Media PC Graphics card

[markwilliams82]

Hey all,

I'm thinking about putting a graphics card into my media PC so that I can also play some games on it

I've been looking at the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6570 Ultimate Edition 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express SILENT Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game [11191-05-20G]

Whats this card like? Or are there better alternatives for roughly the same price?
Currently I use the onboard graphics and sounds via HDMI into my Onkyo amp.

If I was to install a dedicated graphics card, would that output sound too or would I need an optical cable for the sound?

 

[enigmo]

Hey all,

I'm thinking about putting a graphics card into my media PC so that I can also play some games on it

I've been looking at the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6570 Ultimate Edition 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express SILENT Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game [11191-05-20G]

Whats this card like? Or are there better alternatives for roughly the same price?
Currently I use the onboard graphics and sounds via HDMI into my Onkyo amp.

If I was to install a dedicated graphics card, would that output sound too or would I need an optical cable for the sound?

My outgoing PVR box has an XFX 4850 OC in it that handles a/v and light gaming duties for LANs well enough, even now. But, I've recently been speccing a rebuild of the box as it does HTPC stuff every day but gaming once in a blue moon so a lower power draw and a smaller unit seems to make more sense, so I've just got a 6570 (as I can't find a low profile 6670) and am impressed so far. The video playback to a 42" plasma is good and the benchmarks say gaming performance shouldn't be awful.
For roughly the same price, you can get a full-height 6670 and that might do you better for gaming, but for quietness that 6570 you mention is about the best you can get at the moment. There seems to be a bit of a hole when it comes to decent, low-power gaming and HTPC cards. None are as fast as the long-gone 9800GT and the new GT 545 doesn't look like it's destined to see European shores ever.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Before anything else, you should really state what case you using (i.e. will it only take low-profile case but not full height card?), as well as what PSU it has.

 

[markwilliams82]

Sorry, I should have put this in the OP.
I've got a generic PSU which is 500W and a Silverstone Grandia GD05B.

On the Silverstone website it says the case can handles cards upto 11" and supplies the below list of reference cards that should/could fit;

AMD Radeon HD 5870 11"
NVIDIA GeForce GTX295/280/260/275 - 10.5"
NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX/9800GTX+ - 10.5"
AMD Radeon HD 4870X2 - 10.5"
AMD Radeon HD 5850 - 9.5"
NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX/9600GT/GTO - 9"
AMD Radeon HD 4870/4850 - 9"

Really if I do this, I want a card that is quiet (preferably silent) and has a low power consumption

The rest of my spec is an AMD Athlon II X2 250 with 4GB DDR3. So as far as I know the machine is decent enough, but is currently using onboard graphics and audio