Video Cards revisited

[Seeker47]

I've had a situation a little while back where using a 9600GT 512M video card in this small-form-factor box (although said card was on the Shuttle approved list for this model) may have contributed to overheating and the burning out of a PSU. Or maybe not.

According to this online database I found

http://www.xgcdb.com/cards/leadtek/winfast-px9600-gt.html

my 9600 card drew 95 watts.

Before I look into replacing this card with another 9600, I thought I might seek some recommendations in regard to just what would meet my minimum needs for video.

NO gaming to speak of. And NO overclocking.
Good Video playback, including HD video.
Video Editing, without frame-drop issues.

Single Slot: NO dual slot cards, no cards that are extra tall, extra long, OR extra thick -- because they won't fit. Or they will block any possible use of the ONE adjacent PCI slot.

Truth be told, lately I've been filling in on this box with an old Saphire X550 256M card. I expect this must be primitive and puny, compared to the 9600, but -- so far -- it hasn't refused to do anything for me. It has played 720P video clips in VLC (with not what I'd call good results, but passable), and worked with Womble MPEG Video Wizard editor, etc. Plus the heat from it is negligible, and there's no fan so it's quiet. On the other hand, I believe it falls far below the minimum specs mentioned for the Blue-Ray burner I bought but have not deployed yet.

Here's another factor: I really like this fanless card option. They are definitely quiet, which is a big plus, and some are reported to run pretty cool, with a lower power draw. That's ideal for an HTPC-size box like mine. But the cards I've looked into so far seem to be disqualified, either due to size or thickness.

Hopefully some of you have juggled some of these same desired parameters.

[aedipuss]

what type of slot? pci, agp, pci-e(1.0) or (2.0)

[Seeker47]

what type of slot? pci, agp, pci-e(1.0) or (2.0)

PCI-E 2.0, I believe. That was the listed spec on the 9600GT card.

[jagabo]

Pretty much every AMD/ATI and nvidia video card made now can play blu-ray flawlessly and meet all your requirements. Aside from the low power, obviously. Silent cards at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&bop=A...=1&PageSize=20

[Seeker47]

Pretty much every AMD/ATI and nvidia video card made now can play blu-ray flawlessly and meet all your requirements. Aside from the low power, obviously. Silent cards at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&bop=A...=1&PageSize=20

Thanks for the link -- I'll take a look at what they have available.

Would I be correct in surmising that the vast majority of less-than-current model video cards won't make the grade, because they lack either HDMI Out or HDCP compliance ? (That would be for the possible Blu-Ray portion of this.) And what is this business with "must have an HDCP compliant monitor" ? I'd like to continue using my Iiyama CRT monitor, which I think has all the resolution I'm ever going to need.

[jagabo]

Would I be correct in surmising that the vast majority of less-than-current model video cards won't make the grade, because they lack either HDMI Out or HDCP compliance ?

HDMI out wasn't common until recently. But HDCP (on the DVI port) has been around for quite some time.

(That would be for the possible Blu-Ray portion of this.)

HDCP is only required for playing Blu-ray discs with a sanctioned Blu-ray player like PowerDVD. It's not needed to play Blu-ray rips (copy protections have been removed).

And what is this business with "must have an HDCP compliant monitor" ?

Sanctioned Blu-ray players require a secure data path from the computer to the monitor. That means the graphics card and the monitor have to support HDCP.

I'd like to continue using my Iiyama CRT monitor, which I think has all the resolution I'm ever going to need.

I doubt that monitor supports HDCP.

[Seeker47]

HDCP is only required for playing Blu-ray discs with a sanctioned Blu-ray player like PowerDVD. It's not needed to play Blu-ray rips (copy protections have been removed).

And there are no alternate (or free) players for Blu-Ray, along the lines of VLC, that can get around this HDCP restriction ? (If Fab and AnyDVD exist for rips, in theory I don't see how Big Content would be able to stop someone from putting out a desktop player that can do this. They might have to hq in one of the scofflaw countries. Or open source it.) If rips are the only way to get around this limitation, I could live with that -- although it would be less convenient and more time consuming.

And what is this business with "must have an HDCP compliant monitor" ?

Sanctioned Blu-ray players require a secure data path from the computer to the monitor. That means the graphics card and the monitor have to support HDCP.

Is that with the hardware (BR optical drive), the software (desktop player), or both ? In that case, a rip in advance solves the problem, and avoids the monitor restriction ?

I'd like to continue using my Iiyama CRT monitor, which I think has all the resolution I'm ever going to need.

I doubt that monitor supports HDCP.

This was a high-end CRT, but 5 years old now, so I'm sure you're right. I checked about a year ago, and a successor model of the same brand and type was still on the market. If mine died, I would get another one -- that's how much I like it, and prefer it over the LCD panels everyone else is probably using these days. As long as this monitor is still working well, I guess it will have to be Rip City for any BR option . . . .

[jagabo]

And there are no alternate (or free) players for Blu-Ray (discs), along the lines of VLC, that can get around this HDCP restriction ?

I don't know. But all the sanctioned players will require HDCP. Otherwise they would not be able to obtain Blu-ray or AACS licenses.

Sanctioned Blu-ray players require a secure data path from the computer to the monitor. That means the graphics card and the monitor have to support HDCP.

Is that with the hardware (BR optical drive), the software (desktop player), or both ?

I'm not sure what you're asking here. The data on the discs is encrypted. A sanctioned player must decrypt the and decompress the video, then pass the video to the monitor via an HDCP encrypted path. This is true for both set-top Blu-ray disc players and computers.

In that case, a rip in advance solves the problem, and avoids the monitor restriction ?

Yes.