HTPC - Need Graphics card that supports DTS HD / True HD MA

[umster]

Hi Guy's and Girls,

I'm looking for a new Graphics card to put into my Shuttle SG41J1 HTPC, I've upgraded the PSU to 500w.

The graphics card must be able to support DTS / DTS HD and True HD MA as this will be connected to my AV amp. The budget is about £200 mark...there has to be a budget lol!!!

I've been looking at the XFX AMD HD 6970 is this card any good for what I want to use if for?

or.........would nvidia be a better choice not sure which model to compare it too... maybe GeForce GTX 570 ??

any advise would be very much appreciated
Thanks in advance for your help

Best wishes

[Pete301]

Hi there,

AFAIK as long as you're going to use HDMI-out then all the DTS standards should apply, definitely the ones that you have listed there. I like that you have set a budget of around £200 and then suggested a lot of £250+ cards .

However I'm not sure that the 6970 is small enough to fit into a shuttle case, though I haven't looked at any shuttles for a while. Have you considered a 6950 or even a 6870, I don't know why you would need something as powerful as a 570 or a 6970 in a HTPC (unless i'm missing something :S).

[shaithis]

You don't need DTS-MA or DD TrueHD support (even though I think every nVidia 4xx and AMD 6xxx and later cards support both standards).

You can always output in LPCM. The only difference being your amp will say 96KHz/24Bit (or something similar) instead of DTS-MA etc.

I think the question is "What games are you planning to play on it?"

That is going to decide which card a lot more then a sound format they all support (and you don't even really need)

[jigger]

I would go for the HIS HD 6970 IceQ Turbo 2GB But are you sure it will fit?

Also we are about to get more 28nm ATI cards that might be better suited.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The case might not fit many of those cards. The OP really needs to be careful.

[jigger]

Agreed I don't think most will fit or will be very tight.


HIS HD 6970 IceQ Turbo 2GB GDDR5
Gainward GTX 570 Phantom 1280MB GDDR5
Gigabyte GTX 570 OC Windforce3X 1280MB GDDR5
Palit GTX 570 SONIC Edition 1280MB GDDR5


They are all huge and the Nvidia cards will also dump a lot of heat into that little case.

[umster]

Hi there,

AFAIK as long as you're going to use HDMI-out then all the DTS standards should apply, definitely the ones that you have listed there. I like that you have set a budget of around £200 and then suggested a lot of £250+ cards .

However I'm not sure that the 6970 is small enough to fit into a shuttle case, though I haven't looked at any shuttles for a while. Have you considered a 6950 or even a 6870, I don't know why you would need something as powerful as a 570 or a 6970 in a HTPC (unless i'm missing something :S).

The sound processor on the card determines which audio format it supports, I believe. Having a look at the Nvidia's website it just states supports "7.1 surround sound" but does not state which formats within this it does, however on the ATI website it states them individually

I'm sure the budget can stress that extra 50 quid or so or more !!! lol!!!

You don't need DTS-MA or DD TrueHD support (even though I think every nVidia 4xx and AMD 6xxx and later cards support both standards).

You can always output in LPCM. The only difference being your amp will say 96KHz/24Bit (or something similar) instead of DTS-MA etc.

I think the question is "What games are you planning to play on it?"

That is going to decide which card a lot more then a sound format they all support (and you don't even really need)

Yes, I agree with your views on LPCM. LPCM requires a higher bitrate: LPCM is uncompressed, requiring a higher bitrate whereas Dolby TrueHD uses a lossless CODEC to decrease the size of the bitstream without sacrificing fidelity but without requiring as much bandwidth to transmit it.

As for games!!! I dont really play them, maybe in future my son might!!

The case might not fit many of those cards. The OP really needs to be careful.

Source: Uk.shuttle.com

Graphic card Support List

Caution: Due to some of high-end graphics cards require higher power consumption, please refer our 'Power Supply Calculator' to check what kind of power supply need to upgrade.
Interface Chipset vendor Model number
PCI-E AMD AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB
PCI-E AMD AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB
PCI-E ATI ASUS EAH3870 512MB
PCI-E ATI ASUS EAH5870/G/2DIS/1GD5/A
PCI-E ATI ATI AX4870 DDR5 512MB(Dual Slot)
PCI-E ATI ATi Radeon HD 5750 1GB
PCI-E ATI Asus Radeon EAH2900XT 512MB HDCP
PCI-E ATI Ati FireMV 2400 128MB PCI-E 1x
PCI-E ATI GIGABYTE GV-R4670D3-512 512MB
PCI-E ATI MSI R4850-T2D512 512M (Dual slot)
PCI-E ATI MSI R5770-PM2D1G
PCI-E ATI MSI R5850-PM2D1G-OC
PCI-E ATI MSI RX1950 Pro 256MB (Dual Slot)
PCI-E ATI Power Color HD5770
PCI-E ATI PowerColor AX4870 512MD5-H
PCI-E ATI Sapphire HD5830 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI-I/HDMI/DP
PCI-E nVIDIA ASUS EN9800GT TOP HTDP 512M A
PCI-E nVIDIA ASUS ENGTX280 HYDP 1G A
PCI-E nVIDIA GIGABYTE GTX260 GDDR3 896MB
PCI-E nVIDIA GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI
PCI-E nVIDIA Leadtek Nvidia GTS 450
PCI-E nVIDIA Leadtek WinFast PX9500 GT 512MB
PCI-E nVIDIA Leadtek WinFast PX9600 GT 512MB
PCI-E nVIDIA MSI N9400GT-MD512
PCI-E nVIDIA NVIDIA GTX 580 GDDR5 1.5G
PCI-E nVIDIA Nvidia Geforce GTX 465
MotherBoard's PCB version: FG41 V2

Agreed I don't think most will fit or will be very tight.


HIS HD 6970 IceQ Turbo 2GB GDDR5
Gainward GTX 570 Phantom 1280MB GDDR5
Gigabyte GTX 570 OC Windforce3X 1280MB GDDR5
Palit GTX 570 SONIC Edition 1280MB GDDR5


They are all huge and the Nvidia cards will also dump a lot of heat into that little case.

as above

[SiM]

As for games!!! I dont really play them, maybe in future my son might!!

I have a Radeon HD5450 which does DTS HD, Dolby True HD and LPCM. Every single card proposed in this thread is overkill by at least £100 if you only need the card for a htpc and not games.

[shaithis]

Indeed. If your not playing games, get a low-end passively-cooled card.

If it's just for 2D:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512mb...mi-low-profile

If you want to future-proof for 3D BluRay playback:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512mb...-dl-dvi-i-hdmi

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A few points. Having owned a few Shuttle systems myself get a GPU with a blower cooler. It avoids loads of heat being recirculated into the case which can lead to issues down the line.

Also,Shuttle only tests reference cards and not aftermarkets which have different PCB lengths and cooler sizes.

Looking at the some of the cards you listed:

1.)HIS HD 6970 IceQ Turbo

Huge front fan housing will clash with the top of cage.



2.)Gainward GTX 570 Phantom 1280MB

Triple slot cooler.



3.)Gigabyte GTX 570 OC Windforce3X

Top of cooler with probably clash with cage.



4.)Palit GTX 570 SONIC Edition 1280MB

Cooler will recirculate hot air into the case.



The rest of the cards I assume are reference models, with blower coolers which will fit with a bit of adjustment in the case.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

As for games!!! I dont really play them, maybe in future my son might!!

Get a GT430 or an HD6570 then!

[umster]

I will be using the HTPC for watching 3D blu-ray movies on disc as well as .mkv and blu-rips which are very large files 5gb+, Does the GPU clock speed not matter in this case???

[umster]

I have a Radeon HD5450 which does DTS HD, Dolby True HD and LPCM. Every single card proposed in this thread is overkill by at least £100 if you only need the card for a htpc and not games.

Indeed. If your not playing games, get a low-end passively-cooled card.

If it's just for 2D:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512mb...mi-low-profile

If you want to future-proof for 3D BluRay playback:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512mb...-dl-dvi-i-hdmi

A few points. Having owned a few Shuttle systems myself get a GPU with a blower cooler. It avoids loads of heat being recirculated into the case which can lead to issues down the line.

Also,Shuttle only tests reference cards and not aftermarkets which have different PCB lengths and cooler sizes.

Looking at the some of the cards you listed:

1.)HIS HD 6970 IceQ Turbo

Huge front fan housing will clash with the top of cage.



2.)Gainward GTX 570 Phantom 1280MB

Triple slot cooler.



3.)Gigabyte GTX 570 OC Windforce3X

Top of cooler with probably clash with cage.



4.)Palit GTX 570 SONIC Edition 1280MB

Cooler will recirculate hot air into the case.



The rest of the cards I assume are reference models, with blower coolers which will fit with a bit of adjustment in the case.

Yes, totally agree with you now that I've had a look inside the case properly.... will upload a photo in a few mins

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I will be using the HTPC for watching 3D blu-ray movies on disc as well as .mkv and blu-rips which are very large files 5gb+, Does the GPU clock speed not matter in this case???

The cards you listed are all higher end gaming cards which consume well over 150W at load.

The GT430 and HD6570 will perform the same for media duties at a fraction of the price and power consumption.

This article should be useful to read:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4380/d...pus-shootout/1

[umster]

Photo of the inside of my Shuttle SG41J1

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[umster]

just measured the size of the card possible to fit

110mm height
265mm length