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[jmone]

I used to recommend the GTX550Ti as a good HTPC card for use with RO HQ (using madVR).  Madshi however has now introduced a new high quality scaling algorithm called Jinc and and anti ringing algorithm that is just a bit to much for the 550Ti when dealing with 1080/50 or 60i material (eg TV Shows, Music Videos on BD).  So I upgraded to a GTX660 which handles this well and is reasonably quiet --> http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/GTX660DC2T2GD5/  I even managed to just squeeze it into my Shuttle HTPC (but it is a tight fight). 

[fitbrit]

I used to recommend the GTX550Ti as a good HTPC card for use with RO HQ (using madVR).  Madshi however has now introduced a new high quality scaling algorithm called Jinc and and anti ringing algorithm that is just a bit to much for the 550Ti when dealing with 1080/50 or 60i material (eg TV Shows, Music Videos on BD).  So I upgraded to a GTX660 which handles this well and is reasonably quiet --> http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/GTX660DC2T2GD5/  I even managed to just squeeze it into my Shuttle HTPC (but it is a tight fight).

Does the card do bitstreaming too? I have a couple of 450gts cards, and have started gaming on my big screen at 1080p. Thus I need a powerful 3d gaming card that can also give htpc features like  bitstreaming and handling 7.1 lpcm.

[jmone]

I'd be very surprised if it does not.  I'll test once the Fam get of the HTPC (I LPCM 5.1 off the card just fine) for 7.1 LPCM and 7.1 Bitstreaming.

[InflatableMouse]

Glynor once made a nice post which summed up some of the bitstreaming issues with 4xx and 5xx line of Nvidia cards but I can't find it.

See this article and the table.

IIRC, some/most of the rebranded 4xx to 5xx line of chipsets still can't do bitstreaming. Basically, if Nvidia aimed the card at gamers bitstreaming was disabled. I think this policy was changed with the 6xx cards and most if not all can bitstream.

I have a genuine interest in hardware, I read a lot and keep up with new stuff quite well. Yet I've always struggled with GPU features. It's such a mess with all the rebranding and reissuing I find it impossible to keep up with it and I'm never sure what I say or believe is ever correct.

I know, not very helpful am I?   

[jmone]

The 660 is not a rebranded "old" gpu - review here --> http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_660_directcu_ii_top_review,1.html

[jmone]

Just checked - no issues with 7.1 True HD or 7.1 PCM

[InflatableMouse]

The 660 is not a rebranded "old" gpu - review here --> http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/asus_geforce_gtx_660_directcu_ii_top_review,1.html

I know, I learned that from SBR  . I was talking about the 4xx -> 5xx series. Kepler is good stuff.

[raym]

So does madvr favor nvidia cards over amd? I'm currently using an amd 6770 which still appears to work great. Any real argument for one over the other for htpc use?

[InflatableMouse]

I want to say Nvidia, but that wouldn't be very objective  

Honestly, I don't think theres a bad choice, it comes down to personal preference.

The new overlay mode doesn't (didn't?) seem to work properly with AMD drivers. If that's what you want to use Nvidia would be a better choice. Not sure what the current status is regarding that.

[madshi]

I'm trying to support all GPUs the best I can, so madVR is not favoring any GPU manufacturer. However, there are a couple of things I have no power over which favor either NVidia or AMD:

(1) NVidia can do hardware overlay, AMD can not. Overlay is a pretty good solution for windowed playback (-> pro NVidia).
(2) NVidia has custom resolutions, AMD has not (-> pro NVidia).
(3) I can do lossless native DXVA2 decoding/deinterlacing with AMD, without needing "copy-back", while with NVidia "copy-back" is needed to achieve lossless-ness  (-> pro AMD).
(4) There's a chance I could use CUDA to speed up processing in future madVR versions, or to use it for new algorithms. Currently AMD's OpenCL support is to slow to be useful. I might be wrong about CUDA being useful, though, I haven't really tested its speed for madVR use yet (-> pro NVidia).
(5) There's a chance frame packed 3D output could work better on AMD, but I'm mostly guessing here. I could be wrong about this (-> pro AMD).
(6) I've been told that sometimes when using AMD, audio playback could suffer in reliability/latency (-> pro NVidia).
(7) AMD offers a "PC/TV levels" switch for HDMI RGB output, NVidia does not, but there's a hack available for NVidia (-> pro AMD).

I think overall NVidia might currently be the better solution. Mostly because of hardware overlay and CUDA, from my point of view.

[InflatableMouse]

(7) AMD offers a "PC/TV levels" switch for HDMI RGB output, NVidia does not, but there's a hack available for NVidia (-> pro AMD).

I've done some searching on this but I can't find it. Can you point me to a source please?

[jmone]

Here you go (from madVR Thread starting here http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228&page=694)

Here's a little tweak utility which should be able to tweak NVidia cards to output fullrange RGB without needing to create custom resolutions:

http://madshi.net/madNvLevelsTweaker.zip

When using a multi-monitor setup, just move the tweaker window to the target monitor (the tweak is per monitor) before applying the tweak. This utility is also able to undo the tweak. Furthermore it should work without needing a reboot. It does that by restarting the GPU driver. Doing that might eventually make your computer explode, or result in your socks catching fire. So USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Of course it works fine on my PC. But then, my socks are fire-proof...

[madshi]

I'm not sure if the tool at that link is up to date, though. The latest version of that tool is directly in the madVR directory.

[NoDigital]

For the record, I run two boxes, one with GTX660, the other with a GTX650.   Cant tell the difference between 'em.  The GTX650 runs with the following:

Chroma scaling - Jinc 4 taps  AR
Upscaling - Jinc 4 taps AR (66% GPU utilised, goes to 100% with stutter on 8 tap)
Downscaling - Lanczos 4 taps  AR

The GTX660 runs with 8 taps.   For the money, the Gigabyte GTX650 was my choice because of its lower power requirements, large diameter fan and almost silent operation when idle (Ie, ideal for audiophile playback)

So, I'd say the GTX650 was the best choice unless you're into pixel peeping.

http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650/specifications
http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-660/specifications

[raym]

So how about running madvr with an intel hd4000 gpu? Have people had good success with this? I'm considering building a small PC (possibly a NUC) as another MC extender so would like to go integrated graphics if possible BUT I'd like to continue to use madvr.

[jmone]

Sure - Prior to adding the GTX660 to my Shuttle case I was using the stock HD4000 GPU on the i7.  You will find that it will stuggle with any of the "tap" based scalers as it is just not fast enough for these but I use M-N and it was fine, here are some other suggestions to try from the madVR thread:

[raym]

Good to hear. Thanks mate.