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+--- Thread: GPU Purchase (/showthread.php?tid=115784)
GPU Purchase - halsafar - 2011-11-29
I am sure this question gets asked far to often. I did research and can't come to a definite answer.
I got XBMC running on this machine:
Ubuntu 11.10
Q6600 on Asus P5Q
8GB DDR2 Ram
8600GT
Yup the machine is a little dated now but perfect for an HTPC.
It seems the 8600GT just won't cut it. One reason being it has a fan, I was hoping for a quieter solution. The big reason being noticeable tearing during HD playback.
I don't care to game on this box past the classic console emulators. So I'm looking for a quiet yet fully featured HTPC GPU. The choices seem to be:
GT430 or GT520. Price is not really important here.
I'm partial to NVIDIA but with a good argument I'd be willing to consider an AMD card.
- darkscout - 2011-11-29
Do you have VDPAU enabled? I've run the highest bitrate WALL-E through my 8300 and it did just fine.
- halsafar - 2011-11-29
Video Playback
- Render method: Auto
- Allow hard acceleration VDPAU: true
- Adjust display refresh rate to match video: false
- Sync playback to display: false
I do believe these are the default settings.
- live4ever - 2011-11-29
8600GT was a G84 part and the video decoding was only VDPAU feature set A I think.
GT520 is lower in power consumption (passive cooling) I'd say only get the GT430 if you have lots of interlaced stuff (OTA recordings etc).
- darkscout - 2011-11-29
You have it enabled, is it working? Check the debug logs.
- jackh - 2011-11-30
I have just setup a dedicated XBMC machine, running on Linux, and bought this GT210 (1GB/passive cooling) for it. Works like a charm!
No gaming in mind, just plain and heavy 1080p, and its temperature barely goes up to 60 Celsius
- halsafar - 2011-11-30
What feature of GT 430 makes it better for interlaced stuff over GT 520?
For reference I watch a lot of old cartoons, 80s 90s stuff, hd movies so 1080P content is important.
If the 8600GT is feature set A for VDPAU, what feature set should I be looking for, simply the highest?
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/260.19.36/README/supportedchips.html
I will check the debug logs when I get home to see if it is truly activated.
- eskro - 2011-11-30
halsafar Wrote:What feature of GT 430 makes it better for interlaced stuff over GT 520?
twice the Stream Processors
- darkscout - 2011-11-30
520 is Feature Set D
Quote:We asked NVIDIA about the changes in the new VDPAU feature set and what it meant for Windows users. They indicated that the new VPU was a faster version, also capable of decoding 4K x 2K videos. This means that the existing dual stream acceleration for 1080p videos has now been bumped up to quad stream acceleration.
And possibly other goodies.
- halsafar - 2011-12-01
Thinking this one:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62293&vpn=ENGT520%20SILENT%2FDI%2F1GD3%28LP%29&manufacture=ASUS
- halsafar - 2011-12-06
Got the GT520. Fanless, loving how quiet the box is.
The tearing I notice in moving scenes has NOT gone away, regardless of playing old cartoons, 1080P MKV's or even a DVD disc. I might just start a new thread on this. Quite disappointing.
q6600, GT520, HDMI1.4, Sony Bravia 46' (only 2 year old TV). I've turned off motion flow and all those crazy settings.
I'm thinking it is linux, same box booted into windows using VLC I can watch the same videos without a problem.