Windows 7 x64 SageTV Server/Client video card

[sacrament055]

So far I've tried 2 ATI video cards with my windows 7 setup. Oddly enough a 2600 Pro has perfectly smooth MPEG2 playback (All OTA HD streams play perfectly). I tried replacing that with an Radeon 4350 video card thinking it should be better able to handle the H264 encoded media that my 2600 pro could not play under windows 7. Once I replaced my old card with the new one and installed the native recording patch I got choppy MPEG2 playback and some of my H264 stuff played correctly but other were still choppy.

My question here is does anyone have a recommendation on a video card that they are running that works well for MPEG2 and H264 under Windows 7 x64? I think I've seen people claiming Nvidia cards work better and I'm willing to give it a try but I'd like to know what model people have used and confirmed works.
I've reverted back to my ATI 2600 Pro and reverted the native recordings addon to the original in order to at least be able to watch tv without issue.

My setup is
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz
6 GB Memory
Windows 7 x64
ATI 2600 Pro video card
4 x OTA ATSC tuners.


Thanks.

[doncote0]

Originally planned on a card from NVidia. Read the reviews and changed my mind. Bang for the buck is important.

Try the Radeon HD5750. It's a great combination of speed, quality, quiet and compatibility. Imagine transcoding 2 H264 HD streams simultaneously on-the-fly before you start using the CPU to help.

Love mine. Later I plan on going hardware crossfire with a second card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-309-_-Product

Buy a DVI display port adapter if you need (2) DVI. System comes with DVI and HDMI ready to go. You'll need an adapter for vga. Supports up to three monitors per card (6 with crossfire).

Description at link says PCI Express 2.0, but box came and it says PCI Express 2.1 supported.

[sacrament055]

That card seems nice. So I take it you playback everything (MPEG2, H264, etc) through SAGE smoothly running Win 7 x64?

Thanks for the info.

[doncote0]

This is a new system which will replace my old sage system. The video card tests with passmark (comparitive benchmark software) @ 1583. That is simply insane for a video card at this price level.

The system currently runs mpg, avi and H264 files with out problem or stutter (not in Sage), but I have not completed the migration to this new system.

However, I did find in the posts about stutter problems caused by the "Native" codec installed with Win7 x64. My feeling is that this may be the actual source of your problems. Check out posts about the "Native Recording Patch" http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43579

If you already know about it, check the posts about the MpegDeMux.ax and DshowPlayer.dll files specifically. Let us know how it goes.