Best graphics card to play 1080p on a htpc

[BryanTank]

Hi I'm almost done buying and building a htpc and things have moved on somewhat since I started the project. My graphics card budget was £150 but now that seems inadequate. I'm considering nvidia gtx 970, either strix or gigabyte. Should I be looking elsewhere, like at AMD cards?

The PC will be primarily playing film and audio on a HD TV, but also on a monitor, from network, some dvd and bluray processing, recording live tv and playing games on high quality settings, the case does allow a full size gpu, but power is a bit of a factor. As is noise, not so much in game but certainly in film.

Any opinion greatly appreciated. Not a total newbie to this, but so long out of the game the title fits.

PSU - Seasonic 520 Watt fanless
Mother board - asrock z97e-itx/ac
Ram - 16gb gskill
CPU - i5 4590
CPU water cooling cooler master h70
Pioneer bdr209 bluray writer

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I think the GTX 970 is your best option.

 

[CelicaGT]

I think the GTX 970 is your best option.

I think Asus and Gigabyte make a nice little shorty, expressly for HTPC.

 

[sizzling]

As you want to play games at high settings then a 970 is ideal. Look for the ones with smart fan control, they turn the fans off so operate silently when gpu load is low, such as watching films.

 

[BryanTank]

I think the GTX 970 is your best option.

I think Asus and Gigabyte make a nice little shorty, expressly for HTPC.

Yeah, I have seen the short GPU's but as I said I can fit a full size GPU in the HTPC case. Thanks for helping. I just wanted to know I wasn't missing a card as good on the AMD range.

 

[BryanTank]

As you want to play games at high settings then a 970 is ideal. Look for the ones with smart fan control, they turn the fans off so operate silently when gpu load is low, such as watching films.

Like the Strix range. Certainly its a front runner in my current thinking and I had seen else where that the Gigabyte cards had lower noise under load than their competitors. I had to ask for help to the wider community as its a full £100 more than the AMD equivalents I was heading towards 6 months ago. But I think your answer is the one that picked the most valid point about noise when the GPU is not being heavily used. Especially as I already opted for a fanless PSU.

Thanks

 

[sizzling]

The Strix range tend to be expensive but high quality. There may be others with similar fan features at a lower price, not something I have actively researched.