[maxsideburn]

Ok, the machine I currently have set up is running an ATI card, and everything looks great, but I get the occasional slight tearing of video in high action scenes.

I read that XBMC supports hardware acceleration with nVidia cards, but which ones? Can I just pick up some old GeForce 6 or something from eBay?

Also, when I install the new card and reboot my machine will XBMC and Ubuntu automatically recognize it? If not what will I need to configure? Thanks.

[Paranormal]

I'd say 8800GT (avoid 8800GTS 320MB and 640MB) or newer will work.

[maxsideburn]

damn, really? Has to be something that new? oh, and it has to be a low-profile card.

what are the advantages to hardware acceleration? will it REALLY make that big of a difference? I can already play 720p well.

[cejstrup]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU#Devic...ting_VDPAU

with hw accell my ION plays 1080p with high bitrates at around 10-15% load so yes,it does make a big difference

[bobo1on1]

It doesn't have to be a high performance card, a gt210 should work ok, just make sure the card has at least 512 mb ram.