I have had a HTPC now for 2 years and absolutely love it. Since moving to Vista though (6 months ago) the video-card has been driving me up the wall. I recently also got an HD Homerun and so I am finally about to cave and get a new card. Unless you think there is a way to fix my issues?

My issues with the current card are:
- I use DVI-HDMI to connect to my Panasonic LCD HDTV; when the computer resumes from standby about 50%-70% of the time the image remains black/no signal. Leaving the TV on, putting the HTPC to sleep and resuming again sometimes fixes the issue ... but most recently it usually doesn't. The only option is to force-shutdown the HTPC and restart. (and this is not some power management thing - all those settings are disabled) (I assume the issue stems from the DV-HDMI connection: the PC senses when the TV is turned off but not when it is turned on)



- it does not support the actual native resolution of the LCD (1366*768); when I set it to that resolution I have a HUGE overscan (5% of the picture missing on all 4 sides, so that I loose pretty much 10%) - only setting the resolution to some custom resolution can I get close to the actual resolution of the display (1240*700). But coupled with the above issue and the horrible ATI drivers the resolution is lost every other week and I have to reset it or restart the HTPC.

- I just got an HD Homerun device. The HTPC in general should be able to handle HD content without issues but actually watching HD, it very quickly stutters and the audio is no longer in sync.


My current HTPC:
- P4 2.6GHz HT
- 2.5GB RAM
- ATI Radeon x300 (PCIe x16)
- Sound via the integrated HD audio
- Avermedia 1500 Ultra TV-Tuner
- Panasonic LCD HDTV (connected via DVI-HDMI and seperate audio cable)
- 3 HDDs for 750GB


If I have to get a new video card, I want to make sure that the following work:
- when the TV is turned off/on the picture is always on

- I want to address the HDTV in its native resolution without some @#$%@#$ overscan issues.

- should play HD television from the HD Homerun (or recorded) without any issues with my current HTPC

- should play games decently (should be better than my current card)

- should help my HTPC stay cool - the thing is a freak*** oven, so an active cooling card might be a good idea if the fan has a smart control (only speeds up when necessary and still quiet)


Any recommendations?
My budget for the card is approx $50 - $100ish. I heard that should be enough?

no one?

Did everything work with XP? If so, I would consider going back.

Dumb question, but when was the last time you updated your video drivers? The latest build (from last week) fixed the problem I was having with the image not returning after sleep/switching tv inputs.

Your TV is doing the overscan not your graphics card over its HDMI/DVI interface.
Most 1366x768 HDTVs will not accept 1366x768 or 1360x768 over their HDMI/DVI interface since they are not ATSC TV signal resolutions. Many of these sets will accept their native resolution over a VGA interface.
Your graphics card also does not have enough graphcs processing power to handle HDTV TV programs. I believe the x600 pro is the minimum ATI X series that will.

I have the latest drivers - still the black screen issue.

I have been looking at the following card as a replacement - will I have the same black screen issues?

Newegg: ASUS EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

I am concerned though that I will have the black screen on resume issue even with the new card since I cannot figure out what it is.

Could it be a DVI fluke with my current card? It does not display a picture via DVI either until it boots into the OS (no Bios, no vista boot up)

Then boot up problem is caused by the fact that your display apparently will not accept over HDMI the resolution that is the default resolution of your current graphics card which it uses untill windows boots up. Normally this resolution is 480p but maybe 480i.
I can't confrim that a new card will solve the Black screen problem but I suspect that it will.