Which HDCP Graphics card? Advice appreciated!

[boggie]

Hi All,

I need your advice to help me choose the correct graphics card. I am running a high def cinema based around a powerful Windows XP media center PC. It has an internal Pioneer BD-Rom with which I want to play Blu-ray discs out to the projector. I don't use the PC for gaming so it does not need to be high end as I am not bothered about cutting edge rendering etc. No fan or very quiet fan would be nice as I have spent a lot of time (and money) making the PC as silent as possible.

I built the PC inside a rather nice black Silverstone LC16M case but this causes a problem. The centrally mounted BD-ROM is directly in line with the PCIE graphics card slot. This only gives me a MAX card length of 190mm / 7.5 inches which is not a lot. Full length cards will not fit.

The card needs to have a dual head output as the PC is controlled by a touch screen LCD with VGA connector. Ideally it should have an HDMI connector for the projector but if not it must include a convertor as my loom is HDMI. It MUST be HDCP compliant, have at least 512MB onboard and be able to smoothly play back Blu-ray discs at up to 1080P.

Any help will be very gratefully received!
Many thanks, Boggie

[Kairav]

8800 Ultra GTX

[boggie]

Originally Posted by Kairav

8800 Ultra GTX

Thanks Kairav but this is MUCH too long to fit in the case.

[kpkelley]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125083

This one is fanless as well.

[iNCREDiPiNOY]

You should run the HD Advisor to scan through your PC system. That way, they'll tell you if your BD is Ready or not by looking at the checklist and info with direct link.

[Siberian29]

Look into the ATI Radeon HD 2600's and up. The 2400 works for blu if you are really on a budget but doesn't meet the 512 requirement. I recommend the 2600 XT or PRO for the best bang for your buck.

[Kairav]

8600 series is HDCP comp and I installed one for my brother last last week. It should fit in your CPU case.

[un4gvn94538]

i run 8500 without an issue

[iNCREDiPiNOY]

Can you help me upgrade my PC system. I have Sony VAIO PCV-520 Desktop and I know this model was discontinued.

HD Advisor Scan for Blu-Ray.JPG
HD Advisor Scan for HD-DVD.JPG

I have another Graphic Card and its VisionTek X1300 512MB with AGP Slot.

[Obiit]

I concur with Siberian29 the ATI HD 2600XT is good value, runs blu fine and as the ATI 3000 series has come out should be dropping in price to

[Siberian29]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

i run 8500 without an issue

Is the 8500 you have HDCP capable? Or do you use AnyDVD HD?

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by iNCREDiPiNOY

I have another Graphic Card and its VisionTek X1300 512MB with AGP Slot.

if your still running agp then you might be in a jam only here is a list of "HDCP Compliant cards"

"ATI Boards, HDCP Compliant
ASUS EAX1950XT/HTVDP/256M (X1950XT, 256MB)
ASUS EAX1950XTX/HTVDP/512M (X1950XTX, 512MB)
ATI 100-435846 (X1950, 512MB)
ATI 100-437807 (X1950PRO, 256MB)
Connect3D 3071 (X1900GT, 256MB)
GeCube HV195PG3-D3 (X1950PRO, 256MB)
HIS H165XTQT256GDDN-R (X1650XT, 256MB)
HIS H165XTQT512GDDAN-R (X1650XT, 512MB)
HIS H195PRF256DDN-R (X1950PRO, 256MB)
HIS H195PRF256DVN-R (X1950PRO, 256MB)
HIS H195PRF512DDN-R (X1950PRO, 512MB)
HIS H195PRQT256DDN-R (X1950PRO, 256MB)
HIS H195PRQT512DDN-R (X1950PRO, 512MB)
HIS H195XT256DVN-R (X1950XT, 256MB)
HIS H195XTQT256DVN-R (X1950XT, 256MB)
PowerColor X1600PRO HDMI (X1600PRO, 256MB)
PowerColor 1900XT512 (X1900XT, 512MB)
Sapphire 100166L (X1650XT, 256MB)
Sapphire 100176L (X1950PRO, 256MB)
Sapphire 100186L (X1950XT, 256MB)
Sapphire 100187L (X1600PRO, 256MB)
Sapphire 100189L (X1900PRO, 256MB)
VisionTek VX1600PRO256HD (X1600PRO, 256MB)


NVidia Boards, HDCP Compliant
Albatron 7900GS HDCP (7900GS, 256MB)
Albatron 7950GT-256 HDCP (7900GT, 256MB)
Albatron 7950GT-512 HDCP (7900GT, 512MB)
ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/640M (8800GTS, 640MB)
ASUS EN8800GTX/HTDP/768M (8800GTX, 768MB)
BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSE (8800GTS, 640MB)
BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXE (8800GTX, 768MB)
BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXWC25E (8800GTX, 768MB)
Biostar VP8803GX73 (8800GTX, 768MB)
eVGA 256-P2-N636-AR (7950GT, 256MB)
eVGA 512-P2-N637-AR (7950GT, 512MB)
eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR (8800GTS, 640MB)
eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR (8800GTX, 768MB)
Foxconn FV-N79GM2D2 (7950GT, 256MB)
Foxconn FV-N88SMBD2-ODOC (8800GTS, 640MB)
Foxconn FV-N88XMAD2-OD (8800GTX, 768MB)
Gigabyte GV-NX88S640H-RH (8800GTS, 640MB)
Gigabyte GV-NX88X768H-RH (8800GTX, 768MB)
Leadtek PX7950GT TDH (7950GT, 256MB)
Leadtek PX7950GS TDH (7950GS, 256MB)
Leadtek PX8800GTS TDH (8800GTS, 640MB)
Leadtek PX8800GTX TDH (8800GTX, 768MB)
MSI NX7600GT-VT2D256E (7600GT, 256MB)
MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E (8800GTX, 768MB)
OCZ OCZ8800GTX (8800GTX, 768MB)
PNY VCG88GTSXPB (8800GTS, 640MB)
XFX PVT71JYHD9 (7950GT, 512MB)
XFX PVT71JYHE9 (7950GT, 512MB)
XFX PVT71JYHF9 (7950GT, 512MB)
XFX PVT71JYPE7 (7950GT, 512MB)
XFX PVT80FSHD9 (8800GTX, 768MB)
XFX PVT80FSHF9 (8800GTX, 768MB)
XFX PVT80GTHD9 (8800GTS, 640MB)
XFX PVT71UZDF9 (7950GX2, 1GB)"

you may find others that will run it fine id try this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1149206843568 ... be careful tho cause if you dont have a big enough power supply you wont even get a chance to find out.

[boggie]

Excellent, thanks guys!
So far I have it down to two cards (the only two that will fit):

Sapphire HD 2600 PRO 512MB
ATI HD 2600 PRO 512 MB DDR2

Both ostensibly the same card, based on the same engine however I have been trawling review sites all evening and find surprising results. The Saffire gets lower ratings that the ATI version. Any ideas why or is it simply subjectivity?

Any other HDCP short cards worth considering? I get the feeling these are modest cards and don't mind throwing money to get quality.

Cheers, Boggie

[Obiit]

If your after the Sapphire and are needing AGP then watch out - Sapphires web site says passive cooling but the one i received had a REALLY noisy fan plus the drivers for the card are only available on the provided CD (and i noticed recently that ATI had put PCI-E next to the drivers on their web site). Actually the Sapphire HD2600XT PCE-E that i have has a really noisy fan as well so the pro may have too?

[Seastrand]

I recently installed a 8600GT which is working perfectly and it cost ~$100.

[boggie]

Finally fixed the problem! Well found a way around it. I tried "@NyD^D-HD" (latest trial version) and now my Blu-ray discs play perfectly. Image looks a little soft but I recently moved the screen mount forward an inch or so which means I need to refocus the projector.

It is annoying that all my components (including the X1600 - I got this confirmed by support yesterday) are listed as HDCP compliant but my legit blu-ray discs will not play and I have to use @NyD^D-HD to remove HDCP requirement on the fly. I will try a new graphics card when I get the time to see if that fixes it (not convinced it will) but at least for the time being I can watch my discs without the need to spend time and yet more money.

Thanks for all your input!
Boggie

[BDR]

I have samsung monitor 2032MW with 1680x1050 resolution and HDCP and it is connected with DVI-D cable with XFX 8600GT gddr3 256 not HDCP and the advisor said that I'm ready for blu ray, and I'm watching blu ray without any problem

[Lord_Phan]

Originally Posted by BDR

I have samsung monitor 2032MW with 1680x1050 resolution and HDCP and it is connected with DVI-D cable with XFX 8600GT gddr3 256 not HDCP and the advisor said that I'm ready for blu ray, and I'm watching blu ray without any problem

Well you're incapable of seeing it in 1080p anyway, best you can see is 720p on that monitor. mayhaps that is why?

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by Siberian29

Is the 8500 you have HDCP capable? Or do you use AnyDVD HD?

hdcp comliant and i use the powerdvd bd edition that came with my new sony bdu-x10s. havent had any issues. im running intel core 2 quad q6600 @2.4ghz 3gb ram vista 32

i also like the fact that this card (as well as other nvidia cards) has purevideo hd that does a lot of the video processing in the card instead of the cpu

[BDR]

Originally Posted by Lord_Phan

Well you're incapable of seeing it in 1080p anyway, best you can see is 720p on that monitor. mayhaps that is why?

with upscaling I can see 1080p with some jerky... but is ok i'm not so fanatic