GFX Card for NAS/HTPC

[Cenuij]

Building an HTPC/NAS combo type thing...

Is a GTX 1050 overkill for this? Looks good with the 75w draw only needing the PCIe slot - but are there cheaper alternatives than the £105 or so than the GTX 1050 costs?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

any 750Ti knocking around?

 

[Brazo]

Another vote for 750ti

Personally I'd get the 1050 though as if you wanted to do some gaining its twice as powerful.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Just seen Gigabyte are releasing low profile 1050/Ti version, not sure the pricing but should be cheaper then MSI if you were after that profile

 

[hornetstinger]

I'm using a ATI 5450, you want something like this. Low power, enough RAM for video playback and not using system memory. HD codec hardware support. Basically a new version of this type of card.

Don't want 3D or fan based card

 

[Perfect_Chaos]

I thought of doing this myself, then i realised i could do with a decent midrange NAS so i figured it's prob simpler to go for a Nvidia Shield since they supposedly play anything you throw at it media wise, no hassle involved.

 

[Lmg80]

Any Intel i5 with with onboard graphics should do it, why do you want a video card too?

 

[Participant]

any 750Ti knocking around?

I'm using a ATI 5450, you want something like this. Low power, enough RAM for video playback and not using system memory. HD codec hardware support. Basically a new version of this type of card.

Don't want 3D or fan based card

I thought of doing this myself, then i realised i could do with a decent midrange NAS so i figured it's prob simpler to go for a Nvidia Shield since they supposedly play anything you throw at it media wise, no hassle involved.

We need more info from the op regards usage of the HTPC, if it's feeding a 4K screen, etc., but I'd be buying a GPU that supports 4K @ 60hz, as otherwise the desktop looks crapola.

Not sure that the above have HDMI 2.0b, which in my opinion would render them redundant as a modern HTPC proposition.

Any Intel i5 with with onboard graphics should do it, why do you want a video card too?

Depends what bits he already has and what his usage will be, I guess. He may have a cpu already in which case, a discrete gpu would make lots of sense for an HTPC (easier upgrade path, better for gaming, hdmi 2.0b, hevc and h265).

 

[Perfect_Chaos]

^ i was talking about just videos really, it looks like the Shield supports almost any filetype.

I'd just get a premade midrange synology NAS to hold the media, and the Shield to play them. Or if you want the cheaper route just connect an external HDD.

Pretty sure you'd get more out of the Shield over a HTPC media wise since it has the streaming apps along with native offline file playback.

 

[Lmg80]

Given the op never returned and looking at his specs in his sig, I doubt this is a gaming machine. I would merely be looking at a Android Box, nas and Ethernet connection connected back to the router.


Cheaper quieter and less hassle overall than a pc.