7800 video card as an HTPC...?

My idea is to make one final upgrade to my Athlon64 3000+ 1 GB RAM AGP
system. I'll install a new 7800 GS video card on my aging rig. In
about a year or so, when the 7800 GS becomes obsolete, I can still
"retire" this system to work as an HTPC. Or at least, that's my
justification for spending $300 on an aging AGP system on its way down
the drain. So I'm curious about using the Nvidia 7800 series as an
HTPC.

I'm also interested in knowing how well the 7800 card would perform in
outputting an upscaled video to the TV screen. In the past, I've used
a ATI 9800 Pro to attempt upscaling a 720x480 DVD movie into higher
resolutions with all the bells and whistles (noise reduction, etc).
The framerates slowed to a craaaawl. I've always suspected that this
was largely a CPU bottleneck issue, not a video card issue. Would the
7800 GS video card improve performance in this area at all? And how
well would that video card be able to record TV programs in HDTV
format?

There are also three flavors of the 7800 GS available: the vanilla 7800
GS, the 7800 OC, and the 7800 OC Superclock. Obviously, the Superclock
would yield the best game performance of the three. But would the
extra heat and supersized fan be a problem later on?

wrote in message
ups.com...
My idea is to make one final upgrade to my Athlon64 3000+ 1 GB RAM AGP
system. I'll install a new 7800 GS video card on my aging rig. In
about a year or so, when the 7800 GS becomes obsolete, I can still
"retire" this system to work as an HTPC. Or at least, that's my
justification for spending $300 on an aging AGP system on its way down
the drain. So I'm curious about using the Nvidia 7800 series as an
HTPC.

I'm also interested in knowing how well the 7800 card would perform in
outputting an upscaled video to the TV screen. In the past, I've used
a ATI 9800 Pro to attempt upscaling a 720x480 DVD movie into higher
resolutions with all the bells and whistles (noise reduction, etc).
The framerates slowed to a craaaawl. I've always suspected that this
was largely a CPU bottleneck issue, not a video card issue. Would the
7800 GS video card improve performance in this area at all? And how
well would that video card be able to record TV programs in HDTV
format?

There are also three flavors of the 7800 GS available: the vanilla 7800
GS, the 7800 OC, and the 7800 OC Superclock. Obviously, the Superclock
would yield the best game performance of the three. But would the
extra heat and supersized fan be a problem later on?

Video cards normally will not be able to capture any video signals.
Probably 99% of cards sold today only have video-out capability. You have
to specifically look for cards that have video-in capability. They're
usually labelled as VIVO (video-in/video-out).

That said, you *may* be better off getting a dedicated (PCI) HDTV-capable TV
tuner card instead of a video card.

Links to HDTV-capable PCI tuner cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815100140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815100134
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815255001

Most of the video cards I could find that had HDTV VIVO were PCI Express,
though I did find one AGP card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241010

Hope that helped a bit.

RF.

I thought all 7800gts were VIVO. No sure what is used for videoin.
Composite ??

Anyways i use my 6600Gt in a HTPC machine and i can play HD 720p and
1080i on my TV. Its conected via component ]


Also play HD Tv and can record HD Tv via the HD Tv card in my HTPC :0


If it says VIVO on the box is that not Video In Video Out ?

Oh well most people know better than me in most things. Any more
questiosn il try to help.

Bye.


On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:18:43 -0500, "RaceFace"
wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...
My idea is to make one final upgrade to my Athlon64 3000+ 1 GB RAM AGP
system. I'll install a new 7800 GS video card on my aging rig. In
about a year or so, when the 7800 GS becomes obsolete, I can still
"retire" this system to work as an HTPC. Or at least, that's my
justification for spending $300 on an aging AGP system on its way down
the drain. So I'm curious about using the Nvidia 7800 series as an
HTPC.

I'm also interested in knowing how well the 7800 card would perform in
outputting an upscaled video to the TV screen. In the past, I've used
a ATI 9800 Pro to attempt upscaling a 720x480 DVD movie into higher
resolutions with all the bells and whistles (noise reduction, etc).
The framerates slowed to a craaaawl. I've always suspected that this
was largely a CPU bottleneck issue, not a video card issue. Would the
7800 GS video card improve performance in this area at all? And how
well would that video card be able to record TV programs in HDTV
format?

There are also three flavors of the 7800 GS available: the vanilla 7800
GS, the 7800 OC, and the 7800 OC Superclock. Obviously, the Superclock
would yield the best game performance of the three. But would the
extra heat and supersized fan be a problem later on?

Video cards normally will not be able to capture any video signals.
Probably 99% of cards sold today only have video-out capability. You have
to specifically look for cards that have video-in capability. They're
usually labelled as VIVO (video-in/video-out).

That said, you *may* be better off getting a dedicated (PCI) HDTV-capable TV
tuner card instead of a video card.

Links to HDTV-capable PCI tuner cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815100140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815100134
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815255001

Most of the video cards I could find that had HDTV VIVO were PCI Express,
though I did find one AGP card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241010

Hope that helped a bit.

RF.

"MR Cole" Natt King Cole wrote in message
...




I thought all 7800gts were VIVO. No sure what is used for videoin.
Composite ??

Anyways i use my 6600Gt in a HTPC machine and i can play HD 720p and
1080i on my TV. Its conected via component ]


Also play HD Tv and can record HD Tv via the HD Tv card in my HTPC :0


If it says VIVO on the box is that not Video In Video Out ?

Oh well most people know better than me in most things. Any more
questiosn il try to help.

Bye.

If it says VIVO on the box, you're right. That's video-in, video-out. Not
all 7800 GTs will be VIVO. As well, no 7800GTs are AGP cards, they're all
PCI Express. (Currently anyway, there's rumors of AGP versions coming soon.)
The OP needs an AGP VIVO card. VIVO cards require additional chips and such
on the cards themselves. They don't just slap them onto every one. VIVO
cards are usually a bit more expensive than the non-VIVO counterparts
because of the extra hardware needed.

RF.

RaceFace wrote:


"MR Cole" Natt King Cole wrote in message
...




I thought all 7800gts were VIVO. No sure what is used for videoin.
Composite ??

Anyways i use my 6600Gt in a HTPC machine and i can play HD 720p and
1080i on my TV. Its conected via component ]


Also play HD Tv and can record HD Tv via the HD Tv card in my HTPC :0


If it says VIVO on the box is that not Video In Video Out ?

Oh well most people know better than me in most things. Any more
questiosn il try to help.

Bye.

If it says VIVO on the box, you're right. That's video-in, video-out.
Not
all 7800 GTs will be VIVO. As well, no 7800GTs are AGP cards, they're all
PCI Express. (Currently anyway, there's rumors of AGP versions coming
soon.)
The OP needs an AGP VIVO card. VIVO cards require additional chips and
such
on the cards themselves. They don't just slap them onto every one. VIVO
cards are usually a bit more expensive than the non-VIVO counterparts
because of the extra hardware needed.

VIVO is analog on all these boards. They may have HD out (just about any
video board made today has HD out) but the inputs are composite or s-video.

RF.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

wrote:

My idea is to make one final upgrade to my Athlon64 3000+ 1 GB RAM AGP
system. I'll install a new 7800 GS video card on my aging rig. In
about a year or so, when the 7800 GS becomes obsolete, I can still
"retire" this system to work as an HTPC. Or at least, that's my
justification for spending $300 on an aging AGP system on its way down
the drain. So I'm curious about using the Nvidia 7800 series as an
HTPC.

Gross overkill.

I'm also interested in knowing how well the 7800 card would perform in
outputting an upscaled video to the TV screen. In the past, I've used
a ATI 9800 Pro to attempt upscaling a 720x480 DVD movie into higher
resolutions with all the bells and whistles (noise reduction, etc).
The framerates slowed to a craaaawl.

I presume you have an HDTV and are using DVI or component inputs. Otherwise
upscaling video is pointless--a non-HD tv can't display anything beyond the
standard DVD signal.

What software are you using for "upscaling"? There is software that used
the video board's processor to accelerate the process (assuming that the
board has the necessary hardware) but the 9800 is well equipped in this
regard. That software generally doesn't do noise reduction and the like,
so I would guess that you're using ffdshow or dscaler or the like, and
those do not use the video board's accelerator hardware so they are limited
by the CPU.

I've always suspected that this
was largely a CPU bottleneck issue, not a video card issue. Would the
7800 GS video card improve performance in this area at all? And how
well would that video card be able to record TV programs in HDTV
format?

Video cards don't record anything. You need an HD tuner for recording HDTV.
For the US market the Dvico Fusion boards are well regarded. For other
markets you'd need something designed for your local video standards.

There are also three flavors of the 7800 GS available: the vanilla 7800
GS, the 7800 OC, and the 7800 OC Superclock. Obviously, the Superclock
would yield the best game performance of the three. But would the
extra heat and supersized fan be a problem later on?

Most people want their HTPCs to be as quiet as possible.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)