HTPC Video Card

[maxwbrad]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good ATI video card to handle blu ray and blu ray 3D playback, little or no gaming and streaming web based content in the $75-100 range? It will output to a large screen DLP tv.
Thanks.

 

[gkay09]

A True HTPC card -> HD 5670
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870

 

[gkay09]

Other lower cards though perform good, but have some video decoding limitations...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2935/3

And you wont be needing anything above HD 5670 either...

 

[megamanx00]

The 5670 is more of an intro level gaming card. For your needs a 5570 or 5550 is a better fit. Of course, you may need a half height card if you go with a smaller HTPC case, but if you can use a full height card then you may want to get one with a big silent fanless cooler

HIS H555F1G Radeon HD 5550 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161339

 

[megamanx00]

gkay makes a good point about the video decoding limits, but of course I don't know if such a point is worth the extra money, noise, and power consumption for you.

 

[rwpritchett]

Yeah, the HD5670 is the lowest card that can effectively do vector adaptive deinterlacing with smooth playback enabled. This is only really necessary for interlaced content, especially if that content has diagonal lines (think white lines on a football field at 1080i). Progressive sources won't make any difference.

If the OP does go for an HD5670, the HIS HD5670 with the IceQ heatsink should be at the top of the list since it is dead quiet.

 

[maxwbrad]

Thanks to all....am looking at the HIS 5550 and 5570. Does DDR2 vs. DDR3 make a difference?

 

[gkay09]

^ For general usage it doesnt...but if the price difference is not very much, then get the DDR3...And again a 512MB DDR3 is better than 1GB DDR2...