HTPC GPU help

[madmcgee]

Hey guys I have an old EVGA 680i SLI Mobo (122-CK-NF68-AR) that I'm using in my HTPC build and would like to get a 650 ti to replace my 9500 GT. I would like to use my Gigabyte 9500 GT as a PhysX card but am not sure if it would bottleneck the 650 ti. I tried to google it but maybe i'm not typing the right keywords or phrase but I can't find any info on it. If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks You Toms community.

 

[djangoringo]

A 9500 is too weak for physX card, it has only 32 cuda cores, if i'm not mistaken, the minimum recommended is a card with 96 or more cuda cores.
So it will bottleneck the 650 ti, also see what psu you have for that build, it needs to be a decent one of ~400w with pcie 6 pin connector.
Also if for htpc the 650 ti is overkill, and physX won't have any utility outside of some few games.

 

[madmcgee]

A 9500 is too weak for physX card, it has only 32 cuda cores, if i'm not mistaken, the minimum recommended is a card with 96 or more cuda cores.
So it will bottleneck the 650 ti, also see what psu you have for that build, it needs to be a decent one of ~400w with pcie 6 pin connector.
Also if for htpc the 650 ti is overkill, and physX won't have any utility outside of some few games.

I have a Silverstone ST75ZF 750w (I had in my old rig with the 680i mobo) that i'm reusing. I thought 32 cuda cores was min for physx but I could be wrong.

 

[nukemaster]

I have a feeling the 9500GT will slow you down. The 650 ti IS overkill for HTPC. So much so that I have one too(Wanted to be able to do some mid end gaming and for its low power use when watching videos)

If you are using Windows Media Center, I advise you to use the latest BETA drives as the current release driver seems to have the card spend lots of time at full clock speed and not reduced when watching video in Media Center.

See.
Image too big so click away. Top 3 current release driver bottom 3 are the new beta over about 1 hour of Media Center. It will still bump up from time to time(not shown in the chart, but I have been logging it. I don't want my media center to waste power when not gaming), but no longer stays at full speed most of the time with the beta driver.
http://imageshack.us/a/img211/3241/nvidiamediacenter.png

Yeah you will have NO power problems with that thing.

 

[djangoringo]

I said recommended, but the 9500gt supports phsyX and can be a physX card, it's just too weak for that and will hurt the performance of the 650ti.

 

[madmcgee]

I have a feeling the 9500GT will slow you down. The 650 ti IS overkill for HTPC. So much so that I have one too(Wanted to be able to do some mid end gaming and for its low power use when watching videos)

If you are using Windows Media Center, I advise you to use the latest BETA drives as the current release driver seems to have the card spend lots of time at full clock speed and not reduced when watching video in Media Center.

See.
Image too big so click away. Top 3 current release driver bottom 3 are the new beta over about 1 hour of Media Center. It will still bump up from time to time(not shown in the chart, but I have been logging it. I don't want my media center to waste power when not gaming), but no longer stays at full speed most of the time with the beta driver.
http://imageshack.us/a/img211/3241/nvidiamediacenter.png

Yeah you will have NO power problems with that thing.

Cool, thanks for the reply. Guess I'll put the 9500 gt in storage. Was hoping i get some more use outta the old thing. Thanks for the tip about the beta driver didn't even know there was an issue about the full clock speed thing. I just wanted to play games like GTA IV and Bioshock 1 & 2 higher than 24 fps even on low settings. Could be the E6600 cpu choking the system

 

[madmcgee]

I said recommended, but the 9500gt supports phsyX and can be a physX card, it's just too weak for that and will hurt the performance of the 650ti.

Yeah I think your right. Gonna retire the 9500 gt and let the 650 ti shine on its own. thanks for the reply

 

[nukemaster]

Cool, thanks for the reply. Guess I'll put the 9500 gt in storage. Was hoping i get some more use outta the old thing. Thanks for the tip about the beta driver didn't even know there was an issue about the full clock speed thing. I just wanted to play games like GTA IV and Bioshock 1 & 2 higher than 24 fps even on low settings. Could be the E6600 cpu choking the system

GTA4 is VERY hard on the CPU. Bioshock 1 and 2 should be ok, Almost sure I played them on less.

 

[madmcgee]

Best answer selected by madmcgee.