Looking for HTPC GPU recommendation

[Aquila76]

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:
Intel i7-860 (1156)

II. Current Graphics Card:
Sapphire Radeon HD4770

III. Display Resolution:
Dual displays: 1920x1200 (NEC LCD2690WUXi) and 1920x1080 (Samsung 46A750 HDTV thru Denon Amp)

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:
Seasonic X750 LINK, about 2 years old
Specs:

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):
Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced LINK
FANS: 2x12cm bottom, 14cm front (intake)
2x14cm top, 1x12cm rear (exhaust)


Purchase Details:

I. Budget?
US$150, preferably NewEgg or Amazon, but open to others.


II. Any particular preferences?
No specific loyalties, but had good luck with Sapphire, ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
No

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
Yes: 5770, 6770, and 7770 (see a pattern yet? )


V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
Primarily a BluRay ripping / playback machine with AnyDVD HD & Total Media Theatre 5. May replay Half-Life, SW:KotOR I & II, Tomb Raider, GRID. Not really looking for massive gaming capability, mostly HTPC.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
No.


Additional Notes
Looking for a card with HDMI, support for DTS-MA & TrueHD, highest HQV settings possible, 60Hz / 24Hz compatibility, and low power. Mostly going to use it for playback of BluRay and DVD rips with TMT5; occasional gaming at 1920x1200.

 

[RavenSEAL]

An HD6850 for about $120 AR sounds good right about now.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

An HD6850 for about $120 AR sounds good right about now.

A 6850 would be perfect for his requirements except he wants a low profile card. While a company named AFOX makes a low profile 6850, try finding one in the US. The best performing low profile card he will be able to find in the States is a 6750.

 

[mosox]

Read here about the [FONT=verdana,geneva]Universal Video Decoder 3.0 (present on AMD HD 6000 and 7000 series)

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6450-review/4

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-6850-6870-review/3

With that case you don't need a low profile card, the bigger the fan on the card, the more silent it is.


[/FONT]

 

[Aquila76]

An HD6850 for about $120 AR sounds good right about now.

The 6850 is a great card, but way overkill for my uses. I'd feel like I had a Cadillac just to drive to the corner store.

A 6850 would be perfect for his requirements except he wants a low profile card. While a company named AFOX makes a low profile 6850, try finding one in the US. The best performing low profile card he will be able to find in the States is a 6750.

I'm in a midtower chassis with plenty of room; a low-profile card isn't needed. I had mentioned low power, maybe that came across as low profile?

Read here about the [FONT=verdana,geneva]Universal Video Decoder 3.0 (present on AMD HD 6000 and 7000 series)

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6450-review/4

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-6850-6870-review/3

With that case you don't need a low profile card, the bigger the fan on the card, the more silent it is.
[/FONT]

UVD3 looks to be the best in terms of overall picture quality/clarity from those reviews. I'll keep an eye out for that. Looks like the custom refresh rates are better supported now, too.

Looks like I'm leaning towards the 7700 series, for now. It's not a great buy today, but things are gonna get real interesting next month with the 7700 hitting greater availability, the 78xx release, and nVidia's 6xx series. I'm not holding my breath for nVidia to be low-powered, though. They've been worst in power consumption for some time. I'm hoping ATi's 78xx and nVidia's 6xx cards drive the price down on the 7770.

Thanks, everybody, for your input!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I'm in a midtower chassis with plenty of room; a low-profile card isn't needed. I had mentioned low power, maybe that came across as low profile?

My mistake. I glanced at your first line for case specs, saw "low profile" and the NA designation didn't register.

While a 6850 would be overkill purely for HTPC purposes, it would come in handy for the occassional gaming at the resolutions you are running at.

 

[Binky]

A 6670 is probably your best bet. They run about $100 for a low-profile version, or $60-$70AR for a normal height version (GDDR3 at the lower prices, avoid). Occasional gaming is pretty good. The fans should be reasonably quiet, but not at all silent. You'll have to read some reviews to get an idea of how quiet they are, if that's an issue.