[clipper99]

Currently I'm rocking 720p for my display and XBMC resolution with zero problems whatsoever.

Getting a new Plasma display and want to do 1080p and was initially thinking that a new vid card would be nice as my old one does not have an HDMI output on it an the new TV does not have DVI input.

If the Radeon HD 5450 will handle high bitrate 1080p then surely my 3 year old 8800 GT won't have a problem with DXVA2 decoding based on the following specs I found on the interweb. Actually the HD450 looks like it would be a big step down in GPU performance and I do like to play the occasional game on the old big screen!

I'm thinking now that a simple DVI-->HDMI adaptor is in order.

Thoughts?

cheers!

Radeon HD 5450 specs:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=3

Nvidia 8800 GT specs:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=7

[numb7rs]

DVI -> HDMI sounds good to me, they're not expensive.

[pastabagel]

I think the geforce 8800 is only a VP1 (purevideo HD v.1) card. By contrast, the gt 520:

"The fifth generation of PureVideo HD, introduced with the Geforce GT 520, has significantly improved performance when decoding H.264" (source: wikipedia)

The adaptor will cost you close to $10, shipping included. You might as well get a new $55 nvidia gt520 card.

You just dropped a lot of money on a new plasma, why cut corners now?

[clipper99]

I think the geforce 8800 is only a VP1 (purevideo HD v.1) card. By contrast, the gt 520:

"The fifth generation of PureVideo HD, introduced with the Geforce GT 520, has significantly improved performance when decoding H.264" (source: wikipedia)

The adaptor will cost you close to $10, shipping included. You might as well get a new $55 nvidia gt520 card.

You just dropped a lot of money on a new plasma, why cut corners now?

I just checked the specs on the gt520 vs. my existing card and I honestly had no idea that my trusty old 8800GT could still rub weenies with the new kids on the block! The numbers on the 8800GT really shine next to these cheap cards. I just kinda figured the new cards could at least be equal to my old when it came to gaming performance but I guess not.

Not sure how or if that "improved perfomance" of the Purevideo spec would translate to image quality in my videos but I get pretty low CPU usage as it is right now when I decode the occasional 1080p vid.

Who knows though? Maybe I won't be abe to pump a 1080p signal through the HDMI--DVI adaptor but I won't know that until I hook it all up.

More later and thanks for the suggestions!

cheers

[>>X<<]

I think the geforce 8800 is only a VP1 (purevideo HD v.1) card.

The older 8800 Ultra, GTX, GTS were VP 1 the 8800GT were VP2

Who knows though? Maybe I won't be abe to pump a 1080p signal through the HDMI--DVI adaptor but I won't know that until I hook it all up.

The only reason it wouldn't work is if it was faulty

[pastabagel]

One thing to keep in mind is that not all 1080p is the same. Once you are watching 1080p, what determines the quality is the bitrate. Bitrate can vary from 1-5 Mbps to the full Blu-ray disc bitrate of 40-50 Mbps.

If you watching 1080p off of youtube or a 1080p movie that is only 5GB in size, then yes, a low-end 8800 will have no problem. But if you are ripping blu-ray discs and watching those off a hard drive or network drive, you are definitely going to need something more powerful.

[>>X<<]

Any VP2 card should be capable of decoding full bluray using DXVA

[poofyhairguy]

A GT210 can play every 2D 1080p file out there. You don't need a ton of power for 1080p.

[Beer40oz]

A GT210 can play every 2D 1080p file out there. You don't need a ton of power for 1080p.

+1

[clipper99]

Well, got everything all setup this afternoon and I'm happier than a pig in filth. Just played a 19300 bitrate MKV and the system barely broke a sweat...climbed to 7% processor usage during a particularly busy battle sequence...I'm lovin' it.

The beauty part is I only had to spring for the DVI-->HDMI changer changer...well that and the plasma display!

Now I still have all my pixel pumping power of the 8800GT when the urge crosses my mind for some big-screen Dirt 3 or Grand Prix 2011.

Cheers