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laweapon · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-18, 21:13 by laweapon.)

Hi guys,
This is my first time running XBMC on a PC, i have tried it on ATV 2 and just lately on Boxee Box.

My question is,, i need a suggestion for a good video card under the $80 range. (CDN)
My Windows 7 PC that i'm going to use is a:

Lenovo Thinkcenter M91p
2nd Gen Core i5,
Intel 2 i5-2400 / 3.1 GHz
4GB of ram for now
It came with a Intel HD 2000 - no hdmi Sad

Need something that will also process the audio via HDMI
I was looking at a EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GT610 1GB DDR3 PCI-E Video Card for $44, but i'm sure there must be better. or would that do it?
Thanks!

**Prof Yaffle** · 2013-10-18, 21:47

Is it just XBMC you need it for (in terms of GPU-intensive work), or do you need something more (e.g. gaming or GPU-assisted transcoding)?

laweapon · 2013-10-18, 21:50

I will not be gaming on this pc at all..
Possible will use it to download torrents and from usenet.. but it will basically be a strictly XBMC machine.

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-10-18, 21:51

GT610 should be fine then.

laweapon · 2013-10-18, 21:55

is there something else a little more expensive that would future proof my HTPC ?

jammyb · 2013-10-18, 22:12

NUC.

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-18, 23:10 by Dougie Fresh.)

What do you have for a power supply? Which model m91p?

laweapon · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-19, 01:51 by laweapon.)

It has a 240W power supply.... it's the 7033 model

(2013-10-18, 22:12)jammyb Wrote: NUC.

NUC looks cool..but size doesn't really matter...everything is in my server rack in the basement. Out of sight

laweapon · 2013-10-20, 04:38

So is the GT610 really my best bet for a under $80 card?

laweapon · 2013-10-25, 15:42

before i order the GT610, can someone tell me if i'll run into issues by only having a 240W power supply??
Thanks

**Dougie Fresh** · 2013-10-25, 15:52

Card like the GT610 use power from the PCIe slot which is 75W max. The GT610 uses much less than that though. You could probably go up to GT640 GDDR5 but it depends also on how efficient that 240W PSU is.

laweapon · 2013-10-25, 15:57

Thanks Dougie Fresh..
Power supply info is: 240W, 85plus, auto-sensing

If the GT610 runs 1080p and gives me the HD audio, that's all i really want.. not going to game on this machine at all,, just running XBMC.

Dougie in your opinion is it better to max out my ram (16GB), or go with a SSD (for xbmc performance)