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Gpu for light gaming on low powered htpc

Kanifee

Kanifee

Kanifee

Soldato
Joined
13 May 2007
Posts
7,004
Location
On the wagon, sorta
Ok, im looking to get a small low powered Grfx card for my HTPc but i have a couple of issues i need to work around

Issues im facing.
Case is a silverstone Milo ml02, space is a premium and it uses an included 120w itx PSu so the card has to be low powered or i need to replace the psu.

As mentiond space is very tight so has to be single slot, there is no more room for any overhang.

Ok what i need from the card

native res of my 42" Tv is only 1024x768 so the card needs to run Dead space, bioshock and other similer games at relatively pretty settings.
Must be able to do all he things current on board can in terms of audio pass through etc.

Like i said the case uses a 120w itx psu and im currently running an
asus p5n7a-vm
e5200 at stock
2x 1Gb sticks of DDr2 800mhz
1tb low powered hard drive
80Gb laptop hard drive (both sata)

Think i may be cutting the psu close but once a new card is installed power consumption will be cut by the IGp GF9300 not being used...... I hope.

I was thinking of a 9600GT but they all use external power so out of the question.
Ati cards all seem a little to power hungry so im at a loss, dont really want to upgrade the psu as the 150w version is around £60 and i dont think ill really be able to shift the old one.

So any one have any ideas?

Edit:

I have noticed that the specs for the board say hybrid sli support, would this bring any decent gain or better to replace full stop?
 
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I wanted to avoid it really as the case fites the set up its sitting in, paid £130 for a small av shelf so that i could use this case wich cost £160. Lot of money to take a large loss on.

Toying with the idea of using an ATX supply outside of the case sat behind my set up out of view, feeding the wires into the rear of the case. would give me a lot more leaway on the gp, just a bit more work
 
really id think at 1024x768 a 5750 would be overkill wouldnt it?

Any way, i was thinking along the lines of an 8800GT or 4850 to fit the bill? my previous card before my 5850 was a 8800GT though it was a release day one without the revised cooler inlet hole so was allways a warm puppy so im not sure how the revised ones were with temps. That and i have never used a 4850.

Like i said above my board has Geforce 9300 graphics that support hybrid sli, problem is i cant find any decent bench's using it with a 9400 or 9500 card only 9800gtx+ which dont fit the bill. Does any one on here have any exeprience with these.
Ive tryed dead space on the igp and allthough not smooth its playable though everything is on low so i wounder how well hybrid sli scale

Edit****

Reading back what wrote im not sure if the output on either of those cards will fit my needs in terms of video/audio to my av reciever?
And it turns out that hybrid sli can actually hinder performance.
 
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A) Unfortunatly the riser card only lifts the GPU enough to give one slot and a touch of clearance. I suose i could work around this problem with an itx mobo, loosing the pci slots and the sace they occupy but i dont really want to invest any more money into this than i have to

B)Ill be laying joyad games, SFII, bioshock 1 & 2,Dead sace and id also like to play 2 on release. The range of games isnt going to be massive but there are allways going to be a few new titles ill like. i know ill have to mess with settings to get things running smooth but i think with 1024x768 being such a low res by todays standards, it should give me a little leway in the performance stakes?

C) i use vista on my HTPc, my front end media ortal hase issues with 7, as for DX11 as much as it ains me to say this having invested in a 5850, i havnt noticed massive gains so its not something ill chase in a light gaming situation like this so dx10 would do just fine.
 
the onboard 9300 plays dead space. fps wont be massive but playing with a joypad eleviates this somewhat as look speed is decreased sevearly, its smooth at 800x600 full settings but its not that good looking not being at the native res.
1024x768 i can run with low /medium mix and its ok not as smooth as id like but playable, so id like a card that plays it full settings smooth. my wreckoning is it wont have to be too much more powerfull than the 9300 though has to be 9 series/hd4 series onwards to be able to deliver the specs for av features my current igp does.

Liking the look of the hd5 series card marine, should have a fair bit grunt to it aswell.
 
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