GF4 good enough for HTPC?

Just a quick question...

I'm currently about to build myself an HTPC, and was looking at using an MSI mobo with an onboard geforce 4 for graphics. This one: K7N2GM2-ILSR I will be using MCE2005.

I know I don't need a very powerful graphics, but would a gf4 be good enough? I do have a spare 5600 Ultra if need be, but I'd rather make do with the onboard one of its good enough due to space issues. (Would require removing heatsinks etc.)

What ya reckon? Yay or nay?

Cheers

Ant

Nearly any intergrated solution will be ok just for watching TV etc. :)

You never know, might need that HTPC when ur m8s come along for some CS or UT2k4 action. I'd stick with a 5600Ultra tbh (even tho its a rubbish card)...

Edit: the tiny fan on the Ultra wont even wake my 3 year old cousin up.. let alone being ultimately annoying..

What kind of TV do you have? (IE 4:3 or 16:9) - the GF4 will only output a 4:3 signal which will look pretty junky if you have a huge widescreen TV.

Only exception is if you have a plasma - but then you'd want to use DVI and the onboard GF4 doesn't have DVI output.

also, if you want to watch HDTV content, you might need a card with integrated decoding abilities (or a beefy CPU)

I currently have an Asus GF4 Ti4200 in my HTPC and the TV-out is shockingly bad. However, you may find the onboard chip uses a different TV encoder.

I have found ATI cards to have MUCH better TV-outs, so a 9x00 card may be a decent purchase for you (I'm waiting on a 9800 Pro to be delivered, as the GF is just a fallback from the 9700 I recently killed...)

Cheers for all the replies guys! Really appreciated! :)

I don't plan on using it for any games tbh, so thats not really an issue, but a couple of things have been mentioned I haven't even thought of.

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Originally Posted by unrealrocks

What kind of TV do you have? (IE 4:3 or 16:9) - the GF4 will only output a 4:3 signal which will look pretty junky if you have a huge widescreen TV.

Only exception is if you have a plasma - but then you'd want to use DVI and the onboard GF4 doesn't have DVI output.

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I hadn't realised that. I will be using a 28" widescreen, so 16:9 output is a definate requirement. From that alone, it seems the 5600 ultra will need to be used!

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Originally Posted by directhex

also, if you want to watch HDTV content, you might need a card with integrated decoding abilities (or a beefy CPU)

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Another thing I hadn't thought of. To be honest, I know zilch about HDTV and how it will need to be decoded. The TV signal to the comp will be coming from a standard Sky box. Surely that won't be HDTV ready anyway?


I know the 5600 ultra isn't a great card, but as I have one spare I was hoping it would do. Also added to the equation will be a Hauppauge PVR 150 card, a Barton 2500+, and 512MB RAM. I was going to connect the comp to the TV using s-video to scart.

Taking into account all comments made above, would this make a decent HTPC for now?

Thanks

Ant

Hello Ant

The main challenge with any HTPC is getting a decent picture from the PC to the TV. Until you connect your chosen graphics card to the TV and look at the picture you won't know if it is suitable. If possible S vid to S vid is the best standard connection. I have a 4:3 Sony and after trying a selection of ATI/Nvidia cards found for my setup the best card was a cheapo Asus 9200SE.

Hot

decent quality output, at least a branded decoder and plus some premium cables.. Anything from 5600 / 9550 should be fine at 16:9 ratio.. I did using me old 5600Ultra on a 42" Plasma..

I was under the impression that MCE requires a DirectX9 card......so the GF4 would be out of the mix.......personally, I have tended to throw in FX5200s in as the ideal/cheapest solution.....

Yeah, if your going to run MCE on there, you will almost certainly get a lot of screen corruption while navigating the MCE screens.

Cheers for the advice guys... I have decided not to bother with the onboard geforce 4 anymore, and use my spare 5600 ultra instead. :)

Looking at my Grundig Sky box, it has s-video already, so I will use that to the comp. Like you said, Hottentot, that will be my best option quality wise.

Why will I see a lot of corruption navigating my way round MCE, shaithis? Do you mean in general or when using a GF4?

I just need to start buying all the other bits now! :)

Thanks

Ant

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Originally Posted by shaithis

Yeah, if your going to run MCE on there, you will almost certainly get a lot of screen corruption while navigating the MCE screens.

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Where did this gem of information come from, as I know quite a few people running little nforce based geforces as very capable media center machines?

Although its bloody annoying that they dont support widescreen output :(