the way I posed the questions….

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic365549.html

I just wanted to make sure I was making sense with what I was saying, being a newb and all….

I don’t really have any budget constraints if it will help with playback performance. I do have slot constraints though. One PCI-E (x1) and two PCI slots is all I have. I also only have a Pentium 4, which from what I am hearing so far is a constraint as well. But I was thinking if I could buy a card that took as much stress off the CPU as possible, I might be able to get what I want out of it. If I can’t, then I’ll still have a good video card that my son can play his games with.

[jagabo]

If you get a card with hardware decoding your P4 will be fine. But you must use a player that supports the DXVA feature.

Note that PCIe slots come in several sizes. PCIe x16 is usually used for graphics cards.

http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2006/techtips-24sept06.htm

Don't confuse that with the PCIe version number, 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, etc.

[GLE3]

If you get a card with hardware decoding your P4 will be fine. But you must use a player that supports the DXVA feature.

This is VERY good to know! I didn't even know this technology existed.

[GLE3]

Ok, I'm trying to decide between two cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161238 Which uses PCI

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161197 That uses PCI-e x1 (about all I could find)

Is it ok to assume the PCI bus will perform the same as a PCI-e x1 if the specs are pretty much the same between the two cards?

[guns1inger]

No. PCI Express is much faster due to it's far higher data transfer rate. Depending on what you are doing, there will be a huge difference.

[jagabo]

PCIe x1 is only a single lane -- about the same speed as PCI. Still, I find it hard to believe the motherboard only has a 1x slot.

[DarrellS]

PCIe x1 is only a single lane -- about the same speed as PCI. Still, I find it hard to believe the motherboard only has a 1x slot.

I agree. Could be a lot more helpfull if we knew what motherboard was being used. If a board has a PCI-e x1 it surely has a PCI-e x16.

By looking at the other post, it looks like the PC needs a total rebuild to do what you want.

225 watts isn't enough to push an old AIW capture card let alone new technology.

There is the HD AIW card for all in one use but you need Vista to get QAM channels, at least 500 watts of power and a compatible MB.

With the right board and PS, the HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo looks good at $69 at newegg...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252

add the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit for $100...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116015

and you have a pretty good setup for capturing and watching HD content.

If you can afford to spend more, here is a wishlist I made up at newegg...

[disturbed1]

PCIe x1 is only a single lane -- about the same speed as PCI. Still, I find it hard to believe the motherboard only has a 1x slot.

I agree(d) about the PCIe slots, so I had to look

The GMA graphics accelerator according to the OP's profile was on 910G, 915G, and 915X boards. I'm not digging through every single Intel 910/915 board there is but here's 2 that only have PCIe 1x and PCI slots.
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d915glvg/sb/CS-020821.htm
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d910gldw/sb/CS-013910.htm

PCIe 1x has a bandwidth of ~250mb/s (~500 combined)
PCI has a bandwidth of 133mb/s

PCIe has independent bandwidth, and is serial. It can send and receive data at the same time - hence the combined speed.
PCI is parallel, and has to share the bandwidth with other PCI devices on that channel. It can send or receive data, but not both at the same time.

I'm not aware of any PCIe 1x cards that do decent hardware decoding of 1080p H264 streams. Anything from This list will do what you need.

Q. What is new in GeForce 8400, GeForce 8500 and GeForce 8600 GPU video processors?
These GPUs feature a new video engine that includes a bitstream processor (BSP) and an improved programmable video processor (VP). The BSP offloads the 100% of the CABAC and H.264 decode process from the CPU allowing playback of "full spec" HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. The new VP also has more advanced video post-processing algorithms which improve video quality.

[GLE3]

PCIe x1 is only a single lane -- about the same speed as PCI. Still, I find it hard to believe the motherboard only has a 1x slot.

I wish I were lying guys... Behold, motherboard of a Dell dimension E310!

For the record, I think these are the actual specs:

Motherboard Name - intel D915GVWB - Micro btx
Motherboard Chipset - Intel Grantsdale-G i915GV


dell%20e310%20system%20board.bmp

[jagabo]

So, not only does Intel give you the poorest graphics available, they keep you from upgrading to anything better! Dell must love this.

[DarrellS]

I'd scrap the whole idea and build a new computer.

Here is a review from CNET and it's not very kind.

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-dimension-e310-pentium/4505-3118_7-31594474.html

Microsoft claims the Intel 945 chipset won't support full HD video so I'm not sure how the 915 chipset will.

[Constant Gardener]

A year ago I ripped the guts out of my "video" computer, put in a 780G-based motherboard (Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H), an Athlon X2 5000+ unlocked CPU, and 2 GB of RAM - all of which cost under $200. The build-in graphics do h.264 very nicely. I'd use a 4850E or 5050E processor if I was building one today.