what to look for in a graphic card for hdtv streaming like hulu, netflix, firstrow sports

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RHOADS6257

RHOADS6257

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Mar 17, 2011
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Building a system AMD FX-6350 and an MSI-970 motherboard with 8 gb ram. what should i be looking for in a graphic crad for streaming tv programs and basic computer use. I have NO interest in gaming. I have heard that graphic card memory is very important. Considering ZOTAC ZT-71115-20L GeForce GT 730 4GB or maybe some could recommend something better.
 
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Integrated graphics didn't work for me. I was trying to build an HTPC just to watch movies and tv - no gaming. I've got a modern mobo and a modern 1080 TV. I hooked the mobo's VGA to the tv's VGA, and connected the sound via 3mm jack. TV worked fine (I have a tuner card in computer), but when I tried to play a movie from the hard drive... it stuttered horribly. Then when I tried to a play a movie from the DVD, a window popped up saying "can't send signal through the VGA."

I could easily have connected the mobo's DVI to the tv's HDMI, but then I'd have no sound, because the 3mm jack...
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You could go the intel route and get a nice i5 or i7 "k" marked processor which has intel's integrated gfx. That would be enough imo and still be cheaper than discrete gfx solutions
 
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That's where you're technically incorrect. If you have no interest in gaming, then video memory means nothing. What video memory does is allow games to load textures into the video RAM so that it's right there for the GPU to use. If you're not using the computer for gaming, you won't be loading textures. No textures == no need for large amounts of video RAM.

If you're using it just for basic computer use, viewing videos, basic computer use, almost -any- modern integrated graphics set would be sufficient, or if you have a CPU that doesn't have integrated graphics, any of the modern low end (ie: Radeon R7-240 or R7-250) would be more than adequate for the task. What you're going to need to look for is connector options more than video RAM. Just make sure that it comes with the connector needed (ie: HDMI, DVI, VGA etc), and look for the best price - currently R7-240's are running about $60 on eBay and it'll easily drive dual monitors
 
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Currently running a Celeron D 3.4 with GT-620, but it doesn't seem to be able to buffer enough info. I'm running thru HDMI into 50" 1080p HDTV. Hardwired download speed is better than 50 mbps. Picture tends to washout at times.
 
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I mean...you can get some r7 240 or whatever...I really doubt it is much better than an integrated gfx solution by intel.
 
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Ouch, youre running a pretty old setup and from what I can find the GT620 is lower than the Intel HD4000. I had an older setup similar to that and even with a Radeon 5400 series it had a difficult time doing the video decoding. Truthfully you have an obsolete setup and would be better served by upgrading. You could get a Intel J1900 based ITX mobo for $100 and it would work far better than what you have now and would only be drawing 1/10th the wattage. Or an AMD E350 ITX for the same price with better graphics and similar power draw.
 
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I am building a new system. AMD fx6350-MSI 970 MB, Samsung 250gb ssd, WD 1tb Blue. Just need to be sure of graphics card. Wondering what to be looking for in a card. I have no interest in gaming. It's for streaming TV from Hulu and Netflix.
 
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Since the FX-6350 does -not- have integrated graphics support (all TDP is allocated to CPU cores), pretty much any PCIe graphics card will suffice. For AMD, any Radeon 6000 series or R7 series or newer will be fine, for nVidia, anything in the 600 series or newer would be adequate.

You're pretty much looking for:

1) PCI-e slot.
2) something that will match within the specs of your PSU (ie, don't have a 400w PSU with a R9-290x)
3) has the display connectors you need (DVI/HDMI for TV connection in your particular case).
4) fits in your price bracket.

Just as a reference, I picked up a Radeon 6770 card off eBay a few weeks ago for $50 shipped. That's even probably way more than you need, but at that price, it was well worth it.
 
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Integrated graphics didn't work for me. I was trying to build an HTPC just to watch movies and tv - no gaming. I've got a modern mobo and a modern 1080 TV. I hooked the mobo's VGA to the tv's VGA, and connected the sound via 3mm jack. TV worked fine (I have a tuner card in computer), but when I tried to play a movie from the hard drive... it stuttered horribly. Then when I tried to a play a movie from the DVD, a window popped up saying "can't send signal through the VGA."

I could easily have connected the mobo's DVI to the tv's HDMI, but then I'd have no sound, because the 3mm jack only works with the VGA setting on the tv, not the HDMI.

So as a test, I installed a video card from my other computer - connecting the card's DVI to the tv's HDMI, and sure enough it worked - sound and picture. As you might know... video cards CAN send sound through the DVI, but integrated graphics on mobo's won't.

So now I'm in the market for another video card. Wish somebody had told me that from the beginning when I specifically asked if I'd need a video card.... if your TV has no DVI input, then you'll probably need a video card to play movies... unless you want to use the TV's HDMI and your own speakers on the side.
 
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I'm curious which mobo you have. I have as ASRock Q1900M, Intel Atom quad core, integrated graphics, vga, dvi, and hdmi out. Tv is hooked to dvi out into hdmi, audio passes through fine, and everything plays smooth, even with a secondary monitor hooked to the vga out. So your problem shouldn't be a lack of graphics power.

The inability though to play discs (blu ray I assume?) through vga into a hd tv probably is more linked to hdcp issues than anything as hdcp requires hdmi/dvi...
 
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I'd have to hook it up to check. : ) And no, it was just a regular movie disc, not blue ray. I called it a "modern" mobo but that might be a stretch since I bought it about 4 years ago in a combo deal with the FX 4100 for $175. It's a Gigabyte mobo and all it has is VGA and DVI outputs, hence my problem.

I didn't consider that newer/better mobo's have HDMI outputs, which I would assume have the sound included.?. If that's the case, then I guess it could work without a video card. Heck, sounds like your mobo even sends sound through the DVI too. Obviously I thought that was something only video cards could do. Mine certainly didn't work.

In any case, perhaps all I needed was a better mobo.?. Seemed to work for you. I'm still buying a new video card - time to replace the old one for gaming anyway. I felt justified in doing so before your post, now I just feel greedy. : )
 
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