nVidia vs ATI video cards?

[bigsid05]

I'm going to be upgrading the video card in my HTPC from the onboard Intel HD4000 to a gaming-level card. Is there a current consensus (based on drivers) of which type of card, ATI or nVidia, tends to work better for an HTPC? I've used both in the past (nVidia GT430, 8500, ATI 5450, 6450, 6770) and both have had some issues - for example, the ATI cards typically had a slower HDMI handshake and the nVidia cards had some issues with muting properly. The PC is connected to my Onkyo receiver which goes to my TV, if that makes any difference.

[foxwood]

Are you planning to game on the HTPC, or is there a specific problem that you've encountered with the HD4000?

Or is the money just burning a hole in your pocket?

[bigsid05]

I'd like to do some gaming on the HTPC (thanks to Steam Big Screen Mode ) and I'm having issues bitstreaming HD audio with the HD4000. No money burning a hole, going to wait for a good deal on whatever card I get.

[mdavej]

I've always had better luck with nVidia. Many of my ATI (AMD) cards had issues with sleep/wake, HDMI audio, and other problems. nVidia drivers seem much simpler and less prone to bugs. I do use an AMD card on my HTPC at the moment, but I must use a fairly old version of the drivers for everything to work properly.

[bigsid05]

My luck has been better with nVidia as well (slightly). I had to roll back to older drivers for both my AMD and nVidia cards though to get them fully working.

[milli260876]

nVidia FTW I had 2 ATI cards on old pcs and never again !!!

[blushrts]

I'm not a fan of ATI's drivers. I've had too many instances of a setting that I changed not sticking and having to repeatedly change it back.

[cjsacksteder]

I've had the same problems with ATI drivers, yet in a fit of insanity, I attempted to replace my HD 5450 with a 6450 (the former's fan is starting to make noise, and I found a Saphire Radeon HD6450 for very little $$$ and no fan).

And, no 5.1 sound either, just stereo. Six hours later, I have 5.1 sound back with the 5450, and I'm not sure exactly what sequence of driver uninstall/reinstall got me there.

Anyway, what nVidia card would you recommend? Any under $50? Dedicated HTPC with Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe and Onkyo TX-SR805 AVR, no gaming.

[bigsid05]

If not gaming, a fanless GT430 is perfect. I'm going to shoot for a 660Ti.

[leroys1000]

Most low end nvidia cards don't make use of the nvidia pure video codecs.
You might want to check to see the one that you get supports it.
I am also using an AMD HD 5450 as the video playback is better than my 8400GS.
I don't need 5.1 as I am using klipsch promedia 2.1 speakers in stereo.

[bigsid05]

In my experience neither the 5450 nor the 6450 had enough horsepower to deal with live TV and the media center interface at the same time. The guide and menus would be a bit sluggish when overlaid on the video.

[Scallica]

+1 for nVidia. My HTPC originally had an ATI video card. When I played a Blu-ray disk, there were neon green lines on the bottom of the screen! I changed the video card to an nVidia and picture quality was perfect.

I recommend the nVidia GeForce 210 card.

[Mike88]

I do not do any gaming on the HTPC & have an HD 6450. I have nothing to compare it with but it works for me & it took care of stuttering due to the 59/29 bug. Got it on sale with free shipping from Newegg and was $15 after rebate.

[richard1980]

In my experience neither the 5450 nor the 6450 had enough horsepower to deal with live TV and the media center interface at the same time. The guide and menus would be a bit sluggish when overlaid on the video.

Then something was wrong with your system. Additionally, the UI is handled by the CPU, not the GPU (except for the actual display of the overlay, which is obviously handled by the GPU). The 6450 is one of the best HTPC GPUs available IMO, but I don't know about the 5450.

[bigsid05]

Then something was wrong with your system. Additionally, the UI is handled by the CPU, not the GPU (except for the actual display of the overlay, which is obviously handled by the GPU). The 6450 is one of the best HTPC GPUs available IMO, but I don't know about the 5450.

Are you sure about that? The UI worked great on the same system with virtually every other video card I tried (AMD 6770, nvidia gt430, 8500, etc.). This was with an older Q6600 setup so maybe it wasn't optimal.

[mdavej]

My 6450 works perfectly as long as I use older drivers. No sluggishness at all.

[richard1980]

Are you sure about that? The UI worked great on the same system with virtually every other video card I tried (AMD 6770, nvidia gt430, 8500, etc.). This was with an older Q6600 setup so maybe it wasn't optimal.

I am 100% certain that whatever sluggishness you experienced with the 6450 is not due to the 6450 being too weak to display the UI on top of video. There are many possible explanations for the sluggishness you experienced, but the 6450 being too weak to display the UI certainly isn't one of them. I don't know for sure about the 5450, but I suspect the same statements apply to the 5450 as well.

[blushrts]

In my experience with a 6450, if you uncheck the enforce smooth video button you can turn everything into a slideshow.

[LuckyDay]

In my experience neither the 5450 nor the 6450 had enough horsepower to deal with live TV and the media center interface at the same time. The guide and menus would be a bit sluggish when overlaid on the video.

Then something was wrong with your system. Additionally, the UI is handled by the CPU, not the GPU (except for the actual display of the overlay, which is obviously handled by the GPU). The 6450 is one of the best HTPC GPUs available IMO, but I don't know about the 5450.

The 5450 and 6450 are identical cards. And both of them are plenty powerful enough for WMC, that problem is definitely related to something else.

I have used ATI for a few generations now, no issues at all with drivers, performance, or stability.

[blueiedgod]

In my experience neither the 5450 nor the 6450 had enough horsepower to deal with live TV and the media center interface at the same time. The guide and menus would be a bit sluggish when overlaid on the video.

ATI 4200 that is on the AMD 765 northbridge doesn't seem to have that issue.