Help me choose: 9400, 9500 or other?

post #1 of 8

12/14/08 at 2:21am

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17 Posts. Joined 11/2008
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Gonna replace my HD3450 due to some issues with MediaPortal. Done a lot of reading, but still a bit confused.

Thinking of getting a nVidia 9400 or 9500. Only usage is video (no gaming etc @ all)

First: Any comments on the wiki table regarding PureVideo support? I'd like to have a PureVideo3 ("VP3"), but according to table that seems impossible.

I was thinking about going 9300/9400 IGP, but that would make things more expensive. Also, I red that the 9300/9400IGP is based on G86. Is this true? Wouldn't a "standalone" 9400 be a better choice than a IGP?

Btw: How does PureVideoHD differ from the VP-listings?

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post #2 of 8

12/16/08 at 10:53am

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OK... ?

Is this:
a) a stupid question
or
b) hard to answer
or
c) not worth answering....

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post #3 of 8

12/16/08 at 12:06pm

897 Posts. Joined 4/2003
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For a PCI-E card, 9500GT Nvidia, HD4550 ATI.

Something like that.

Nearly any card should work, as the drivers are probably more of an issue for you than the hardware.

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post #4 of 8

12/16/08 at 9:39pm

578 Posts. Joined 6/2005
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G86 based cards do not support VP3. Only the G98 based 9300/9400 do.

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post #5 of 8

12/16/08 at 11:15pm

14,878 Posts. Joined 1/2006
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Spragleknas

Any comments on the wiki table regarding PureVideo support? I'd like to have a PureVideo3 ("VP3"), but according to table that seems impossible.

PureVideo (HD) is a general term for NVIDIA video playback technologies (hardware/software).
_________
PureVideo
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Since 2004 with GeForce 6 Series. Deinterlacing and various video processing. SD only (mostly).

- HW: MPEG-2 Decoding Engine, Video Processor Engine, video sharder etc.
- SW: driver and PureVideo Decoder
____________
PureVideo HD
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Began with GeForce 7 Series. Various video decoding and processing technologies for both SD and HD.

- HW: Video Processor 1/2/3 (VP1, VP2, VP3), H.264 Bitstream Processor (BSP), AES-128 Decryption Engine, and shader units/stream processors.
- SW: driver and player (decoder, e.g. CyberLink H.264 Decoder).

PureVideo HD Gen 1 (VP1)

	VLC	iDCT	MCo	DB
MPEG-2	N	Y	Y	-
VC-1	N	N	Y	Y
H.264	N	N	Y	Y

PureVideo HD Gen 2 (VP2+BSP+AES128 DE)

	VLC	iDCT	MCo	DB
MPEG-2	N	Y	Y	-
VC-1	N	Y	Y	Y
H.264	Y	Y	Y	Y

PureVideo HD Gen 3 (VP3+BSP+AES128 DE)

	VLC	iDCT	MCo	DB
MPEG-2	Y	Y	Y	-
VC-1	Y	Y	Y	Y
H.264	Y	Y	Y	Y

_____
Cards
¯¯¯¯¯
- Gen 1: GeForce 7 Series, GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra, GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB/640MB.
- Gen 2: Everything else.
- Gen 3: GeForce 8400 GS (G98), GeForce 8200/8300, GeForce 9300/9400.

Exceptions are GeForce 7025/7050 (AMD)/7050/7100/7150 (Intel) IGPs. NVIDIA did not dub these IGPs "PureVideo HD".

_______
Remarks
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Note that the generation refers to only GPU decoding capability. The difference between Gen 2 and Gen 3 (full hardware acceleration for VC-1) does not matter for any decent machine with a dual-core processor. Full hardware acceleration for VC-1 is good only for a sinlge-core processor. Generation does not indicate video processing capability at all (important as well). So Wiki's description is very incomplete.

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post #6 of 8

3/6/09 at 6:11am

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Thanks alot! (Just saw the update now :P)

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post #7 of 8

3/6/09 at 11:05am

613 Posts. Joined 10/2005
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Most geforce 6's had VP1 as well though the higher end parts (NV40) were broken and the all AGP GF6/7 cards couldn't do WMV/VC-1 due to a problem with the BR02 PCI-E<->AGP Bridge.

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post #8 of 8

3/8/09 at 11:47am