HTPC video card .. low heat

[TalkingTom]

Hello,
I am planning to add a graphic card to my dell optiplex 755 (desktop casing) for HDMI playback of digital video on my LED TV (HD).
Please recommend which card to go with, considering no gaming.

 

[TalkingTom]

Do you think HD 5450 can manage video playback in HD (no 3D)? I like this card for low heat factor but little bit concerned about 64bit channel. Please suggest

http://www.nextag.com/norob/PtitleSeller.jsp?chnl=main&ptitle=941586122&tag=1086090851&ctx=ihjHxFDC9jFf9OmH0y2A2HnSxFE1jjEtJS8%2FpeR1LGQrXpIbnBM1WQqISJxSq6mz8WMgdRx%2Be02RwWpj0%2Fj5pgK8p1Wf52F0G2bZwvbIvJMkC7bmKDJAZaE6uVwTuKjs9rnzNui%2B57GMvxWRbuXez3qFM48DfiTKqojV44Ps5AEsJ0rErXEJraasSAbYMzN6VPTEKMJMWqsDSZGxiiRXGSan2wspgwbKGR6UZEHF9gHKpQdB4kchtaGWNbZ9D4jJ0D6dUrt10DsYK12JXXz5rFa7313VmKnmTndNUCnPJzhc9xikFbsLltiMQ52ZLnPMnL1VH8McpQHknf3AZbA5tQ%3D%3D

 

[DM186]

Yes that will work just fine for what you want to do.

 

[jaguarskx]

Do you think HD 5450 can manage video playback in HD (no 3D)? I like this card for low heat factor but little bit concerned about 64bit channel. Please suggest

http://www.nextag.com/norob/PtitleSeller.jsp?chnl=main&ptitle=941586122&tag=1086090851&ctx=ihjHxFDC9jFf9OmH0y2A2HnSxFE1jjEtJS8%2FpeR1LGQrXpIbnBM1WQqISJxSq6mz8WMgdRx%2Be02RwWpj0%2Fj5pgK8p1Wf52F0G2bZwvbIvJMkC7bmKDJAZaE6uVwTuKjs9rnzNui%2B57GMvxWRbuXez3qFM48DfiTKqojV44Ps5AEsJ0rErXEJraasSAbYMzN6VPTEKMJMWqsDSZGxiiRXGSan2wspgwbKGR6UZEHF9gHKpQdB4kchtaGWNbZ9D4jJ0D6dUrt10DsYK12JXXz5rFa7313VmKnmTndNUCnPJzhc9xikFbsLltiMQ52ZLnPMnL1VH8McpQHknf3AZbA5tQ%3D%3D

$75 is pretty damn expensive for a Radeon HD 5450. Is there a particular reason why you are looking for a video card with two HDMI outputs? That is basically the reason why it is expensive. Most cards only have one HDMI connection.

If you do not need 2 HDMI outputs, then consider getting the following Radeon HD 5450 for $36.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100292DDR3L/dp/B004N3BH0C/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1334094040&sr=1-1

 

[bookwormsy]

How about this? Only 10 bucks after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121476

Or this which is 20 after rebate, but has 1GB DDR3 memory?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121447

I have an HD 5450 for my own HTPC and it works great.

 

[TalkingTom]

Thanks guys, I have purchased the graphic card. Not tested it yet for HD play yet. Turned out although it should fit in to the SSF chasis of Optiplex 755 per specifications (low profile ) it did not. The card has a connector for VGA at the top edge facing upwards. This does not allow you to close the lid on PC. So I guess I will have to change the PC to Slim desktop casing.

The price of HD5450 is much lower locally. It comes to around $45 and it is probably the cheapest ones around with HDMI support.

 

[DM186]

The card should have come with two little brackets and you take off the one that is on the card and put the small one on. Problem is you loose the VGA out put. I would go back to the store.

And ask them to sell you the brackets for GPU. They are half size brackets is what they are called. That is it just do the change on your part and all should work. Good luck to you.

 

[TalkingTom]

Thanks DM,
I got both of those brackets. Actually, I have three of them now.

1- One Full height with two HDMI, one DV and one VGA port
2- One half height with two HDMI and one DV port (drops the VGA as you mentioned)
3- One half height with VGA connector slot

So one can put in a connecting cable and use the bracket 2 and 3 to get all of this working. Problem is with the card design. In Dell SSF casing, there is zero space above low profile card, but the VGA connector pins extend upward (instead of side ways). This card would only fir into that casing only if I cut off the pins and let go of VGA for ever.

I have found my solution by replacing the casing. Just documenting this in case it is helpful for someone else.

Btw, last night I tried running HD (MKV) movie and felt that there was slight jump in the video. It was not totally smooth. My machine configuration is :

Dell Optiplex 745
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2
2 GB DDR 2 800 MHz
Gigabyte Video Card Gv-R545d2-512d Hd5450 512mb Dual Hdmi/Displayport/Vga Low Profile
80 GB WD / Cavier HD (will replace it with hitachi 1-2 TB in few months, hoping the prices improve)
Running Windows 7 64 bit (Enterprise )
Using XBMC to play Media

Any input on fine tuning the system is highly appreciated. Also specific input on the following will be great:
? Moving from Windows 7 64bit to 32bit
? Increasing system Ram
? I am still stuck mentally with 64bit vs, 128 bit memory channel of VGA card, Is this a factor or I just assuming things
? I am very tempted to go Ubuntu .. how is the experience there


Thanks

 

[DM186]

Well glad you will be able to use your card on the fix. I would not go to 32bit system. Everything is going be going to a 64bit and all 32bit programs should run on a 64bit system.

If you go to 32bit you will only be able to have 4 gigs of RAM. With a 64 bit you can use a lot more. Your third question don't worry about it. Your last question I don't speak UBUNTU. What country does that come from?

With your dell system you don't have much room to grow. Now a days you need 4 cores or more. With 2 cores you are limited to how big a GPU you can get without causing bottlenecking.

Plus there is your PSU will come into play on what type of GPU you can run. For now keep to 64bit OS upgrade your ram to 6 or 8 gigs. Go ahead upgrade your HDD to 1 TB or more than 250 gigs.

Then I would start saving money and build you a nice system. This system is a store bought PC and 9 out of 10 are not ment to be a gaming PC. I have gone through 4 store bought PC's.

I would go through one a year. So instead of spending a $1000.00 a year I desided to spend an extra $600.00 and build one. Back at the movie you said jumped I would check your settings in your CCC.

Make sure your PC is dust free on the inside and that you don't have a lot of heat build up. Make sure all your cables are tight and make sure your card is fully seated.

I will link you to a program to monitor your temps and set your fan on the GPU to speed up as temps rise and also watch your FPS. All the links are to monitor your temps from CPU to core and GPU.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/images/Afterburner%20User%20Manual.pdf

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/