[fatboycarney]

I am trying to determine which Video card i should go with on my XBMC Live HTPC.

I would like to go with something from NVIDIA to take advantage of VDPAU but not sure if I need the latest and greatest. I would like to go for a balance of performance and ease of config (since i am new to Linux/XBMC)

I have done some searches and see people have some issues with the newer 210/220/240 cards so maybe its safer to go with a 9XXX series.

I want to be able to play 1080p without any issue, I need HDMI, and want HDMI audio

Would love to hear what others are using/doing/recommend

Thanks

[buzz_kill]

i dunno about nvidia, but i got my ati radeon hd 4550 for $39 of newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814102819 and it works great. i have a very modest setup wit a 1.86 c2d 2gb ram and this card on windows7 and everything runs smoothly. here is a video i captured with fraps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niNSPokvGzE so you can tell i have plenty of resources to spare. if you have to go with nvidia then try to find something in the same power range as mine and you wont have a problem.

on the nvidia side it looks like this card would be pretty comprable. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814500143

i have always been a fan of nvidia but out of all the reviews it seems ati had a leg up on the competition, i am definately happy with my purchase

[fatboycarney]

thanks buzz_kill i will check out your vid in a bit

i guess the reason i was looking at nvidia was for VDPAU support. maybe that isnt as important as i thought

[poofyhairguy]

No ATI for XBMC Live! Just Nvidia. ATI + Linux = PAIN

What I recommend: Get either a 9500 GT with an HDMI port that allows you to use your motherboard's SPDIF Out as a HDMI passthrough (using the correct cable), or get a GT210 and use the SVN version and deal with that till the next XBMC Live stable comes.

Today's shell shocker at Newegg is a PERFECT 9500 GT with a HDMI:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814500143

Used one a 9500 GT like that for a while and it worked great. Only real upside to a GT210 is that you get (in the next stable version) divx upscaling and the ability to pass to the receiver 8 channel PCM. If you are sticking to AC3 and DTS tracks (aka mkvs and not Blu Rays) then a 9500 GT like the one like above rocks.

[fatboycarney]

Thanks for confirming what I though i had learned over the last week of reading websites!

Thanks for the great deal (unfortunately newegg.ca doesnt have the same deal - i am Canadian eh!)

So I did some searches on that and other 9500GT and it sounds great but would it make more sense to get a integrated Mobo with 9300/9400 chipset and get multi-channel PCM support?

[poofyhairguy]

I prefer the integrated route personally.

[fatboycarney]

So I have decided i am going the integratd route and would be looking at something with the Geforce 9300/9400

Now my question is ION or something like a 775 mobo (zotac has one) that will allow me to upgrade in the future

I have read lots of technical reasons but wanted to hear what others did and if anyone has experience with both setups

I guess my main purpose for the build is to just run XBMC Live but I may look to add Windows to the box someday