Graphics card for HTPC

[jonnyp1993]

Hi, i currently have a HTPC and i am struggling to find the right graphics card for it.

this is my setup.

HTPC (AMD Athlon ii 250 3.0ghz, 4gb ddr3 ram, Biostar A880g+ MB)

that goes to
LG Bluray Home cinema system.

That goes to

LG 42" Plasma TV

i currently have a nvidia 220 1gb but its not giving me the real surround sound. and this is what i want.

i read that if you use a normal 2 channle output then the home cinema will perform the surround sound itself.

but its not.

so the question is, what is the best graphics card (HDMI) that performs best surround sound ?

i have a budget of arond £50-80.

Any help would be great, thank you.

 

[ed79]

I think either of these should do what you want....

ATI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1985

Nvidia
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-182-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1833

 

[Rilot]

I would go to a GT620 rather than a 220 or 210. I found in my HTPC, although they were fine with some content, they did tend to chug a little with extremely high bitrate stuff.
The price difference is only a few quid.

I use HDMI output from my GT620 to my Yamaha amp and DTS, DD etc work flawlessly.

What OS are you using for this?

 

[jonnyp1993]

Thank you for the rapid response.

i will have a look into them anddecide which would be best for me.

on a side note, could i put a cooler on either them cards?, as i want to keep the HTPC as cool as possible without spending a lot of money.

Thank you again for the reply.

 

[jonnyp1993]

I would go to a GT620 rather than a 220 or 210. I found in my HTPC, although they were fine with some content, they did tend to chug a little with extremely high bitrate stuff.
The price difference is only a few quid.

I use HDMI output from my GT620 to my Yamaha amp and DTS, DD etc work flawlessly.

What OS are you using for this?

hi, i have thought about the GT620, i read that people said it was a good card to use, but just wanted another opinion on it.

i am using WIN 7 Ultimate 64BIT at the minute, do you suggest another one ? or is the one im using at the moment good enough?

Thank you.

 

[ed79]

on a side note, could i put a cooler on either them cards?, as i want to keep the HTPC as cool as possible without spending a lot of money.

They already have passive coolers so there's no point putting a fan on really as they are not high spec cards and so don't need it. I'd think unless it was going in a REALLY small case with not much airflow then the fanless design will be ideal - as you want the HTPC to be as quiet as possible?

 

[passey89]

I used to have a 5450 in mine but just upgraded to a 7850 to play steam games on it

 

[Rilot]

If you're running Windows as your HTPC then definitely get a GT620 over a 220 or 210.

 

[jonnyp1993]

They already have passive coolers so there's no point putting a fan on really as they are not high spec cards and so don't need it. I'd think unless it was going in a REALLY small case with not much airflow then the fanless design will be ideal - as you want the HTPC to be as quiet as possible?

hi, noise is not an issue for me, as I have a 1100watt surround system and I watch movies extremley loud so chances of hearing a couple of fans in the system is very slim lol, also, I don't just use it for movies, its also for playing the odd game on, I.e c&c generals, red alert, that sort of thing, nothing demanding really. The current case I have is a tower, im nit sute which one because I got it cheap from eBay, but its allready got 5 120mm fans in ( that are silent), these come with the case.

If you're running Windows as your HTPC then definitely get a GT620 over a 220 or 210.
1st Mar 2013 16:24

I think I will order a gt620 I have seen a lot of htpcs with these cards in and have read some good reviews today.


Thank you to everyone who helped, really appriciate it!

Jonnyp