Grafic card for HW HD Decoding Advice Needed

[tahirali]

Hi,

I would like to buy a graphics card for Hardware MPEG-2,HD Decoding. I am currently using the onboard ATI x300 on my Intel 101GGC board and am happpy with it. But I watch HD channels on my DVB card and they jurk a bit. So I would like to buy a new card for HW HD decoding.

Please tell me which is the cheapest card for HD decoding.

Can NVidia 6200 decode HD in hardware?

Please help me.

 

[Caimbeul]

Not too sure, the nvidia website doesnt mention HD in its shpeil about the 6 series GPUs. However, the entry level 7 series such as the 7300 should do just fine according to this on the NV website + its a cheap card see:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111197/rb/26152284062 @ Just under £40.00 Sterling - I notice you ae in India so dont know what pricing over there is like.

Here is NV's offial blurb

NVIDIA® GeForce® 7300 graphics processing units (GPUs) allow you to experience the latest gaming effects without compromising performance. Boasting the 3D graphics features of today’s most advanced GPUs—including full support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and true high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting—GeForce 7300 GPUs also bring stunning, high definition video and superb picture clarity with minimal CPU usage with NVIDIA® PureVideo™ technology. For the performance and features you need to play the latest games and enjoy home-theater quality video, make sure your PC is equipped with a GeForce 7300 GPU.

 

[cleeve]

Any Radon X1x00 series card or Geforce 7x00 series card will decode MPEG2 I believe.

 

[tahirali]

Thank you guys for your reply.

I think the mpeg-2 decoding is supported in cards since

NVidia GeForce 4 Ti
and
ATI 9500

but the HD/AVC/h264 is now implemented in the 7x00 Nvidia and 1x00 Ati according to your post.

thanks

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

If it's just for DVB, it's better to get another tuner card with good onboard decoding IMO.

But if you want performance in other areas, like BluRay and HD-DVD playback, then personally I'd say you should wait for the next gen cards as the onboard video processors are slightly better than the current ones, including support for things like VC1 decompression in hardware. H.264 is the hardest to process, but both do a pretty good job with that.

Things to consider is that some features, like high end 1080P HD features are reserved for higher end card than the entry level.
Also for the nV series the speed of the core has the most influence on the abilities of the card to decode, since they all have the same amount of dedicated hardware for the decoding, so look for a faster core than more pipes.

IMO if all you want is to watch DVB get a new DVB card, but if it's or other HD content then the suggestions sofar are good, but you may find some limits in their abilities in the future, but that's likely the case with anything. Getting a GF7300 or X1300 will give you the basics, and for fairly cheap, but if you can wait until next month or so, then the low end next gen cards should be out and offer some more features for HD content.