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on-board Intel X4500HD or GeForce 9600GT?

3442 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by snafu7x7, Jul 29, 2009

snafu7x7

Discussion Starter · Jul 23, 2009

I'm buying an HTPC and can choose either option, though the GeForce adds some to the price...we're mainly going to use this for HT (TV, movies, blu-ray, music) but probably also some gaming (though I'm not a hardcore MMO gamer or anything)

Which would you choose and why based on performance, lack of issues/headaches, price?

thank you!

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messeduprex

· #2 · Jul 23, 2009

Without a doubt the 9600 GT... End of story. If you are going to use it for blu Ray movies it's a must. The X4500hd will probably squeak by but the 9600 will be smooth.

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MikeSM

· #3 · Jul 23, 2009

x4500HD was fixed so it does a decent job on BR movies. But still, you are way better off with the 9600GT if you want to game at all. Intel and gaming don't mix.

Still, with the 9600GT you'll lose the ability to push HD audio through the HDMI port. What's your budget? If you went the ATI route, you'd get good 3D performance and still have HD audio through HDMI (if that's important to you).

The Nvidia discrete cards that do HD audio over HDMI are shpping, but so far are OEM only. So for now, ATI is the only way to go.

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messeduprex

· #4 · Jul 23, 2009

I belive th zotac boards output HD over hdmi or you could use the pov ion board with a sound card both boards are around 150-175 for board, graphics, and atom processor

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mike_311

· #5 · Jul 23, 2009

if you are gaming get a separate video card...

i have the x4500 and its fine, i haven't tried bluray, but it plays hd mkvs and tv just fine. i plan to upgrade to a better card when i get a bluray drive.

the big issue right now is the video driver for win7 are junk. the win7 driver that came out flat out doesn't work, so am using a vista driver that's pretty stable.

im sure it will get fixed though...

on vista it was rock solid.

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messeduprex

· #6 · Jul 23, 2009

I belive th zotac boards output HD over hdmi or you could use the pov ion board with a sound card both boards are around 150-175 for board, graphics, and atom processor

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snafu7x7

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 23, 2009

great feedback guys thanks!

you pretty much confirmed my suspicions, I've always been wary of Intel for vid cards but the guy talked this one up as their top of the line offering so I thought I'd see what was what...my past experience with Intel cards has been trouble with drivers, flaky playback, etc so I definitely want none of that.

HDMI for the audio IS key for me, I have enough damn cables as it is, no need to add to the problem. I'm gonna see if my guy can hook me up with either an ATI card or an OEM version of the new NVIDIA offerings

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steven975

· #8 · Jul 23, 2009

yea, Intel graphics have gotten better, but they still perform poorly.

A compromise might be a motherboard with the Nvidia 9300. I believe they will do multichannel PCM.

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cameronl

· #9 · Jul 24, 2009

hi, I have a G45 motherboard and with TMT it will not play blu-ray.

I use a 9600gt which plays my blu-rays perfectly.

Still, I would not buy one of those as to get it silent I have to use an extra slot on the cooler.

What about a ATI 4670?

thanks

Cameron

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mike_311

· #10 · Jul 24, 2009

you can get a really capable ati card that will do hdmi audio for way less than $100 bucks, thats what i plan to get when i upgrade, of course those new low profile nvidia cards are coming out that are supposed to be great for hd playback and gaming but they arent retail yet, you can only get them in new systems at first.

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snafu7x7

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 29, 2009

OK I've been doing some reading and I'm trying to make sure I've got this right.

So from what I understand the GeForce 9800 GT will output 7.1 audio over HDMI but since the audio is passed thru to it via SPDIF (connected to the motherboard) you wont get HD audio formats like TrueHD, etc. because SPDIF can't handle them.

Is that accurate?

And is it also true that ATI has a card that CAN handle the HD audio formats correctly? If so what card would this be?

UPDATE: so I was initially excited reading this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1029603 since it seemed to suggest a solution to my problems, but after learning that the $*@#(ing thing downconverts the audio signal I'm ready to pull my hair out! Also read all about the XONAR which has its own host of issues. Is there no way around this? Why do they have to make this so freaking complicated? Do you guys see a solution coming from ATI or NVidia anytime in the near future or should I just suck it up and deal with the down-conversion?

thanks alot for the help guys, this stuff is so convoluted sometimes

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