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[AVTechMan]

I am thinking to look into getting an nVidia card for my HTPC to get the most out of my movie and video experience. Though the built in Intel GPU works fine, I want to make it better by adding an external card so that I can take advantage of all the VR filters that MC16 has to offer, and keep the internal GPU as a backup.

My HTPC is housed in a smaller case so I need to look into a card that is low-profile (half-height bracket). I have a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot and a x1 slot. The other x1 holds the Ceton tuner card.

I'm no stranger to nVidia cards, but what do I need to look for specifically for HTPC use? I have read the GT440 and 450 are good, but I don't think they come low profile. And it doesn't have to be an overly expensive card either.

My laptop has the nVidia Quadro FX 570M GPU so I will see of the LAVCUID will work on it as a test.

Thanks for any help!

[jmone]

I had the Palit GTS450 Half Height DDR5 based card in my HTPC and while it worked perfectly I ended up swapping it out for a 550Ti Full Height as the Palit was noisy under load when the fan span up.

I think the sweet spot currently is a 450 or 550Ti with DDR5 memory to get the best out of the filters.

[Sandy B Ridge]

I am thinking to look into getting an nVidia card for my HTPC to get the most out of my movie and video experience. Though the built in Intel GPU works fine, I want to make it better by adding an external card so that I can take advantage of all the VR filters that MC16 has to offer, and keep the internal GPU as a backup.

My HTPC is housed in a smaller case so I need to look into a card that is low-profile (half-height bracket). I have a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot and a x1 slot. The other x1 holds the Ceton tuner card.

I'm no stranger to nVidia cards, but what do I need to look for specifically for HTPC use? I have read the GT440 and 450 are good, but I don't think they come low profile. And it doesn't have to be an overly expensive card either.

My laptop has the nVidia Quadro FX 570M GPU so I will see of the LAVCUID will work on it as a test.

Thanks for any help!

I have the same problem, and if you read some of the threads in this subforum you'll hear me whinge endlessly about it!

For a full blown MadVR experience you need a card with DDR5 memory and lots of shaders. I've posted some of my benchmarks with my intel HD3000 (i5 2500k slightly overclocked by the Asus MoBo) and with my new GT430. The NVIDIA performance isn't astounding, and seems inferior in frame drops to the Intel, but I now do get better deinterrlacing and 23p. There is one LP card on the Market which will do a good job. That is the Palit GTS450 low profile. Jmone says it sounds like a jet engine and gets quite hot.  It is also slightly too long for my case (the HD is in the way) so I went for the GT430.

I'm going to persevere with the GT430 for now, it works just about OK in exclusive mode in MadVR, it's bad for Live TV and HD material in windowed mode. So it is annoying when exclusive mode fail for whatever reason.

I may change the card next year if/when more powerful low profile cards appear.

SBR

[jmone]

Yup the Palit made a racket in my HTPC but I now use it in my desktop and I don't hear it's fan over the others (so I'm now not going to try to rig a water cooler to it).  One "feature" with nvidia cards I have found is that in a dual monotor setup (my desktop) it is always stuck in P0 mode (else the secondary monitor flashes when it changes power mode) and hence runs around 70 degrees all the time (which is apparently fine up to 100 degrees).

[AVTechMan]

It looks like I may have to look into a slightly larger htpc case that will hold a full size card for the preferred video card.