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Nvidia GT 520 DX11 1GB low-end HTPC card out now

clocka

clocka

clocka

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Official GT 520 page: http://www.geforce.com/#/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gt-520/specifications

Features
Microsoft Windows 7 support
DirectX 11 Done Right
ShaderModel 5.0 support
Microsoft DirectCompute5.0 support
NVIDIA Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
NVIDIA CUDA Technology
Better NVIDIA PhysXperformance
NVIDIA PureVideoHD technology
OpenGL 4.1 support and OpenCLSupport
High Definition 1080p Display Support
Dual-link HDCP Capable
Native HDMI 1.4a connector

Spec
Process Technology: 40nm
Processor Cores: 48 cores
Memory: 1024MB
Memory Interface: 64 bits
DRAM Type: DDR3
Core Clock: 810MHz
Shader Clock: 1620MHz
Memory Clock: 535MHz
Memory Bandwidth: 8.56 (GB/sec)

Outputs
Dual-link DVI-I, HDMI, VGA

£40+ launch price

nvidia-gt520b.jpg


There are passively cooled versions too btw:

gainward-gt520.jpg


The memory speed varies from 900-1600mhz depending on which card you buy, the other specs are the same on all cards i believe.

This card is the 1st card to add Feature set D for hardware decoding which adds VP8/WebM support :)
 
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"DirectX 11 Done Right"

I'd love to see that card run some dx11 features :p

Can't see any info on what audio over hdmi this supports, where ati have upper hand in this sector.
 
Ive always liked these for the outputs at a cheap price for media centers etc. But with H67 or the newer z68 coming out I'm not so sure if these will be needed.
 
Those specs dont look much better than my HTPCs GT220. Might need to do some research methinks, but sounds like I want a 530...
 
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you only need the 530 if you want to do gaming, you won't much difference with CUDA applications or 1080p video etc with any more expensive cards. Regards the H67 motherboard, you don't get CUDA so encoding applications that can use that won't get the speed increase. But yeah if you just want HD decoding and the ability to bitstream HD audio via HDMI the H67 board will do that perfectly and use less power.
 
Problem comes is it looks weaker than the GT220, and the GT210 did have some issues with being able to apply realtime shader effects, whilst playing back video. (Its mentioned in Tom's Hardware Review where they looked at the card compared to the GT220, 5450 etc with a HTPC in mind).

Sometimes I'd rather be safer than sorry...I might shift to a newer card though when its available simply as the hardware decoding ASIC should be newer, and it supports THD/DTSMA which the 220's onboard HDMI didn't. :)
Would also be interested in exactly which issue Wolvers means...there have been a few :D

That even Nvidia acknowledge its slower than the 220 is a little worrying though, not much in the way of progress, although judging by the pictures it probably runs a bit cooler :)
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
Problem comes is it looks weaker than the GT220, and the GT210 did have some issues with being able to apply realtime shader effects, whilst playing back video. (Its mentioned in Tom's Hardware Review where they looked at the card compared to the GT220, 5450 etc with a HTPC in mind).

Sometimes I'd rather be safer than sorry...I might shift to a newer card though when its available simply as the hardware decoding ASIC should be newer, and it supports THD/DTSMA which the 220's onboard HDMI didn't. :)
Would also be interested in exactly which issue Wolvers means...there have been a few :D

That even Nvidia acknowledge its slower than the 220 is a little worrying though, not much in the way of progress, although judging by the pictures it probably runs a bit cooler :)
Click to expand...

Also has HDMI 1.4a which the older cards and on board graphics do not. So you can do 3D blu ray with this card. ;)
 
Sorry, I think I'm getting mixed up with an intel chipset that supports HD audio bitstreaming but didn't support 24p at all. I can't even remember which one it was so just ignore me. :o

One thing I do know is that NV drivers don't support HDTV resolutions as well as AMD, well IMO anyway. I also have a preference for the video IQ on AMD but that's very personal.
 
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Mmmm, quite frankly, I'd be happy to go for an AMD card (That was the initial plan for my HTPC last summer), if it wasn't for the fact they don't seem quite as compatible with the full range of h264 as I've seen blocking etc using them and various samples from my brothers collection, whereas the Nvidia ASIC decoders seem to get around this on the vast majority of videos I've tried.

I could resort to CPU decoding but the additional heat and noise that'd entail means Id rather use a passive GPU to do it.

I dont have a 3D TV so the 1.4a isn't of massive consequence to me hehe. I know its a low power card but I am dissapointed at the comparative specs of the card though compared to the GT220, it seems more of a 210 replacement, which is why I'm likely to wait for a GT530 to appear.
Sounds like the GT520 is due at the end of April on our shores so hopefully we'll see more info then, and perhaps news on the next model up (GT520 then the next being 550 seems a bit wierd :p)
 
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Which h.264 versions do you think are an issue? I haven't found any yet that are a problem for the ffdshow DXVA decoder (the best decoder around by far IMO). If you have any samples I'd like to have a look at them.
 
Dont have any samples unfortunately, just now and then corruption/artifacts in files which playback fine with an equivalently aged Nvidia bit of kit or via CPU decoding, but not decoded using DXVA with an ATI card. I think I had some last summer but cant remember for the life of me what I used...
I wouldnt doubt its probably files that are slightly offspec that cause the issues, rather than the cards being unable to conform to spec :)
 
Alexrose1uk said:
Dont have any samples unfortunately, just now and then corruption/artifacts in files which playback fine with an equivalently aged Nvidia bit of kit or via CPU decoding, but not decoded using DXVA with an ATI card. I think I had some last summer but cant remember for the life of me what I used...
I wouldnt doubt its probably files that are slightly offspec that cause the issues, rather than the cards being unable to conform to spec :)
Click to expand...

Both my Radeon 3870 and now Radeon 5750 have had no problem with any H264 video, encoded in Handbrake using the most extreme settings. (days to encode)
 
Yep, I have 5 series cards around myself, so I do have relevant cards to test with ;)
The vast majority of videos are fine with either, and theres probably videos that react badly with Nvidia's GPU offloading, but I've seen more issues with ATI ones.
 
Sounds more like a decoder issue, rather than hardware related, and any blocking in h.264 means that the bitrate has been wound right down when encoded to get the file size down low. I'd be very surprised if the videos in question aren't high res, low bitrate. Like a full length movie in 1080p that's only 2-4gb, or even less.
 
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