Best Graphics Card For HD Movie Picture Quality?

[phoenix85]

I use my pc for my home cinema but i'm pretty certain the quality of the same 1080p movies ive watched looks better coming out of my PS3 in comparison. Is there a difference? if so which graphics card can give the best picture quality out of my pc? Thanks

 

[kikireeki]

Well any vga card with 256 MB of RAM should be able to do the same as the PS3 or even better, But if you have problems with the quality you might want to try a different movie player or settings or update your VGA's driver.

 

[jaguarskx]

Current generation AMD and nVidia video cards have not been reviewed for video playback quality to the best of my knowledge. However, based on a review of prior generation video cards (Radeon HD 5xxx, and GeForce GT2xx), AMD cards have produced better results based on the following review:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/htpc-graphics-cards.html

Generally, speaking do not choose the lowest Radeon HD video card in a series since they lack some video algorithms that slightly better cards have. I believe that the current Radeon HD 6xxx includes some additional circuitry for better HD video quality than the previous HD 5xxx series.

Having stated the above, your best bet is probably the Radeon HD 6570 which is the next card up from the HD 6450. Of course if you don't want to spend ~$75 for a video card, then just get the HD 6450 for ~$45.

 

[phoenix85]

thanks for the replies

at the moment im using:
Radeon HD 4600 card
i5 cpu 2.67ghz
4gb ram
windows 7 32bit

so a Radeon HD 6570 sounds like a step up i cant put my finger on it but even just in the menus the ps3 looks clearer, sharper. im using all hdmi to hdmi on both ps3 and pc, with a 46" 1080p samsung.

 

[phoenix85]

so is it worth upgrading my Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2 to a Radeon HD 6570? will there be a big difference?

 

[17seconds]

It looks like a GTS 450 is a little better than the HD6600 or HD6500:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/42636-amd-radeon-hd-6670-1gb-hd-6570-512mb-review-11.html

 

[jaguarskx]

^^^

That shows CPU usage, not video video quality.

Click the link I provided to understand what is meant by "Movie Picture Quality".

 

[jaguarskx]

so is it worth upgrading my Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2 to a Radeon HD 6570? will there be a big difference?

The problem with video quality is that you won't know until you actually see it to determine if the video quality of a HD 6570 is better than the HD 4650.

It may end up looking the same to you. After a certain point, video quality is more based on perception and the opinion of the viewer.

 

[phoenix85]

thanks for the replies, i'm a bit confused on which to get now, i'm leaning more towards the radeon rather than the nvidia but im not sure :S lol

 

[jaguarskx]

ATI cards scored higher in video quality tests than nVidia cards.

Ultimately the choice is yours to make.

 

[17seconds]

All your questions solved:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/radeon-hd6670-hd6570-hd6450_4.html#sect2

 

[bystander]

Here is a review done by THG: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hqv-2-radeon-geforce,2844-10.html

That's the conclusion page, but you can see it seems the 5750 is the sweet spot for top quality video playback.

 

[phoenix85]

i guess the Radeon HD 6850 is the winner, seems like a decent price too.

 

[bystander]

Looking at Matto17secs review, the 500 series has improved, and does good in normal DVD playback, but still not as good at blu-ray.

 

[phoenix85]

i just watched a video on youtube of a crysis benchmark the HD 6850 did really well, i won't be playing games but i figure if it can do that than blu-rays and HD content will do well, i'm hoping.
At the moment i'm using a HD 4650 that was installed in the pc when i bought it, i was impressed with it (i'm lame lol) so i'm guessing a HD 4650 vs HD 6850 would kinda of be like a smart car vs a tank

 

[phoenix85]

am i looking for any card that says HD 6850 or is there a particular make i should look for? Thanks

 

[benski]

My guess is it's a software issue and the 6850 won't do a thing for you.

 

[jaguarskx]

am i looking for any card that says HD 6850 or is there a particular make i should look for? Thanks

The HD 6670 is selling for around $75, while a HD 6850 is selling for around $145.

Overall the HD 6670 scored 126, while the HD 6850 scored 129; a difference of 3. That represents a 2.38% difference in scores. Since you do not play games, then if you really think that difference is worth paying around $70 more, then that's your call.

 

[phoenix85]

The HD 6670 is selling for around $75, while a HD 6850 is selling for around $145.

Overall the HD 6670 scored 126, while the HD 6850 scored 129; a difference of 3. That represents a 2.38% difference in scores. Since you do not play games, then if you really think that difference is worth paying around $70 more, then that's your call.

well i want to play a PS2 emulator, my HD 4650 was horrible (tbh i didn't have it setup well) wouldn't mind maybe playing to some other pc game too.

 

[phoenix85]

What power supply will a hd 6850 need guys? Over 550w?

 

[17seconds]

Definitely not more than 550w. Guru3d says all you need is 450 watts.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/10

 

[phoenix85]

Definitely not more than 550w. Guru3d says all you need is 450 watts.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/10

great thanks! means i dont need to upgrade.

 

[phoenix85]

Definitely not more than 550w. Guru3d says all you need is 450 watts.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/10

i also thought ive got 2 harddrives installed and a blu-ray drive, is that still enough power supply?

 

[17seconds]

i also thought ive got 2 harddrives installed and a blu-ray drive, is that still enough power supply?

According to guru3d, 450w is recommended for their highly overclocked and stressed system. Yours will be fine with 550 watts.

 

[phoenix85]

awesome thanks for your help