hdtv client min. specs

[zhulick]

would MSI K8NGM2-FID with an onboard 6150 gpu, coupled with a gig of ram and a 3200 make a decent hdtv client?

this is for a client only, and i seem to get different opinions on different forums. i see that a lot of people have this board coupled with a 6600 gpu. why? does having two gpu's help? doesn't one auto-shut off in the bios when a 6600 is detected in the pcie slot?

finally, can anyone point me to a cheap/good 6600 pcie card... they seem to vary in price anywhere from $80 for LE to $160 for GTX (i think).

thanks.

[jchiso]

I have four clients running 1.6ish GHz AMD processors, each with 512MB of DDR RAM and Radeon 9000-series AGP adapters. I run my desktops at 720p.

[PGPfan]

Originally Posted by zhulick

would MSI K8NGM2-FID with an onboard 6150 gpu, coupled with a gig of ram and a 3200 make a decent hdtv client?

this is for a client only, and i seem to get different opinions on different forums. i see that a lot of people have this board coupled with a 6600 gpu. why? does having two gpu's help? doesn't one auto-shut off in the bios when a 6600 is detected in the pcie slot?

finally, can anyone point me to a cheap/good 6600 pcie card... they seem to vary in price anywhere from $80 for LE to $160 for GTX (i think).

thanks.

I currently have this MB and a Sempron 3400 CPU. It works great for me with HD (the little that I have, anyway) but I mostly upscale DVD's and SD broadcasts. What display do you use? That will have more of a bearing on whether the 6150 will work for you than other things. I'm using the standard db-15 connector (analog VGA) to feed and Ampro 3300 CRT based projector.

-PGPfan

[zhulick]

i will be running a philips 30" crt hdtv. i didn't realize this before posting, but this tv can only run 480i/p, and then 1080i. supposively the tv upscales all 720p to 1080i, but i'm not really sure yet (tv arrives later this week).

[paulbeers]

For CRT's, I would highly recommend running 1080i. I am having no problem feeding 1080i in overlay with a geforce 6600 and a sempron 2600+ (using component). I am using a silent gigabyte AGP 6600. Check out my client specs.

[blade]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

For CRT's, I would highly recommend running 1080i. I am having no problem feeding 1080i in overlay with a geforce 6600 and a sempron 2600+ (using component). I am using a silent gigabyte AGP 6600. Check out my client specs.

Depends on what you want to do with your HTPC. Personally I run 720p and let my TV scale it to 1080i because I use my HTPC for gaming and a few other things and 1080i is useless for that.

[blade]

Originally Posted by zhulick

this is for a client only, and i seem to get different opinions on different forums. i see that a lot of people have this board coupled with a 6600 gpu.

Simply running SDTV or DVDs scaled to 720p or 1080i isn't nearly as demanding as viewing actual HD recordings. Some people say the 6150 has enough power for it and others don't. The ones running the 6600 in the board are simply using it instead of the onboard graphics.

Do a search of these forums. I think a few people here are running the 6150. See if they're able to view their HD recordings on it or if they're just viewing upscaled SD and DVDs.

[paulbeers]

Ahhh, but depending on your native resolution, you are most likely not getting the other. Do a search online. You will see that CRT's that have a native resolution of 1080i, take 720P signals and downconvert them to 540P. 720P sets (such as LCD and DLP) take 1080i and downcovert them to 540P. Why? Because it is a lot easier than trying to upconvert everything to a usable image. If you are not running the native resolution, then you are probably missing out.

My client box is playing hdtv content at 1080i.

[Joshdoe]

Can you use a dlink Media lounge D520 HDTV MCE as the HD client?

[blade]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

Ahhh, but depending on your native resolution, you are most likely not getting the other. Do a search online. You will see that CRT's that have a native resolution of 1080i, take 720P signals and downconvert them to 540P. 720P sets (such as LCD and DLP) take 1080i and downcovert them to 540P. Why? Because it is a lot easier than trying to upconvert everything to a usable image. If you are not running the native resolution, then you are probably missing out.

My tv has the option to scale the incoming signal to either 540p or 1080i.

I ran my HTPC at 1080i for the first few months before dropping down to 720p. I can't tell much difference when watching recordings, but can tell a huge difference when using the desktop. I'm not saying running at the native resolution isn't better. Just saying that if you intend to use the HTPC for anything other than viewing TV it's not always the best choice for everyone.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Joshdoe

Can you use a dlink Media lounge D520 HDTV MCE as the HD client?

No. Wish it was possible. Maybe in the future.

BobP.

[jhendrix]

Originally Posted by blade

Simply running SDTV or DVDs scaled to 720p or 1080i isn't nearly as demanding as viewing actual HD recordings. Some people say the 6150 has enough power for it and others don't. The ones running the 6600 in the board are simply using it instead of the onboard graphics.

Do a search of these forums. I think a few people here are running the 6150. See if they're able to view their HD recordings on it or if they're just viewing upscaled SD and DVDs.

I have a 6150 and am currently just driving a monitor, but it works great for HDTV as long as I am running it in overlay mode. If I switch to VMR9, it stutters. (It also stutter with SD content in VMR9)