Choosing a new graphics card

[nikkesopo]

I have an NVIDIA G210 that came with my HP Elite 7000 (i7 Quad Core 2801 MHz; 4G DDR3; 300 Watt motherboard).

My PC is hooked to my Full HD TV via HDMI - meaning my TV is my PC monitor.

My PC has one primary function: we use it to watch high resolution movie files, sometimes so-called REMUX files that are anywhere between 20-40 gigs per film.

The only problem I have experienced is five-second half-screen pixellation when I reverse or forward the movie file, and this does not always occur.

A friend of mine told me that my graphics card was old and worthless, and that I should upgrade it to something decent.

My friend insisted that a better graphics card would wildly enhance the quality of the movie files we watch.

Is this true?

Given that I am unwilling to change my power supply, what is the best graphics card you you recommend given the purpose for which we use the PC?

 

[greghome]

HD7750 would be the most powerful GPU you can go without changing the PSU, but I've got some doubts though.
I've been streaming 1080p Blu-Ray Rips on my HD3200 IGP on my laptop till it's motherboard got fried and I've never experience any problem with it.
They're 20GB MKVs, so I can't relate directly to your problem.

I think the most likely culprit could be a bad GPU though, instead of a weak GPU.
Try your friend's card on it and see what's what first, before getting a new card

 

[nikkesopo]

HD7750 would be the most powerful GPU you can go without changing the PSU, but I've got some doubts though.
I've been streaming 1080p Blu-Ray Rips on my HD3200 IGP on my laptop till it's motherboard got fried and I've never experience any problem with it.
They're 20GB MKVs, so I can't relate directly to your problem.

I think the most likely culprit could be a bad GPU though, instead of a weak GPU.
Try your friend's card on it and see what's what first, before getting a new card

Basically, my friend asked me what graphics card I have and I told him. He asked me whether it gave me any problems and I said 'no', apart from pixellation as I described (5 sec - not too often). I asked him why he was asking and he then told me my graphics card was crap and that watching movies would be better if I upgraded.

That's my situation - I wasn't unhappy and didn't even know that my graphics card was considered such junk. Would an HD7750 improve my movie-watching experience?

Someone else replied on another site and actually told me NOT to trust HD7750 on my system because it used more power than the HD6670, which is the one he recommended.

What do you think?

 

[Hazle]

what programs are you using to watch your movies? have you tried hardware acceleration with DXVA when watching them?

 

[nikkesopo]

I used to use VLC player.

Recently, this very same friend (!) recommended I switch to Power DVD12. Since making the switch I have noticed a decrease in pixellation.

I don't know what DXVA is. Sorry.

 

[nikkesopo]

I just did some research and it would seem the HD7750 draws less power than the HD6670 while running faster and working better. I suppose this is the best option, then?

 

[greghome]

Someone else replied on another site and actually told me NOT to trust HD7750 on my system because it used more power than the HD6670, which is the one he recommended.

What do you think?

I think the person is on Marijuana for non-medical reasons...
Either way, the HD7750 still sucks power only from the PCI-E lane so It wouldn't put much strain on your power supply.
On a side Note, the HD7750 actually consumes less power.

and yea, Try Media Playeer Classic or another spare GPu first before jumping to conclusions.

 

[nikkesopo]

I think the person is on Marijuana for non-medical reasons...
Either way, the HD7750 still sucks power only from the PCI-E lane so It wouldn't put much strain on your power supply.
On a side Note, the HD7750 actually consumes less power.

and yea, Try Media Playeer Classic or another spare GPu first before jumping to conclusions.

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7750/images/power_maximum.gif

Ok. Do you recommend the HD7750 or the Sapphire Ultimate HD7750 - the latter is supposed to be noiseless.

 

[greghome]

Ok. Do you recommend the HD7750 or the Sapphire Ultimate HD7750 - the latter is supposed to be noiseless.

Personally, if it's AMD I'd get Sapphire, but the Ultimate Edition might cost more since it's a "special edition" card with a lot more metal fins to keep it cool.

One advantage of the Ultimate version I see though, is the fact that it runs on passive cooling, which means it has a very great cooler, which means if you put a fan onto it, it will be freezing

In all honesty, get the standard 7750, but make sure the GPU is the issue before dumping your money into it.

 

[nikkesopo]

Personally, if it's AMD I'd get Sapphire, but the Ultimate Edition might cost more since it's a "special edition" card with a lot more metal fins to keep it cool.

One advantage of the Ultimate version I see though, is the fact that it runs on passive cooling, which means it has a very great cooler, which means if you put a fan onto it, it will be freezing

In all honesty, get the standard 7750, but make sure the GPU is the issue before dumping your money into it.

Well, for watching movies on a quad core i7 with 4GB RAM (soon to be upgraded to 8) what else could it be?

 

[greghome]

Well, for watching movies on a quad core i7 with 4GB RAM (soon to be upgraded to 8) what else could it be?

Drivers, video playing software, the video itself.
or just a damaged GPU, of which you might be able to send for warranty.