Hellooooo people,

Hoping to tap into the collective expirience of this community before going through with this purchase.

So here is the deal, I have an Antec Fusion HTPC case with Core 2 Duo 2.13, 512 X 4 XMS2 DDR2 800 RAM, Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music, and an nVidia GIGABITE 7600 GTX, the system is super quite and runs fine on my Sony Bravia 32" LCD, but when hooked up to my JVC A\V reciever and routed to my projector the picture is awfull, also games such as STALKER are just unplayable under Vista.

So i'm thinking of buying a new D10 card, options are 2900 HD and 8800 GTS 320 MB so far, the GTS has the value advantage but the ATI has the HDMI feature which im hoping will remove my theater woes.


Which should I go with? Will either fit in my Case? Is the ATI sound and heat problems goimng to be a headache in an HTPC? Or is nVidia and Ati going to release something soon that I should wait for?

The HTPC is never shut off by the way as it is also my download terminal.


Thanks for all your help, I am in desperate need of enlightmint. :?

I'd go with an ATI Radeon HD 2900XT in your case, as long as you are using a certified screen monitor/TV/projector. The HD2900XT has the horsepower for 1920x1080 gameplay and has the certifications to do everything you will probably need it for. Still, you could probably get away with a GeForce 8600GT or something of the similar.

Thanks for the reply,

How do I find out if my A/V reciever is certified?

Monitor, Sony Bravia XBR2

Projector Panasonic B_PT-AE900u

Reciever: JVC RX-D702

The monitor and projector get the signal routed through the reciever from all sources including PC, maybe thats why im getting a crappy picture.

Sorry about all the questions, but I am in way over my head here.

I'm not sure how to check the certified stuff, but just thought I should say that you need at least a 550W power supply (if it is a good brand) to run a 2900XT safely. Other than that, the 2900 underclocks/volts itself when not in use and thus runs very cool when not doing anything graphically. Even when it use, it stays reasonably cool and is not obnoxiously loud as the case has good airflow.

Thanks for the heads up EXT,

My Antec 430W PS is definately not up to the task of satisfing THAT power hungry cards, sinse I cant afford a PS as well it looks like I will have to wait untill they release a more power efficient version of either card.


Now to overclock my 7600.

If you can wait, then wait for the 65nm upper midrange cards expect at the end of sumer.

The RV570 and the nVidia equivalent will be more powerful than the GF8600/HD2600, but nowhere near as power hungry as the GF8800/HS2900.

If it's for an HTPC I'd say the RV570 looks like the perfect card for you, but as always, wait until the candidates are reviewed and in retail before commiting to anything as things cna change alot from the early speculative days to when they are in stores, as we've seen recently (when we expected more out of both the HD2900 and GF8600 series).

Thanks for the reply GGA,

end of summer it is.