TV Card Recommendation for SLI rig

[zohott]

Hi,
I want to add a TV (maybe PVR) card to my gaming rig to show on my second monitor while gaming or surfing the net (will also let me ditch cable). Does anyone have a good recommendation for a card that will fit an 780i MB with 260's in SLI? The X1 PCI slot is blocked by the SLI setup, I'd need a slim card, that is heat resistant (that area of my computer is at about 45C at idle, 55C during gaming) and is compatible with Vista 64. Thanks for the recommendations.
Zo

[Wicked Klown]

TV cards are for recording not for viewing, even with a TV card you would still need cable.

[EarthDog]

OTA broadcasts (inc. HD) doesnt need cable, just an antenna.

Also, I have an Asus model that will be for sale as soon as this site updates my email and I have access to the Classifieds. it is about 2 months old...I think I paid $80 for it... let me see....Asus MyCinema PE9400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815293002)

[doublejack]

That Asus card will work good. So would a Hauppauge 1250 http://hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1250.html

Those tuners don't generate much heat, so they can tolerate a hot environment. I've crammed a 1250 into very tiny microATX case with little ventilation, and it has survived thus far.

[EarthDog]

Oh and for the record. I watched a ton of TV (via cable) through this card. They are not "just for recording".

[Wicked Klown]

Oh and for the record. I watched a ton of TV (via cable) through this card. They are not "just for recording".


The way he made it sound he wanted to output from the tv card, which is something it will not do to a computer monitor.

[EarthDog]

I see how one could be mislead...Lets let the OP clarify. :)

[Wicked Klown]

I see how one could be mislead...Lets let the OP clarify. :)


Yea would've been nice if he would've given more details.

[zohott]

Hey,
Thanks for the ideas. Yes, I want to get rid of my Uverse PVR, I've built a DIY antenna and get most of the local HD channels here in the bay area easily. Thats what I want to record. I found a good listing online for all the other shows that I currently watch. Is the Hauupage and ASUS dual tuner, cause I'm thinking I will probably have 2 antennas to cover all the channels?

[zohott]

Thanks for the Hauupage and ASUS recommendation but I can't use them. My X1 slot is covered by the top video card, I only have PCI slots available for the TV card. Are there any good PCI cards to use?

[Neuromancer]

The hauppage 1600 is the PCI version of the 1800 I beleive.

Unless you need a low profile solution

[EarthDog]

How is the 1x slot covered by the GPU? Isnt it above the card?

[Wicked Klown]

How is the 1x slot covered by the GPU? Isnt it above the card?


Good point kind of shocked no one said that before. The pics I seen of the ABit IP35 no matter what version had the slot above the first video card slot.

[EarthDog]

Crap...its a 780i and it does rest below the first PCIe slot...

[Wicked Klown]

Crap...its a 780i and it does rest below the first PCIe slot...


Damn I over looked the gaming rig in his sig and went to the HTPC specs. Little confused now, why not set up the HTPC with a card and use that instead of the gaming rig.

[zohott]

HTPC is downstairs in the family room and has satellite for TV, the gaming rig is up in the man-cave. The Hauupage 1600 looks good, plenty of features, does it have any issues with Vista 64?

[Neuromancer]

quick google reveals some problems w/ v64 and over 4gb of memory

Lots of talk about fixes, did not see if it was pinned down though. Check out thegreenbutton and see what card the recommend for a monster rig.

If the HTPC is weaker, you might just get a 1600/1800 for that and watch through an extender or something.

[zohott]

Thanks for the help. Best laid plans ... got to me, an Orc (my grandson) poured his sippy cup over his father's computer so it looks like I'm donating my HTPC to my son (before he goes into WarHammer withdrawl). Just what is needed for an extender? I have all my movies ripped to drives, a wired and wireless network setup and have some extra computer parts laying around, can one be made? (Off to google I go...)

[Neuromancer]

With media center, a media center extender, either an Xbox or certain TVs and such


If you use other software, they also have extenders. beyondTV/MythTV etc all will let you watch hte stream remotely.

Also not sure if they still do it, but ATI used to let you stream the video feed to other PCs on your network as well (although it did not seem to be hugely popular, so either it was difficult to implement or just so rarely needed that I have not seen it mentioned in a longtime)

[zohott]

What do you think of this idea: Put hard drives in wired/wireless storage box and connect it to a WDTV HDMI media player then to TV. I could still update my collection and play movies, pictures and music. The only draw back I see is another remote to use/learn. I could do this for less than the cost of the Linksys or HP media extenders.

[Neuromancer]

I have always wanted a NAS but seemed to just build a new PC for not much more money Lol

[zohott]

Well, the NAS didn't work like I expected, my WD WorldBook, WD TV media player and it (Promise NAS) didnt talk well so it's all going back to Fry's. TigerDirect had a good combo deal so I picked up a xfx MG-63MI with HDMI out and a E2200 so I'm back in the HTPC building business. On to my orginal plan. Ordered the Hauupage 1600 and will see if it fits with the SLI cards. Now any recommendations for a small case? I'm using an old Dell Dimension but it's butt ugly and only temporary till I can find something black and shiny.

[Neuromancer]

Lascala LC20 has PLENTY of room for sli/CF setups.

If you have a modular PSU that would be great for cable management, but you would need to make sure it was a smaller size modualr (modualrs are longer because of hte connections, and it could cause problems with the HDD cage.

Options would be either making sure you get a 2x3HDD cage LC-20, or like me (a 1x6) and just remove the cage completely and build a nice 4 HDD cage out of pipestrap and mount them parallel to the front of the case.

It is definitly the best HTPC I have used yet. (I have only used a few though)

You can always convert a shelf or two of your AV rack into a HTPC case.

I started too but got a LC-20 for a such a great deal it was not worth it anymore...

[zohott]

Thanks,
No SLI in the HTPC, just in the gaming rig. I'm just looking for a small case for the xfx board, if the IGP can't cut HD movies then I may have to upgrade to a 8600 or so, so the case should be big enough for that type card. The Lascala is plenty big, you could shove 5 HDD's in that thing.

[Neuromancer]

7100 IGP should be fine for video playback. If you are using a CPU based decoder for better post processing support, then as long as you have a good one, the GPU really will not matter that much IMHO (I am sure there are tests that show otherwise, but since my GeForceMXII plays upscaled video at 1440x900 resolution, I do not see why a 7100 could not as well.

If you are going 1080p (BD/HDDVD playback or MKV L4.1/L5.1) then you may want to upgrade the card and definitly use HW acceleration.


For discrete cards,
Any Radeon 2k/3k/4k series would be great, the 4k series supports HDMI 1.3x format which may or may not include deep color if you have a 10/12bit panel/projector. (Most are 8 bit and many will spin the numbers and say 24bit, they are still 8bit panels)

nVidia cards I do not know as much about, although I believe the newest nVidia cards have better audio support, but if you have a decent audio setup you are probably going to want a discrete sound card anyway.


If you have not purchased the mobo yet, the ATI boards with HD3200/HD3300 onboard are great, do not know if they offer HD3300 in intel variants yet.

[Brandontw]

OTA broadcasts (inc. HD) doesnt need cable, just an antenna.

Also, I have an Asus model that will be for sale as soon as this site updates my email and I have access to the Classifieds. it is about 2 months old...I think I paid $80 for it... let me see....Asus MyCinema PE9400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815293002)

=1 recommendation for the asus card, I'm using this one as well. Works great, it has two tuners, and come with an extremely decent remote.

[zohott]

Already ordered the MB, will OC the 2200 to 3.2 or so (hopefully). I don't have any BD so I'll worry about playing those later and haven't burned my HD titles to HDD yet. Fry's has a sale going on so I may pick up a 4K Radeon and put it on the shelf. Onboard audio is OK, the MB has optical out for my receiver. It'll do for movies until I make better speakers. I've a dedicated tube amp system for music.

[zohott]

Thanks for the recommendation of the Hauupage card, the 1600 fits (barely) and works great, AT&T gone so more beer money!!! Got the parts in for the HTPC, xFx 630i/7100 MB, 4GB Patriot Ram, LG HD/BR in a Maestro case. Just downloaded Win7 and its dual booting with XP. Will test tonight after work, but reading up, it should work well with my Sony Bravia. I have to fix a start up issue with this board and HDMI on Win7, hopefully new drivers will fix it.

[zohott]

My Bad, the case is a Minuet