Concerning the HD2400/2600s at Newegg

ARCJr · Jul 11, 2007

So, I was glancing through the pictures of the aforementioned cards on Newegg, and I noticed a few things. None of them have the integrated audio into HDMI. Only one had an adapter cable for DVI to HDMI, and none had HDMI-out on the card itself.

I did notice that most (if not all) had an "HDCP" sticker on the back, though. For this I have a question; can HDCP be utilized without HDMI? I thought not, but if it can be utilized with DVI, then I'm a happy camper as my HDTV supports DVI.

nd4spdbh2 · Jul 11, 2007

ARCJr said:
So, I was glancing through the pictures of the aforementioned cards on Newegg, and I noticed a few things. None of them have the integrated audio into HDMI. Only one had an adapter cable for DVI to HDMI, and none had HDMI-out on the card itself.

I did notice that most (if not all) had an "HDCP" sticker on the back, though. For this I have a question; can HDCP be utilized without HDMI? I thought not, but if it can be utilized with DVI, then I'm a happy camper as my HDTV supports DVI.

DVI and HDMI are essientally the same connector... just HDMI has 2 extra pins (ground and spdif) but i have no clue about HDCP... i have never had problems running content on a non HDCP card.

ARCJr · Jul 11, 2007

The concern for the future is that there are certain flags that can be set on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs (and possibly other HD content) that will either deny you the capability to watch material on your non-HDCP hardware, or limit the resolution you can watch it at.

LandShark · Jul 11, 2007

HDCP works on both DVI & HDMI w/in the same board! so, yes, all those cards' DVI is HDCP'ed. and all those cards support HDMI audio too since it's actual processor is built in the gpu. but I too notice (was looking at them this morning) only one of them has HDMI adapter. that means, for the rest of those cards, you'll need to find your own HDMI adapter since it doesn't come w/ it. I do imagine you might be easily to pick one up when gamer picking up a HD2600XT card and has no need for the adapter tho.

but personally, I'm gonna wait (probably just another week) for more to pop up first!

ARCJr · Jul 11, 2007

Hmmm, have you ever seen an adapter to split off an SPDIF cable from DVI? Now I'm getting some ideas...

ARCJr · Jul 13, 2007

On pricing, it seems to be really jammed up around the $100 mark.
They have a 2600pro w/256MBfor 93, a 2600pro with 512MB for 98, and a 2600xt w 256MB of DDR3 for 107...
They also had a 2400XT for around 75

LandShark · Jul 16, 2007

ok, I've decided to go ahead and give it a try. I've just placed an order of this HD2400XT. reason behind this is, it comes w/ a DVI->HDMI adapter, is passive cooled, and being a 2400, it draw very little power (25w!) thus put out least heat.

I think it will be a prefect candidate for my bedroom HTPC client which is housed in a Shuttle SFF case. therefore, heat & noise will be my main concern being a "bedroom HTPC"!! I'll post a full detail post (much overdue! just waiting for the video card!) of the whole client built process when I get the card.

ARCJr · Jul 17, 2007

Definitely let us know how it goes. Right now I'm leaning towards a 2600Pro.

FYI, I talked to Danger Den, and their Maze4/5 is compatible with the HD2X00 series!

kovboi · Jul 18, 2007

LandShark said:
I'll post a full detail post (much overdue! just waiting for the video card!) of the whole client built process when I get the card.

excellent! looking forward to seeing it. i'm tempted to get a 2400xt, but i could also be swayed by a passive 2600pro if they appear sometime soon.

LandShark · Jul 18, 2007

kovboi said:
excellent! looking forward to seeing it. i'm tempted to get a 2400xt, but i could also be swayed by a passive 2600pro if they appear sometime soon.

well that depends on what you gonna do w/ the video card. I thought 'bout the 2600s too, but according to the mix review (some good, some bad), they should be 'bout the same video quality/performance wise. and I opt for the 2400XT is b/c of it's 25w power draw and since it's for my bedroom htpc client, all I want is good picture quality and good video accelerate performance.

ARCJr · Jul 19, 2007

LS, I have a question about this link you posted in the other thread:
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2007q3/radeon-hd-2400-2600/index.x?pg=11

The 2600s outperformed the 2400XT, in HD but they didn't explain too much. It looks like the added power of the cards enabled additional video postprocessing. That's why I'm sort of leaning towards the 2600pro. It'll be watercooled, as its just taking the spot of the x800 in my HTPC, so passive/active cooling doesn't matter too much to me.

LandShark · Jul 19, 2007

yeah, I know. but that's the only one review I've seen that shows a video performance/quality difference between the 2400 & 2600. that's why I said some good (for the card) review, some bad (for the card) review. but I'm more leaning towards drivers issue instead of processing power.

well, when HD playing software and drives is mature enough, it might be time to upgrade the video card again anyway...

we'll see...

kovboi · Jul 19, 2007

i've mostly been looking at the complaints about the 2400pro's ability to handle HD at avs forum and general praise for the 2600pro, but very little info about the 2400xt. i'm primarily looking for a solid, low power, low noise solution for SD video. eventually i'll be moving to HD, though, so i'd prefer a future-proof option.

kovboi · Jul 21, 2007

found this post at avs forums by "arfster" that provides a pithy summary of the 2x00 cards:

1) XP or Vista, not playing 1080i video: 2400pro is fine for everything
2) XP, playing 1080i video: 2400xt needed (assuming you want better than basic mpeg2 HD deinterlacing)
3) Vista, playing 1080i video: (assuming the CCC deinterlacing selection bug gets fixed) the 2400pro has the power for best quality deinterlacing with h264, but not mpeg2. If you want the latter, or you want to use Aero, or you need to use a VMR9 app, get the 2400xt. If you need to do several of these at once (eg Aero+VMR9+1080i mpeg2), get a 2600.

so a 2400xt should be plenty powerful for most htpc setups. i'm curious how well the heatsink holds up on that sapphire, though. gigabyte has an interesting looking passive design but that model is not available yet.

LandShark · Jul 21, 2007

that sapphire is just a pretty basic alu heatsink, nothing fancy at all. got mine 2 days ago, but didn't have time to install/play w/ it. hopefully will install it tomorrow, sunday.

JamesXP · Jul 22, 2007

If yours doesn't come with the adapter you can buy it from Ati for $7

Concerning the HD2400/2600s at Newegg

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