Current best HTPC graphics card?

[KvB]

Hi there,

Sorry to bring this question up again in this forum, but I couldn't find posts that really answer all my questions so here it goes.

I currently have a HTPC with a full atx Asus P5E-V HDMI motherboard. It's all good, except for the G35 video chipset. I have HUGE problems getting the resolution to stick after reboots when the TV is off. This seems to be an unsolved problem, by the looks of this forum.

Anyway, I decided to give up and buy a seperate graphics card. Can anyone recommend me a graphics card which has:
1. HDMI
2. DVI
3. HD hardware decoding
4. Passivly cooled
5. good support and is known to work flawlessly with MediaPortal and HTPCs that will go into standby and have a tv connected that MIGHT BE OFF when rebooting the pc

I want to hook up my tv using HDMI and my projector using DVI.

Any advise would be great! Thanks in advance...

Regards,

Kees.

 

[homethx]

GV-R455D3-512I - 512MB Gigabyte HD 4550, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1600MHz GDDR3, GPU 600MHz, 80 Cores, D-Sub/ DL DVI-I/ HDMI - Scan.co.uk has the first 4 don't know about the rest.

 

[jameson_uk]

5. good support and is known to work flawlessly with MediaPortal and HTPCs that will go into standby and have a tv connected that MIGHT BE OFF when rebooting the pc

It is possible that the issues are related to either your TV (HDMI handshake) or your motherboard (standby)

I am using a Geforce 9400 motherboard connected up to an Onkyo 876 amp and this works fine with MP into and output of standby and fine when the machine wakes up to record with the TV turned off.

I seem to recall when I connected the board up to the TV direct (A Panny 42" plasma) I had a few issues with the resolution sticking

 

[KvB]

It is possible that the issues are related to either your TV (HDMI handshake) or your motherboard (standby)

I seem to recall when I connected the board up to the TV direct (A Panny 42" plasma) I had a few issues with the resolution sticking

That is very well possible indeed, however I read a lot on forums about the G35 chipset having this problem. So I'm kind of hoping it's the onboard graphics, and not the MB itself or my Philips TV...

 

[fathazza]

11138-15-20R - 512MB Sapphire HD 4670 Ultimate, PCI-E 2.0, 1746MHz GDDR3, GPU 750MHz, 320 Cores, D-Sub/ DVI-I/ HDMI - Scan.co.uk
is the top of the range of fanless cards at the moment i think...

Tho unless you want to play the odd game or two you may as well get the cheapest fanless ati 4XXX series card you can find... I cant speak for this card to your 5th question...

but i use a fanless sapphire ati 2600xt ultimate with a projector over hdmi and dont have the problems you describe...(but that card is two generations old now)

 

[HomeY_]

11138-15-20R - 512MB Sapphire HD 4670 Ultimate, PCI-E 2.0, 1746MHz GDDR3, GPU 750MHz, 320 Cores, D-Sub/ DVI-I/ HDMI - Scan.co.uk
is the top of the range of fanless cards at the moment i think...

Tho unless you want to play the odd game or two you may as well get the cheapest fanless ati 4XXX series card you can find... I cant speak for this card to your 5th question...

but i use a fanless sapphire ati 2600xt ultimate with a projector over hdmi and dont have the problems you describe...(but that card is two generations old now)

But i can
I've got this GPU in my HTPC which is running MediaPortal and it runs very very sweet. I changed it 2 weeks ago (had an 2600XT + fan in it before) mainly because it has UVD2 and PCI-E 2.0 (and came out of test better then the 45xx).

I'm using PowerScheduler to put the system into standby and use my Harmony to start everything up again the next day.

Only issue i'm having is that my touchscreen is connected to the VGA output, and when i turn off the monitor while that is connected, and turn it on again, the HDMI handshake has some issues and doesn't show me a picture on my TV, so i disabled the touchscreen atm (might put the 2600XT in it again, but maybe there's another way to fix that).

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video/radeon-hd4770/playback/hqv.png

[Mod comment - Theydon Bois] Please do not link directly to other peoples websites, use the attachement button, or an image hosting site.

 

[KvB]

But i can
I've got this GPU in my HTPC which is running MediaPortal and it runs very very sweet. I changed it 2 weeks ago (had an 2600XT + fan in it before) mainly because it has UVD2 and PCI-E 2.0 (and came out of test better then the 45xx).

Hi Homey,

Nice to hear that a MP system can, in fact, cope with nice S3 wakeups

Just to be sure, what GPU do you have atm?

Regards,

Kees.

 

[HomeY_]

Hi Homey,

Nice to hear that a MP system can, in fact, cope with nice S3 wakeups

Just to be sure, what GPU do you have atm?

Regards,

Kees.

The exact above --> Sapphire HD4670 Ultimate