Am I able to fit these graphics cards in my HTPC?

[khelvan]

Hi, I am looking to build an HTPC, mostly from spare parts. Right now I have:

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe, Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe, 8 MB RAM
Some HDDs, an optical drive
Blackmagic Intensity Pro (for HD recording from some devices) - PCIe x1

Now I am looking for both a TV Tuner and a graphics card that will give me good performance for the money. Perhaps an ATI Radeon HD 3650?

My only problem is, I'm not sure how I am going to fit a graphics card like that, plus a TV Tuner and the Intensity Pro.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Timop]

Get rid of 4GB or RAM, 4GB is perfectly enough for an HTPC.

Your board has 2 PCIe X16 slots and 2 PEIX1 slots so fitting wont be a problem.
Heres a nice GPU for your needs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102877&cm_re=HD_5450-_-14-102-877-_-Product

 

[khelvan]

Thank you, the mobo/CPU/RAM used to be part of a gaming machine, I figured I would keep it and maybe do some 1080p video editing on it

I appreciate the advice - I may end up trying to do some 10-foot gaming on the machine. Would the GeForce GT 240 be a good choice for me in that case?

Thanks again!

 

[sabot00]

If you want gaming a 5770 will do you well, and right now quite cheap.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161333&cm_re=5770-_-14-161-333-_-Product
The GT 240 would be okay for occasional gaming.

 

[khelvan]

Ok, thank you. I definitely don't need to play the latest games, any of the above cards will work ok for what I wanted to play (3-4 year old or older games). I just want to make sure that people aren't recommending ATI over NVidia because of some issue with HTPCs or HTPC software.

 

[Timop]

I depends on your TV, for 720PP the GT240/5570/5670 will be fine.
It might struggle with 1080P even with older games though. Especially the DDR3 version.

 

[khelvan]

My TV is a Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK 42" Plasma, with an added HDMI card. It is about 4 years old now.

I think it will do a max of 1080i/60fps and 1080p/30fps.

However I've put my current PC in 1920x1080 on it and it looks like crap...I'm not sure if that is because of the video card (it is failing) though.