[snooker]

I'm very sorry if this has recently been answered. If so, maybe someone could link me to a recent thread (when searching, I only find older threads).

I've been thinking about adding a video card to my XBMC setup instead of using onboard hardware. The motherboard is a GA-73PVM-S2H with an e8400 and 4gb of RAM under Vista. Things are fairly smooth, with an occasional stutter.

I've been trying to catch up on the DSPlayer information, and think I might be ready to take the plunge. Cruising Newegg, I found this ECS NSG210C-512QS-H GeForce 210 512MB. The GeForce 210 appears reference here to have the GT218 core, supporting VP4 PureVideoHD and VDPAU feature set C. I figured I couldn't go wrong adding a $40 card (also a $15 rebate).

Would you guys recommend something different? Money is not really the prime consideration. Being fanless certainly is a primary consideration. I also see a number of reasonably priced Radeon 5450 cards between $40-$60. And then there are some more beastly things like this 5750 card (or even better this version 5750 card which appears the same except no crossfire support) and this GT 240 card.

[WisdomWolf]

I've seen reports that the GT210 works ok, but may struggle a bit with high bitrate stuff. I couldn't find a passively cooled GT220, so I personally have been looking at the GT240. Zotac also makes a passively cooled one and it's a bit cheaper than the ASUS. I've seen numerous reports that Nvidia handles the DXVA related stuff much better than ATI (at least when referring to XBMC).

I would also recommend using one of the later SVN builds that have DXVA2 support built in. There's no XML files to edit. Just install and turn on DXVA2 under settings.

[SlaveUnit]

There are some passively cooled 220s out there but I cant even find them for sale. As WisdomWolf stated the Zotac 240 one is a bit cheaper http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

The 210 can have issues on highbitrate interlaced stuff. Such as TV recordings. I have one in a second XBMC dedicated box and I havent noticed any issues with it. Stay away from ATI unless you want troubles with the DXVA. I picked up the Gigabyte 240 with the 80mm fan on it and its really whisper quiet. It was on sale for $45 last week, but that was a 1 day sale.

EDIT: Looks like Zotac has a 220 fanless out there now http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product. But may as well get the 240 since its about $4 more after rebate.