Silent Video Card Suggestions?

[excalibur5]

I am getting my HTPC dialed in pretty well, and am generally very happy with it, with the exception of the video card. The main complaint is the noise of the card (performance is acceptable).

I currently am running this card http://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Technol...1117042&sr=1-6

What complicates the issue is that the video card and the 1/2 height Hauppauge 2250 must be right next to one another in this case (no other way to do it with the MB layout), so the card must not be thick on the front, although I have lots of space above and behind the card for a heat sink. My case fan also blows directly on the backside of the video card.

Can anyone recommend a silent/near silent card that will perform well, not cost a fortune, and be thin enough to safely mount right next to another card? It also needs HDMI output (video only is fine), and can handle HD video decoding.

[Fuzzy]

You may be past this point, but for an HTPC, I'd actually recommend that you instead go with an integrated graphics chip on the motherboard. The recent AMD integrated graphics are more than capable of HD playback. I'm using an AMD 785G based motherboard for my sage server, and it plays back perfectly.

[excalibur5]

Frankly I wouldn't mind changing the Motherboard out, but the cost is a little high.... Unless someone can recommend a good one that will work with my existing hardware, and had a good onboard video card with HDMI out

It would need to work with:

Intel 1.8Ghz Dual Core (E2160) CPU
2- 1 gig sticks of DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz

Needs to have a minimum of 3 SATA ports and one PCIe

(I am currently running a FoxConn G33M02 motherboard - from a Dell Vostro 200)

Also, probably a dumb question. If I swap out the motherboard, will my existing (legitimate) license of Windows XP give me any trouble when I reload the system?

[Fuzzy]

If you had an am2 or 3 cpu, there are plenty of boards that would work great for about $70... intel on the other hand, may cost you some more.

[SWKerr]

ATI 4550: I have two of these and love them. I think it will fit based on your description. $40 ($30 with rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102819

I would probably go with the ATI 5570 now myself based on reviews but it is twice as much and the heatsink sticks out more on the opposite side and may not work for you. Glowing reviews for HTPC use and moderate gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161342

Good AMD 785G motherboard and Athlon II X3 would be nice and work with your existing components but would run $130. If you are generally happy with you system then I would just add the card.

Also the ATI 5000 series card have better HD audio support.

[rrhorer]

Originally Posted by excalibur5

If I swap out the motherboard, will my existing (legitimate) license of Windows XP give me any trouble when I reload the system?

First, if you want to avoid any potential issues with a re-install of XP, the ATI 4550 suggested by SWKerr would be plenty adequate for HTPC use. I also agree with Fuzzy that integrated graphics has advantages (less power, less space requirements, better air flow, frees up a PCIe slot); and the AMD 785G is also plenty adequate for HTPC use.

If you decide on a new motherboard & CPU (which constitutes a new system from MS's perspective), the ability to use the existing XP depends on which version you have:

Full retail disc: no problem - ignore the rest of this rant.
Upgrade disc - probably not a problem, but may have to do some research (I am not familiar with XP upgrades or if they even exist)
OEM disc - EULA doesn't allow it; but some say MS may allow it, depending on your excuse and the person you get (this is my recollection of the Google research that I did in the distant past).
OEM pre-install - without an actual XP disc (and not the typical back-up image disc provided), you are probably out of luck and need to go the video card route.

.

Bottom line: unless your's is a full retail version of XP, you will probably have problems installing XP to a new system. As an example, I had an OEM version of MCE 2005 (XP with MCE added) purchased from NewEgg. After some time, I decided on a Vista "upgrade" (ha ha) to get EVR, and decided on a new motherboar & CPU, all at the same time. I had really not thought through the upgrade steps carefully enough and found myself needing to install XP on the new system in order to do the Vista "upgrade". At this point, I realized that he OEM restrictions could be a problem. I found the solution of installing Vista twice: first, as a trial (ignoring the activation part) and, then, as an upgrade to itself. For Vista, this worked -- for XP, I don't know.

[Fuzzy]

Since the launch of Vista, XP has relaxed the activation requirements of windows significantly. The reactivation phone call is touch tone.. asks you how many systems you've got this copy of windows installed on (answer would be one), and gives you a new activation code.

Absolutely worst case, you can upgrade to win7, which would significantly improve your HTPC playback.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Absolutely worst case, you can upgrade to win7, which would significantly improve your HTPC playback.

In the past I would not have agreed with this statement, but having moved to win7 from xp with the exact same hardware with the exact same settings in sagetv with the same codecs and video quality was MUCH better. I was shocked how noticeable the difference was.

[excalibur5]

Thanks so much for the help. I just ordered the Sapphire 4550 from Amazon.com (same price, but much cheaper shipping to Alaska)

Interesting note on Win7 video performance. Does it come with more advanced video drivers or something?

I have noted during playback, there is an occasional glitch during fast motion scenes, where a line appears for a split second about 1/3 down the screen. Anyone have any idea what is causing this? This happened with both the onboard video (Intel G31) and my first video card (NVida GT220) I am hoping it will be better with this ATI card.

[rrhorer]

Originally Posted by excalibur5

Interesting note on Win7 video performance. Does it come with more advanced video drivers or something?

I definitly concur with Fuzzy and panteragstk on Win7's improved video performance, especially the performance of the now-included h.264 codec. I moved from XP (2005 MCE) to Vista to Win7 and am finally happy with the OS where video performance is concerned.