Video Card for HD movies

[Apokalipse]

If you don't plan on gaming then there's no need to spend money on a good 3dcard like 3850.

Get the 8400GS....19 dollars after rebate and full HD decoding.
Newegg.com - Foxconn FV-N84SM2DT GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Is it real-time HD decoding?
And if it is, how much of that's done by the GPU?
My guess is a lot (probably most) of the HD decoding will be done by the CPU.

Or if it is done by the GPU, it's not done in real-time.
The 8400 and 8500 cards are weak compared to the 3850.

And come on, the 3850 isn't that expensive. And it's much better in all aspects.

 

[gurusan]

Yes, it fully utilizes nvidias PureVideo2 engine...which FULLY decodes HD content and relies very little on the CPU.

And if he's not going to be gaming then why spend money on something 10 times the price (3850)?

The other option would be a 2400 pro but that is still almost twice the price of the 8400GS

 

[Apokalipse]

Yes, it fully utilizes nvidias PureVideo2 engine...which FULLY decodes HD content and relies very little on the CPU.

In real-time, at 1080p, and without lag?

And if he's not going to be gaming then why spend money on something 10 times the price (3850)?

The other option would be a 2400 pro but that is still almost twice the price of the 8400GS

For starters, it's a downgrade from a 7800 GT

 

[gurusan]

In real-time, at 1080p, and without lag?

For starters, it's a downgrade from a 7800 GT

Yes, realtime, without lag! The card is specifically designed for HD use, and so far the OP hasn't said anything about gaming so obviously a cheap HD card is the best recommendation at the moment.

The purevideo2 engine is quite good. It's not unusual to see CPU usage between 2-5% during full 1080p playback

 

[Apokalipse]

Yes, realtime, without lag! The card is specifically designed for HD use, and so far the OP hasn't said anything about gaming so obviously a cheap HD card is the best recommendation at the moment.

The purevideo2 engine is quite good. It's not unusual to see CPU usage between 2-5% during full 1080p playback

The 8400 doesn't have HDMI ports
And, He does have a 7800 GT. an 8400 would be a downgrade.

And really, a 3850 is not an expensive card. And it's far better than an 8400 and a 7800 GT.

 

[gurusan]

No, it doesn't have HDMI ports but it has a DVI port and you can easily get a cheap adapter.

And yes he has a 7800GT, but as far as we know he is not interested in gaming so a 8400 would not be a downgrade.

And yes the 3850 is in a completely different league when it comes to 3d rendering, but in HD playback it's basically the same....only about 150 dollars more.

 

[Apokalipse]

No, it doesn't have HDMI ports but it has a DVI port and you can easily get a cheap adapter.

The 3850 comes with them.

And yes he has a 7800GT, but as far as we know he is not interested in gaming so a 8400 would not be a downgrade.

Why would you assume he's not interested in gaming if he has a 7800 GT?

And yes the 3850 is in a completely different league when it comes to 3d rendering, but in HD playback it's basically the same....

Actually, UVD has been tested to use less CPU power; UVD will offload all of VLC decoding in DVD and VC-1, while Purevideo 2 still relies on the CPU.
from wikipedia:

For VC-1 decoding, PureVideo 2 offloads the inverse discrete cosine transform (iDCT) and motion compensation stages, and relies on the host CPU to handle the bitstream processing/entropy stage of the video pipeline

Also, UVD gives better picture quality than Purevideo 2 does.

only about 150 dollars more.

Actually, it's about $130 more. And it's still cheap.

*edit*
Most titles use VC-1 encoding, instead of H.264

 

[gurusan]

Well, like I said before....if he isn't going to be gaming then the 8400GS is the best choice....that's really the only reason.

In any case, CPU usage is not going to be an issue with either cards...and the 65nm 8400GS is just about to launch which supports Purevideo3...which will give better picture quality and also support full realtime VC-1 decoding...and will be priced the same.

 

[Apokalipse]

Well, like I said before....if he isn't going to be gaming then the 8400GS is the best choice....that's really the only reason.

In any case, CPU usage is not going to be an issue with either cards...and the 65nm 8400GS is just about to launch which supports Purevideo3...which will give better picture quality and also support full realtime VC-1 decoding...and will be priced the same.

But it's not out now. And I do think he will most likely want a card that can perform well in 3d rendering, since he does have a 7800 GT.

But if it turns out he's not interested in gaming, then the 8400 GT will be better for the money.

 

[maroon1]

Newegg.com - MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Silent Heatsink Video Card - Retail

This one support HDMI, purevideo 2 and HDCP