GPU For My HTPC... What Should I Get?

hey guys,
As you may know from my other thread I've been having real trouble getting my onboard HD3200 to play 24p in sync in any player and after taking the plunge and buying a passive 4550 it seems the card still wont do 24p properly and it overheats my system to the point it switches off... So... I could either go for an nvidia 9400 motherboard + intel cpu which will set me back about 150 quid or I could go for a 9400gt. My problem is it has to be low profile to fit in my case and it has to be quiet which is why I wanted passive but seeing as I can't find any passive 9400gt and passive seems to generate too much heat I need help... so...what do you guys suggest...

Not heard of the IGP's struggling that much but maybe you could try an HD4350?

Just get one of the low profile 4550s with a fan on it, theyre dead quiet, I doubt youll hear it at all. The sapphire one I think.

Hawker

I doubt that for my system either a 4350 or a 4550 would work... I mean I already have a 4550 which still gave me problems at 24p when it wasn't overheating my system... I'm leaning more towards a 9500gt as it seems nvidia cards do flawless 24p... anyone know if they are any decent... and can my 350w antec psu handle one?
This is the one I've seen at scan... 9500 GT I'm just wondering how noisy it would be... and how hot...

Have you tried mounting a fan near the 4550 to cool it?

tbh the cooling of the card isn't the main issue as if it solved my 24p problem I would have added a fan next to it to extract the hot air but seeing as it doesn't wanna play 24p in sync the fact it overheats my system isn't really the issue

Excuse my ignorance but is 24p the same as 1080p?

1.) Does your tele definately support 1080/24p.
2.) Do you have to select 24p playback in the respective media plyer program?
3.) nVidia 750i chipset :D

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Originally Posted by format

Excuse my ignorance but is 24p the same as 1080p?

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There completely different.

1080p refers to an image which is 1920*1080 pixels and produced progressively.
24p refers to 24 frames per second and is commonly used for films. If you want to refer to 1080p playback at 24 frames per second its supposed to be written 1080/24p or similair.

tv supports full hd and 24p, I have to set the refresh rate to 24p but I dont think theres any option in powerdvd or otherwise to set it to 24p and why 750i :confused:

Im sure I read somewhere that the AMD chipsets have some "issues" playing 24p, where as the nVidia 8200/8300 boards had fewer problems.

But in all other respects of playback, theres little difference, and the AMD might be a little faster.

I'd consider a visit to the AVForums there is quite a bit on recomended cards on there.

I'm just in the process of looking for bits to build an HTPC myself

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Originally Posted by crazyfool

why 750i :confused:

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Just a suggestion. I know thats the chipset used on the Zotac ITX boards and it can play full 1080p, and is used on many other uATX boards and generally well recieved.

sounds like a handshake issue between pc and tv, if the telly has a VGA input try using that as a test. my LG telly has handshake issues but runs fine via VGA cable instead of HDMI

I think my tv does have a vga input.. but thing is, is there a quality difference between vga and hdmi and also can vga play blu ray because of all the hdcp crap

i have never played a blue ray through mine to test that, you will need to let me know on that front :)

quality is the same though, well better as there is no stutter !