In market for new GPU - HTPC/Possible Gaming

[ChrisGTL]

Currently I've built a overspec HTPC compromising of:

EVGA G2 750w PSU
i7-4790k (Corsair H100i Cooler with Noctua fans)
Evo 128GB SSD
Kingston HyperX 8GB 2400 DDR3
AMD HD6450

This feeds my Anthem AV gear via HDMI and then to my 1080p Panny plasma.


Really happy with the stock MADVR settings - no screen jutter, framerates are good and I get 1 frame drop every 7 hours or so as per the MPC-HC stats.

Basically I have been paid and I'm itching to spend some of it....haha. The weak link in my HTPC is clearly the GPU even though everything works and more importantly it is near silent.

I'd like to stay with AMD for the GPU due to complete satisfaction with MKV playback via MADVR. Can't see me going 4k anytime soon as I'd need a new TV and AV receiver which offers 4k support.

My requirement is a better GPU to do the same as my HD6450 in terms of MKV playback with silent/near silent noise. But something that will give me the potential to play some games at 1080p.


I was originally looking at the Asus DirectCU II R9 range but I've read some bad reports about the VRAM artifact problems - not sure how true this is but there is an extensive thread of the ROG forum about this problem.


Any advice from you guys who haven't been out of the hardware loop like I have??

 

[queamin]

I would wait for new cards as they have new hardware in them

The Polaris architecture features AMD’s 4th generation Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, a next-generation display engine with support for HDMI® 2.0a and DisplayPort 1.3, and next-generation multimedia features including 4K h.265 encoding and decoding.

 

[AiiR]

R9 380? Get the msi one and the fans switch off when idle I believe.

 

[flowrider99]

Sapphire R9 380 Nitro. This is a bargain £150 GPU IMO.

 

[meldarthx]

Sapphire R9 380 Nitro. This is a bargain £150 GPU IMO.

this or wait for polaris

 

[ChrisGTL]

Cheers guys. I've reserved a 380 Nitro to be picked up today.