Kodi Community Forum
Nvidia Graphics Card - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: General Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=111)
+---- Forum: Linux (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=52)
+---- Thread: Nvidia Graphics Card (/showthread.php?tid=32747)



Nvidia Graphics Card - Msan - 2008-04-21

I've been reading the various threads here trying to figure out which video card I should buy. Seems the more I read the more I get confused.

Right now I have a onboard Nvidia 6150 and it seems to be running most of my stuff ok, but it is stuggeling with some of the high bitrate 1080p files.
I was also getting a lot of out of sync audio until I turned on tripple buffering.

I am thinking of getting a new Nvidia card as that seems to be the best supported under linux so far, but I'm still not sure on which model.

I also don't want to buy a new one again in a year or so because what I bought wasnt powerful enough.

Right now I'm thinking about a Asus EN8600GT SILENT/HTDP/512M

Is this going to be enough and futureproof? Any other suggestions?


- Razor_109 - 2008-04-21

the 8600GT will be more than suffient for HD Video Playback i guess.. but be carefull since it runs passive you will need a decent Airflow. I read many times a 8600GT Silent runs VERY hot when there is not enough Airflow. Ofcourse thats logical.

The 8500GT is somewhat 'slower' and runs cooler.. but will be more that suffient for HD Video playback i gues.. (BLKMGK owns a 8500GT silent and is very positive about it)

It all depends on wheter or not you are planning to play games on your HTPC, when you are i'd suggest to get a 8600GT.. When you're not pick a 8500GT it runs cooler, is smaller and cheaper. (The MSI version has HDMI out and is lowprofile)


- Mntz - 2008-04-21

Does an 8500GT make much difference compared to a 6150?
I always thought the CPU was more important since gpu decoding of h264 is minimal at the moment in linux/xbmc. Or are there any functions an 8x00GT has that a 6150 hasn't and can be used by xbmc?


- dizzey - 2008-04-21

One limiting factor of the on board 6150 is that it uses on board ram which might starve the memory bus for high bit rate clips. Some believe this is the reason that the 6150 gives poor performance. if this is the case any open gl 2.0 card with dedicated ram should outperform it.


- Msan - 2008-04-22

No, I don't think I'll ever play games on that machine, but I could see adding a blueray drive and watching blueray disks with it.


- Razor_109 - 2008-04-22

the 8500GT supports Pure Video HD, although its not yet supported under linux..


- BLKMGK - 2008-04-22

Would a CPU bump help more? If you bump the clock speed does the video drop less? I obviously really like the card I've got but if the issue is dropped frames and you're running an AMD CPU I think I'd look for more horsepower there first. Has a truly good baseline for AMD CPUs been figured out yet? The card apparently does help but without enough CPU power I dropped frames too....


- Msan - 2008-04-22

I'll have to check on the CPU.. btw, does more onboard videoram help any? ie. I see boards with 256/512/1GB of ram onboard.. is anything above 256 a waste?


- rodalpho - 2008-04-22

From what I've been told, the videocard does matter a tiny bit but is totally eclipsed by the CPU. If your CPU is marginal for HD (running a C2D <2Ghz, say) upgrading the videocard may help.