[UrbanSmooth]

I'm hearing and reading good things about the "low-end" AMD video cards to be mainly used in HTPCs (newer 5K and 6K series). There's also the always-faithful Nvidia GT430 to float a lot of people's boats. What's your choice for HTPC use? Let's take a look at power consumption, heat (fanless vs with fans), sound levels, and, of course, performance.


Thank you all, and may the best GPU not necessarily win, but, may we share thoughts and ideas as one, as the community known as AVS!!

*cue epic national patriotic music here*

(/corn)

 

[ilovejedd]

Unfortunately, there's no single best GPU. Aside from people having different requirements, pretty much all options have their own set of issues. Personally, I prefer Intel Clarkdale or Sandy Bridge IGP for builds that don't require GPU muscle and NVIDIA graphics for those that do. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for that perfect NVIDIA card - 9800 GT-level performance with HD 5450-level power envelope.

 

[sycochkn]

Sandy Bridge on board graphics seems to work just fine.

 

[StardogChampion]

We are not going to all agree on this

. So far, all the ones I've used have their pros and cons. I haven't tried nVidia yet though. Universally, all the drivers suck a**.

 

[ilovejedd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StardogChampion We are not going to all agree on this .

Well, I think we could all agree that all GPU's suck (albeit, each have their own degree of suckage) and that the perfect HTPC GPU doesn't exist yet.

 

[Zon2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanSmooth So, what do we all agree is the best GPU for an HTPC?

We don't agree on what is best.


We do agree that every available option is flawed.


But hey, if there was one single choice that worked perfectly for all media in all situations with all connected components, what would be left to discuss?

 

[pitdaddy]

Generically speaking if your OS is Windows then ATI, if Linux then NVidia. There is no perfect card for everyone. But there is a perfect card for every individual.

 

[sneakerx]

Anandtech.com, who I'm willing to believe, claims that the king of HTPC cards is the Radeon 5570. You can go on over there and check out their review, which has more info than you'll probably need/want.

 

[PanteraGSTK]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sneakerx /forum/post/20842226


Anandtech.com, who I'm willing to believe, claims that the king of HTPC cards is the Radeon 5570. You can go on over there and check out their review, which has more info than you'll probably need/want.

Read this AnandTech article. It goes through some popular gpu's and lists the pros and cons of each. Very good read. There is no clear winner, just a "what works best for your usage" kind of conclusion.