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new low profile card

Associate
Joined
12 Aug 2005
Posts
192
hi there

i am thinking of upgrading my media centre card. i currently have a hd 5450 low profile card. i mainly use machine for watching hd films and tv, plus the occasional game. any recommendation most welcome it has to be low profile tho.

thanks
 
Associate
Joined
8 Feb 2008
Posts
890
GT430 is the best low profile card you can get, talking from an all round perspective.

AMD\ATI cards have problems outputting a proper 24p signal.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2004
Posts
5,010
Location
llanelli , south wales
i got stuck with your problem as well mate .. i originally had onboard graphics .. then went 5450 .... i even created a topic last year asking the same question... but there is a complete lack of cards higher up the range :(

i'm using a 720p plasma still for teh time being , and ended up getting a ati 5570... while i liek my case , it abit to small i'll need another one to get a full height card :(
 
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Soldato
Joined
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Posts
5,010
Location
llanelli , south wales
there is a low profile 6850 in japan only .. ive made in post to ocuk in product suggestions ... hope they can get this as its ideal :)

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AFOX-Starts-Selling-Low-Profile-AMD-Radeon-HD-6850-in-Japan-215631.shtml

review :-

" AFOX's latest creation carries the part number AF6850-1024D5L and was designed to be used in compact HTPC systems and other half-height desktops that require high graphics performance.

In on order to achieve this feat, AFOX had to redesign both the PCB and the cooling system of the card, and the latter is using a dual-slot aluminum heatsink that seems to make contact not only with the Barts Pro GPU, but also with the memory chips and VRM.

The heat gathered by the heatsink is then dissipated with the help of two low-diameter fans that stand at either sides of the aluminum block.

Even more impressive than the cooling system is the fact that AFOX has somehow managed to build the card so that it won't require any additional power except for the 75W that are provided via the PCI Express x16 slot.

How they managed to achieve this remains a mystery as the Barts GPU, used for the Radeon HD 6850, has an estimated power consumption of about 127W in load, so such cards usually require an additional 6-pin PCIe power connector to be installed.

Furthermore, the card is based on a fully working version of the HD 6850 core and it sticks to AMD's reference clocks that put the core at 775MHz and the GDDR5 memory at 1GHz (4GHz effective).

As far as the graphics card's video outputs are concerned, their layout had to be tweaked so that they would all fit considering the limited space available, but AFOX has still managed to cram a dual-link DVI and a DisplayPort connector.

The AFOX low-profile Radeon HD 6850 is available for purchase in Japan for 19,480 Yen, which translates into about $250 US. The card is shipped together with a low profile shim "
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
11 Feb 2012
Posts
1,086
Location
Up north.
there is a low profile 6850 in japan only .. ive made in post to ocuk in product suggestions ... hope they can get this as its ideal :)

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AFOX-Starts-Selling-Low-Profile-AMD-Radeon-HD-6850-in-Japan-215631.shtml

review :-

" AFOX's latest creation carries the part number AF6850-1024D5L and was designed to be used in compact HTPC systems and other half-height desktops that require high graphics performance.

In on order to achieve this feat, AFOX had to redesign both the PCB and the cooling system of the card, and the latter is using a dual-slot aluminum heatsink that seems to make contact not only with the Barts Pro GPU, but also with the memory chips and VRM.

The heat gathered by the heatsink is then dissipated with the help of two low-diameter fans that stand at either sides of the aluminum block.

Even more impressive than the cooling system is the fact that AFOX has somehow managed to build the card so that it won't require any additional power except for the 75W that are provided via the PCI Express x16 slot.

How they managed to achieve this remains a mystery as the Barts GPU, used for the Radeon HD 6850, has an estimated power consumption of about 127W in load, so such cards usually require an additional 6-pin PCIe power connector to be installed.

Furthermore, the card is based on a fully working version of the HD 6850 core and it sticks to AMD's reference clocks that put the core at 775MHz and the GDDR5 memory at 1GHz (4GHz effective).

As far as the graphics card's video outputs are concerned, their layout had to be tweaked so that they would all fit considering the limited space available, but AFOX has still managed to cram a dual-link DVI and a DisplayPort connector.

The AFOX low-profile Radeon HD 6850 is available for purchase in Japan for 19,480 Yen, which translates into about $250 US. The card is shipped together with a low profile shim "

That is actually rather impressive.
 
Associate
Joined
11 Feb 2012
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1,086
Location
Up north.
If i could get hold of the AFOX card id go for it, the fact its powered through the pci-e slot and no requirement for a 6 pin connector makes it bloody awesome. No psu worries at all. Also the 6850 is no slouch when it comes to performance. It aint no high end card but it will perform the task the OP is looking for perfectly. Also i see it on a famous auction site at not that bad a price imo.

EDIT

Price is a bit high actually looking at it properly with P+P but still a great little card and i would defo look into it.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2004
Posts
5,010
Location
llanelli , south wales
If i could get hold of the AFOX card id go for it, the fact its powered through the pci-e slot and no requirement for a 6 pin connector makes it bloody awesome. No psu worries at all. Also the 6850 is no slouch when it comes to performance. It aint no high end card but it will perform the task the OP is looking for perfectly. Also i see it on a famous auction site at not that bad a price imo.

EDIT

Price is a bit high actually looking at it properly with P+P but still a great little card and i would defo look into it.

if your refering to a post i made before you mate i think over double teh cost ( includign shipping ) is abit steep
 
Associate
Joined
11 Feb 2012
Posts
1,086
Location
Up north.
if your refering to a post i made before you mate i think over double teh cost ( includign shipping ) is abit steep


Yeah i saw, postage from japan, makes it a bit steep, all added up you could get a 6970 or 570 at that price. shame the op has to have a low profile card, so many good deals on overclockers for the mid range cards.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2004
Posts
5,010
Location
llanelli , south wales
Yeah i saw, postage from japan, makes it a bit steep, all added up you could get a 6970 or 570 at that price. shame the op has to have a low profile card, so many good deals on overclockers for the mid range cards.

i would get it myself .. i'd prob pay a slight premium for it .. but those prices are crazy ...

but maybe ocuk can get us a good deal ;)
 
Associate
Joined
11 Feb 2012
Posts
1,086
Location
Up north.
i would get it myself .. i'd prob pay a slight premium for it .. but those prices are crazy ...

but maybe ocuk can get us a good deal ;)

Ive actually got spares for a HTPC except a gpu and psu, if OCuk got those AFOX cards in, i would defo be in for 1 and a cheap psu. I have literally fell in love with that little beauty.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Feb 2008
Posts
890
I'll re-iterate in an arrogant fashion :)

Don't touch anything ATI\AMD if you want a HTPC card, a simple check of the xbmc forums will tell you that. You WILL regret it, or simply learn to love it (if you're lucky) ;)

They have problems on the hardware level that cannot be resolved in software.

24p playback simply isn't possible without a regular stutter you may, or may not notice, but probably will if you are serious about a HTPC setup and a computer nerd and can tell the difference between 30\60fps (that would mean all of us here then).

They have inferior de-interlacing abilitites, far inferior driver support and even worse software support. An ATI\AMD card is what you use if you have one already and don't want to pay £40 for a proper card (this is within the context of low profile cards for decoding 1080p\1080i video sources, not their cards in general)

Facts. ^


....


Non arrogant post would be to say, "I urge you to check the xbmc forums for advice and make sure you mention AMD or ATI or Radeon, and see the response".
 
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