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Cheapest videocard for MadVR?

post #1 of 111
9/21/11 at 8:30pm
Thread Starter 
I'm using i3 550 Integrated Graphics w/4GB Ram now and get some occasional stutter watching 1080p Blu-ray MKV rips with everything except Overlay Mixer. I'd prefer Amazon.com but Newegg would be fine too. Thanks.

EDIT: Sorry, Lame auto-spell correction screwed up the original post.
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post #2 of 111
9/22/11 at 2:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiter View Post

I'm using i3 550 Integrated Graphics w/4GB Ram now and get some occasional stutter watching 1080p Blu-ray MKV rips with everything except Overlay Mixer. I'd prefer Amazon.com but Newegg would be fine too. Thanks.

EDIT: Sorry, Lame auto-spell correction screwed up the original post.

The nVidia GT440 or GTS450 "with DDR5" is my recommendation.

Some say the GT430 is enough for MadVR but I found it a little weak and returned it while it was still under the free return policy (the 430 uses DDR3 which is probably the reason/issue).

Also, you can reduce the settings in MadVR to allow it to run with a weaker card.
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post #3 of 111
9/22/11 at 2:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CountryBumkin View Post

The nVidia GT440 or GTS450 "with DDR5" is my recommendation.

Some say the GT430 is enough for MadVR but I found it a little weak and returned it while it was still under the free return policy (the 430 uses DDR3 which is probably the reason/issue).

Also, you can reduce the settings in MadVR to allow it to run with a weaker card.

Hey Country,

I agree with every word!

I have a GT430 and it is at the cusp of acceptability. You are limited to using MadVR in exclusive mode as full screen windowed stutters a lot. Even in exclusive mode I find it stutters a bit with some live tv channels. It seems to be the higher bitrate ones. Not sure why it does this, maybe because there are more directshow filters in the graph??

I had to go for this as I have a low profile case and the only DDR5 low profile card (GTS450) was a few milimetres too long to fit due to it being obstructed by a hard drive.

SBR
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post #4 of 111
9/22/11 at 8:09am
This GTS450 with DDR5 is absolutely perfect for everything I've tried so far with madVR parameters for optimum picture quality.

Run with an i3 2100 and 4Go DDR.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Gefor...6704339&sr=8-1

It's really silent too !
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post #5 of 111
9/22/11 at 10:25am
I might go a step further and get the GTX550i DDR5 card to where I can maintain compatibility with all the MadVR filters. But of that will mean I will have to get a larger case to house the card.
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post #6 of 111
9/22/11 at 10:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AVTechMan View Post

I might go a step further and get the GTX550i DDR5 card to where I can maintain compatibility with all the MadVR filters. But of that will mean I will have to get a larger case to house the card.

Be sure to look at the number of shaders, clock speed, stream processors, etc. - I've not kept up with these cards, but I know a "higher number" (i.e 450 vs 550) doesn't always mean a more powerful card.
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post #7 of 111
9/22/11 at 11:11am
it really depends on how you set up your player and what type of files you play.

assuming 1080i, with hardware decoding, hardware adaptive deinterlacing with frame doubling, you get a type of worst case scenario. Thats when you need a good chunk of bandwidth, and the cheaper cards start to fail.

I think renethx found that a gt 440 with gddr5 is the minimum for really intense cases.
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post #8 of 111
9/22/11 at 1:08pm
I had a question kinda of related. Is the gtx 460 ok for a htpc. I always see the gt440 and gts 450 mentioned but never the gtx 460. Are they not good for htpc? Can the gtx 460 bitstream all hd audio formats? I only ask because I have a spare gtx 460 which I was thinking about using to build a htpc. Thx
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post #9 of 111
9/22/11 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pboy207 View Post

I had a question kinda of related. Is the gtx 460 ok for a htpc. I always see the gt440 and gts 450 mentioned but never the gtx 460. Are they not good for htpc? Can the gtx 460 bitstream all hd audio formats? I only ask because I have a spare gtx 460 which I was thinking about using to build a htpc. Thx

Yes and yes.
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post #10 of 111
9/22/11 at 2:04pm
Thanks! Why is it never recommended when someone is looking for a Nvidia card for htpc? Is it because of heat, noise, size? Just trying to understand why its hardly mentioned for htpc. Thx
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post #11 of 111
9/22/11 at 2:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pboy207 View Post

Thanks! Why is it never recommended when someone is looking for a Nvidia card for htpc? Is it because of heat, noise, size? Just trying to understand why its hardly mentioned for htpc. Thx

$$$
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post #12 of 111
9/22/11 at 3:11pm
I have 2x GT220, 1x GT430, and 1x GT520 all running CUVID and MadVR at highest settings without any issues. This is with BR and MKV reencodes, 24p or 60p.

BTW, here is a XFX GT520 1GB DDR3 low profile for only $35 after rebate.
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-GT520-810M...6729564&sr=8-3
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post #13 of 111
9/22/11 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiter View Post

I'm using i3 550 Integrated Graphics w/4GB Ram now and get some occasional stutter watching 1080p Blu-ray MKV rips with everything except Overlay Mixer. I'd prefer Amazon.com but Newegg would be fine too. Thanks.

i3-550's GPU is fast enough for all SD and all 1080p24 contents with madVR highest settings. (It struggles only with 1080i60 and 1080p60.)

Does your display support 24Hz input? Then I recommend Intel HD Graphics + DXVA/EVR, LAV Audio Decoder, dtsdecoderdll.dll + ReClock (media adaptation + WASAPI exclusive mode), that costs $0 for perfect judder-free zero frame drop/repeat playback of all contents.
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post #14 of 111
9/22/11 at 9:07pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, the TV I'm using for the rest of the month is 60hz. Once I go back to 24, it'll be totally smooth playback?
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post #15 of 111
9/22/11 at 9:27pm
Yes, you will get perfect smooth (judder-free, zero frame drop/repeat) playback at 24Hz with the aide of ReClock.

But wait, you get smooth playback only with Overlay Mixer? Then isn't it a codec problem? What OS? What player/splitter/video & audio decoder are you using? Is the driver updated?
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post #16 of 111
9/22/11 at 10:03pm
Thread Starter 
Win7, MPC-HC, LAV, CoreAVC.
I get weird pixelization with EVR (and EVR Sync), No video with EVR Custom Pre, and MadVR looks like I'm seeing a slideshow.
Overlay looks great outside of scenes where the camera pans across slowly, then it looks shaky.
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post #17 of 111
9/22/11 at 10:23pm
For me it looks like a decoder issue. Try MicroSoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder (no VC-1), ArcSoft Video Decoder and CyberLink Video Decoder. EVR or EVR CP, of course.

For madVR, ffdshow Video Decoder (libavcodec for AVC/MPEG-2, wmv9 for VC-1) is good, at least for progressive contents.

All with 60.00Hz. 23Hz/24Hz/59Hz without ReClock is more problematic than 60Hz.
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post #18 of 111
9/22/11 at 10:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I'll try that if I still have problems when I'm back to using a 24Hz TV.
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post #19 of 111
9/24/11 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandy B Ridge View Post

Hey Country,

I agree with every word!

I have a GT430 and it is at the cusp of acceptability. You are limited to using MadVR in exclusive mode as full screen windowed stutters a lot. Even in exclusive mode I find it stutters a bit with some live tv channels. It seems to be the higher bitrate ones. Not sure why it does this, maybe because there are more directshow filters in the graph??

I had to go for this as I have a low profile case and the only DDR5 low profile card (GTS450) was a few milimetres too long to fit due to it being obstructed by a hard drive.

SBR

I have made progress with my GT430 over the last few hours. Now I get acceptable playback in full screen windowed mode as well.

If you're seeing lots of framedrops in MadVR in windowed mode, try the following:
Use a windows Aero theme.
Uncheck the 'disable desktop composition' option in MadVR.

This has reduced my 'present time average' in the MadVR stats by just under 100 fold! This means that I can now play 1080i 60, 1080p60 with no difficulty in windowed mode. It isn't completely stutter free, but it is now down to an acceptable (for me) level.

Thanks to jmone for figuring this out on doom9.

Cheers

SBR
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post #20 of 111
8/10/12 at 5:53am
I thought I'd bump this old thread to find out if anything else out there is cheaper/better now.

My GTX 460 uses a lot of power and produces a lot of heat...

Are any ATI cards working well yet?
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post #21 of 111
8/10/12 at 6:00am
My Asus GT 43 works very well. Being a fanless model it does produce a bit of heat but the power consumption is very low, especially at idle because it powers down to near 0 watts. For HD Video playback it gets in the range of 10 to 15 Watts. They are around $60, sometimes on sale or with a rebate.
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post #22 of 111
8/10/12 at 6:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

My Asus GT 43 works very well. Being a fanless model it does produce a bit of heat but the power consumption is very low, especially at idle because it powers down to near 0 watts. For HD Video playback it gets in the range of 10 to 15 Watts. They are around $60, sometimes on sale or with a rebate.

And it handles madvr 1080p?
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post #23 of 111
8/10/12 at 6:23am
Yup. And so does intel HD2000 on my i3-550. It is the 1080i60 @d 720p30 content with which the intel grapphics struggles. I got it mainly for that but found that I also got a better picture with my older 120Hz Samsung LCD. Recent reading I've done seams to indicate that having an HDTV that does multiples of 24Hz may be the key to smooth 1080p24 playback as much as what graphics card you are running.
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post #24 of 111
8/10/12 at 6:26am
Yup. And so does intel HD2000 on my i3-550. It is the 1080i60 and 720p30 content with which the intel grapphics struggles. I got it mainly for that but found that I also got a better picture with my older 120Hz Samsung LCD. Recent reading I've done seams to indicate that having an HDTV that does multiples of 24Hz may be the key to smooth 1080p24 playback as much as what graphics card you are running.
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post #25 of 111
8/10/12 at 11:08am
Please also take into account that madVR will get more demanding high-quality algorithms in the future. E.g. there's a new madVR test build available (download see last pages of doom9 thread) which can do Lanczos scaling without ringing artifacts now. The anti-ringing filter eats quite a bit of performance. There will be more improvements like that which will all take a hit on GPU performance, if you use them. Of course you can always stick to the standard algorithms, then a budget GPU should do fine. But if you want to be ready for future high-quality algorithms, then you might want to aim a bit higher. My recommendation for a madVR GPU has always been to get the fastest GPU that fits your budget and your thermal envelope. Of course another option is to get a budget GPU now and upgrade later. GPUs get faster every year, after all...

Personally, those new 28nm GPUs look tasty to me. The performance per watt ratio is noticeably better than with the older 40nm GPUs, which is quite important for HTPCs. I'm thinking about putting a Radeon 7750 into my HTPC. Or maybe even a 7770 or 7850. The soon-to-come GK106 based NVidia cards (650Ti and 660) might be good options, too.
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post #26 of 111
8/10/12 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by madshi View Post

. I'm thinking about putting a Radeon 7750 into my HTPC. Or maybe even a 7770 or 7850. The soon-to-come GK106 based NVidia cards (650Ti and 660) might be good options, too.
Really? All that? That seems like a lot of power.

Is something like a gt430 or 6570 going to start not being enough soon for madvr?
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post #27 of 111
8/10/12 at 11:15am
There you have it.. from the developer of MadVR himself.

I'm pretty happy now with my GT 430 but am seeing the aliasing during LiveTV playback (not so much on Blu-ray VC-1 or whatever). I'm not sure if that is the compression from the CableCo or if it is something on my end.
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post #28 of 111
8/10/12 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

There you have it.. from the developer of MadVR himself.
I'm pretty happy now with my GT 430 but am seeing the aliasing during LiveTV playback (not so much on Blu-ray VC-1 or whatever). I'm not sure if that is the compression from the CableCo or if it is something on my end.
What are you seeing? Jaggies? Or poor deinterlacing?
I am very happy with live tv with my i3-550
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post #29 of 111
8/10/12 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by madshi View Post

Please also take into account that madVR will get more demanding high-quality algorithms in the future. E.g. there's a new madVR test build available (download see last pages of doom9 thread) which can do Lanczos scaling without ringing artifacts now. The anti-ringing filter eats quite a bit of performance. There will be more improvements like that which will all take a hit on GPU performance, if you use them. Of course you can always stick to the standard algorithms, then a budget GPU should do fine. But if you want to be ready for future high-quality algorithms, then you might want to aim a bit higher. My recommendation for a madVR GPU has always been to get the fastest GPU that fits your budget and your thermal envelope. Of course another option is to get a budget GPU now and upgrade later. GPUs get faster every year, after all...
Personally, those new 28nm GPUs look tasty to me. The performance per watt ratio is noticeably better than with the older 40nm GPUs, which is quite important for HTPCs. I'm thinking about putting a Radeon 7750 into my HTPC. Or maybe even a 7770 or 7850. The soon-to-come GK106 based NVidia cards (650Ti and 660) might be good options, too.

Excellent, thank you for this reply.

Good to know that the ATI cards are an option as well. I think awhile back mostly Nvidia cards were recommended.
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post #30 of 111
8/10/12 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboy714 View Post

What are you seeing? Jaggies? Or poor deinterlacing?
I am very happy with live tv with my i3-550

Halos would describe it better, slight but there.. not a smooth transition of color such as a seen with the varying shades of blue in the sky. I'm pretty sure it is the CableCo's (Charter) compression more than anything else.
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