Need A New GPU

[crazyfool]

hey guys,
I have finally decided to upgrade the onboard gpu in my htpc so I can start taking advantage of the cheap(ish) blu ray deals happening over christmas. My current onboard cant cope with anything over 720p so i'm looking for something that can handle 1080p hd video. That's the only requirement. Well, that and the fact it has to be an nvidia card. Not that I'm some sort of fanboy but from previous experience I know that nvidia handles 24p much better then ati and 24p is a must for blu ray.
Problem is with nvidia introduing new (rebranded) cards prices are kind of high even at the low end. Anything higher then a 9400GT would do the job fine but then I've seen 9600GT's for the same price as a GTX 250. As I said all I need it for is video playback so a 250 is overkill but then I have read of 220's not being able to handle high bit rate video so I don't know what to do.
I have a budget of £60 (might be able to push to £80) and I have a 400w corsair psu (in case that affects my choices). Hopefully someone has a suggestion, my brain is telling me not to buy a 9600GT for £60 when for a bit more I can get a GTX 250, at the same time I know I don't need a 250 unless it would benefit me by either less power draw or less heat which I don't see how it can. Help!!!

[format]

I know you said Nvidia but I'd recommend a HD4770.

[crazyfool]

M8 I would love to go for a HD4770, if ATI would just fix this damn 24p bug. Because of that though it has to be nvidia

[Domestic_Ginger]

GTS 250? Its a rebranded 9800GTX+ which is not that much different from your 8800GT. (Okay its a fair bit faster; mostly due to higher clock speeds and a few more pixel shaders).

Based on your sig I'd upgrade your 8800 (with a 4850, 4770 or stretch to a 4870(if they are still cheap)) and then use that in your HTPC.

I'm having a bad day btw so I've probably missed something.

[crazyfool]

I was looking upgrading my 8800 from my main rig and using it in a htpc. However it idles around 45 degrees in a very well ventilated case. Not sure how toasty it would get in a htpc case.
How about a 9500GT for £40. Passive, cheap, I'm assuming this will handle hd content easily, not sure about the ddr2 memory though. Anyone know which 8 series card this was before it was rebranded lol.
Next best thing I can see is this 9600GT which is passive as well but again for £70 this seems like a rip off.

[Domestic_Ginger]

What fan speed is the 8800 running at? I haven't owned the GT but maybe upping that may help to keep temps lower; may get a little noisier though. Can also underclock it. 3rd party cooler? I like the recycling idea (if you can't tell).

The 9500s and 9600s seem to have thier own little niche.

Can't help on the pricing but the 9600s go down to about £55 on froogle with stock coolers. I don't really think know much about the 9500 tbh.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would go for a Green Edition 9600GT or 9800GT as they do not use a PCI-E power connector:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176115

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166184

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173758

[crazyfool]

What fan speed is the 8800 running at? I haven't owned the GT but maybe upping that may help to keep temps lower; may get a little noisier though. Can also underclock it. 3rd party cooler? I like the recycling idea (if you can't tell).

My 8800GT has the neo vortexx cooler on it which is running 100% always, really quiet though.

I would go for a Green Edition 9600GT or 9800GT as they do not use a PCI-E power connector

They do look good but I can't find any reviews on them, all I can find on google is various forums trashing them lol (not this forum obviously)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

My 8800GT has the neo vortexx cooler on it which is running 100% always, really quiet though.


They do look good but I can't find any reviews on them, all I can find on google is various forums trashing them lol (not this forum obviously)

One of my mates has the Zotac 9800GT and it is quite a nice card TBH.

Edit!!

Here is a review of the Zotac card:

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...?cid=3&id=2999

[crazyfool]

Cheers for that review. I just wanted to know something though, the performance between this and my 8800GT is the same right? I'm assuming the temps in the review are idle which means my 8800GT is also cooler as it idles at 45 degrees, and the 9800 eco card is identical to a 8800gt just clocked slower?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Cheers for that review. I just wanted to know something though, the performance between this and my 8800GT is the same right? I'm assuming the temps in the review are idle which means my 8800GT is also cooler as it idles at 45 degrees, and the 9800 eco card is identical to a 8800gt just clocked slower?

Yep!! The 9800GT is the same although some are made on the 55NM process as opposed to the 65NM process which means lower power consumption. I also have the Akasa Vortexx Neo on an HD4830 and its a great cooler.

[crazyfool]

Yeh its a great cooler and quiet too. What I'm thinking though is why spend £70 quid on a card which is the same as my gaming card for a htpc, I might as well use my 8800GT for my htpc and go for a new card for my main rig. So in that as long as a 400w corsair psu will be able to handle the 8800GT which I'm assuming it can then the thread title is still correct but now I'm looking for a new gaming card
I reckon £150 is a solid budget (?)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yeh its a great cooler and quiet too. What I'm thinking though is why spend £70 quid on a card which is the same as my gaming card for a htpc, I might as well use my 8800GT for my htpc and go for a new card for my main rig. So in that as long as a 400w corsair psu will be able to handle the 8800GT which I'm assuming it can then the thread title is still correct but now I'm looking for a new gaming card
I reckon £150 is a solid budget (?)

An HD5850 for around £200 would be your best bet ATM although they are in short supply.

Other alternatives include the HD5770 and HD4890 but TBH the HD5850 still gets my vote.

[crazyfool]

Ok I might not be upgrading my rig afterall, just turned down my gpu cooler to an acceptable speed for a htpc (in terms of noise) and watched the temp at idle rise to 60 degrees, this is in a very well cooled case. This is kinda worrying me as my htpc case will be less cooler with slower fans. Looks like its back to a crappy gpu which is horribly overpriced . So 9800GT eco edition or the 9500GT I suggested above. The 9500 is much cheaper but it is ddr2, dunno how much of a bottleneck this would be in terms of hd playback... why is this so hard

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Have you tried running the fan in the Akasa Vortexx Neo faster?? My HD4830 overclocked to 675MHZ is usually well under 70C when I play games and this is in a Shuttle P2 SFF case with the graphics card fan acting as one of the system exhaust fans. At idle it is under 40C too!

Edit!!

IIRC,unlike the HD3870 and HD4830 the 8800GT does not have lower 2D clocks although you could try artificially underclocking it in 2D mode if possible.

[crazyfool]

Tbh I really like the sound of getting a new gpu for my main rig and using the 8800gt for htpc duties, however... The 8800GT is overkill and it runs hot. I like the look of the 9800GT eco but it is also overkill and for 70 quid I don't think I can justify it. A 9500GT is passive, runs off the 75w from the pci-e slot and should be capable for htpc duties. Although I haven't found any review stating hd playback nor any google results stating it does hd fine, I'm just assuming it does. So unless someone can give me a reason to go for a 9600/9800GT eco instead of this please do... Otherwise I'll order tomorrow...