Yet Another HTPC-advice Thread!

[asaldharan]

Could anyone suggest me a good Graphics Card for INTEL LGA775 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD? With HDMI out is preferable. I am thinking to upgrade with HDD and GPU to use it for time being.

 

[sam9s]

as I said GT630 is a good start as far as Movie watching goes and Bitstreaming,(no gaming no GPU-intensive tasks) if gaming is of concern GTX750Ti is a decent start for low end gaming (meaning all current gen games will work@1080p but low to med settings) plus will also give you H.265 support ...... If H.265 is not needed, but gaming is still imp (@1080p but low settings) along with bitstreaming support GTX660 is VFM ATM.

 

[asaldharan]

as I said GT630 is a good start as far as Movie watching goes and Bitstreaming,(no gaming no GPU-intensive tasks) if gaming is of concern GTX750Ti is a decent start for low end gaming (meaning all current gen games will work@1080p but low to med settings) plus will also give you H.265 support ...... If H.265 is not needed, but gaming is still imp (@1080p but low settings) along with bitstreaming support GTX660 is VFM ATM.

Would this one be compatible with my Motherboard? It seems that the one I am having is an very older. Just more about specs... 2 GB DDR2 RAM, Intel pentium D core, Windows 7

 

[sam9s]

share your motherboard model number

 

[asaldharan]

share your motherboard model number

I could only see this has been mentioned on the board "INTEL LGA775 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD".

Where i have to check that?

 

[regeHA]

I could only see this has been mentioned on the board "INTEL LGA775 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD".

Where i have to check that?

A couple of things to consider...

1. Its probably limited to PCIe 1.0 so that will limit a lot of modern GPUs. Even if some are supported performance will take a hit because of limitation to PCIe x 1.
2. Resolution may be limited to 720P. Even with newer GPUs and even if they are supported.

So check carefully before you buy in these 2 areas.

 

[sam9s]

LGA 775 had PCIe 2.0, with x16 slots so most GPUs will work. However we still need to have exact model number, coz some manufacturers might deliberately limit the functionality ....

No GPU/mobo is limited to 720p, even way before 1080p FULL HD standards were started being followed. The standard resolution was 2560x1600 for GPUs dated as back as 2006/2007.

@asaldharan download this tiny app called CPU-Z ... install it on the PC run it and click the mainboard tab and share the screen shot, eample below for my laptop ...

 

[regeHA]

No GPU/mobo is limited to 720p, even way before 1080p FULL HD standards were started being followed. The standard resolution was 2560x1600 for GPUs dated as back as 2006/2007.

Must be my ancient h/w then... or a bottleneck somewhere. Cannot cross 1366x768.

 

[asaldharan]

LGA 775 had PCIe 2.0, with x16 slots so most GPUs will work. However we still need to have exact model number, coz some manufacturers might deliberately limit the functionality ....

No GPU/mobo is limited to 720p, even way before 1080p FULL HD standards were started being followed. The standard resolution was 2560x1600 for GPUs dated as back as 2006/2007.

@asaldharan download this tiny app called CPU-Z ... install it on the PC run it and click the mainboard tab and share the screen shot, eample below for my laptop ...


Attached the screenshot

 

[sam9s]

Must be my ancient h/w then... or a bottleneck somewhere. Cannot cross 1366x768.

^^ Thats display resolution which is limited to 1366x768, not GPU .... and in all probability this is a laptop display we are talking about...

 

[sam9s]

LGA 775 had PCIe 2.0, with x16 slots so most GPUs will work. However we still need to have exact model number, coz some manufacturers might deliberately limit the functionality ....

No GPU/mobo is limited to 720p, even way before 1080p FULL HD standards were started being followed. The standard resolution was 2560x1600 for GPUs dated as back as 2006/2007.

@asaldharan download this tiny app called CPU-Z ... install it on the PC run it and click the mainboard tab and share the screen shot, eample below for my laptop ...


Attached the screenshot

Yep this is what was needed, you mobo is intel d945gccr with Intel 945GC Express Chipset, which has PCIe v1.1, but not to worry, all PCIE 2.0 cards are backward compatible and hardly loose any performance, <5-10% in worst case scenario. You can go as high as GTX750 (anything less will easily do) with this mobo, would not recommend anything above that ........ but if gaming is not your concern, or 2D games is all you will play then GT630 is perfect.

 

[asaldharan]

Yep this is what was needed, you mobo is intel d945gccr with Intel 945GC Express Chipset, which has PCIe v1.1, but not to worry, all PCIE 2.0 cards are backward compatible and hardly loose any performance, <5-10% in worst case scenario. You can go as high as GTX750 (anything less will easily do) with this mobo, would not recommend anything above that ........ but if gaming is not your concern, or 2D games is all you will play then GT630 is perfect.

One more question. My system is running with 2GB DDR2 RAM and I see the Graphics card GTX750 and GT630 has DDR5 and DDR3 memory. Do I have to worry about this?

 

[sam9s]

^^ Nope ...

 

[regeHA]

^^ Thats display resolution which is limited to 1366x768, not GPU .... and in all probability this is a laptop display we are talking about...

A PC, but pretty ancient. From 2005 or 2003, don't even remember.

But it still works, all Intel h/w i.e. CPU and Mobo. I don't even remember the correct models... maybe Celeron or C2D. Not with me, its back home, but I've asked a friend to install something like Speccy and look at the config.

Honestly, its not really in use, I've even newer PCs that are lying unused. Being a gamer, PCs get outdated very fast.

I'm sure the Mobo too is limited... maybe only PCI and not even PCIx or PCIx 1.0 (used only for LAN card and sound card), maybe IDE or SATA 1. Even the graphics card was Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), a top of the line MSI back in the day.

Regarding the resolution it was a CRT monitor, 14 or 15 inch Philips with a button that would "brighten" the screen i..e make it more rich/appealing. Not even sure what its called, but I remember watching Swordfish on it and getting blown away with the clarity... those were the days.

I don't remember the resolution or even the input types. Probably limited to VGA. But I did try a more modern GPU (PCIx) to improve specs and resolution and could never get it to go beyond 1366x768. I was mainly interested in getting HDMI to either TV or AVR, but the limited resolution meant it was a no go for anything other than DVDs or SD content.

Anyways I don't have any plans to use it, and more importantly to get back on topic that's been my experience in using "newer" GPUs with older h/w. The resolution was a limitation... at least in my case.

 

[sam9s]

Bro ... if it was a CRT, then again it was the display that is limited not the GPU or Mobo, I dont want to sound too critical always with my posts, but GPU even the AGP ones, had a max resolution that easily surpassed 1080p , I have not googled seriously, but I believe the native resolution of AGP cards coming around 2002 were 2048 x 1536, and this is on VGA I am talking about ..
We even had monitors CRTs supporting that resolution, but were rare and expensive ...
Coming to 1366x768 resolution that you are talking about is also wrong for that CRT, since CRTs were all 4:3 aspect ratio and 1366x768 resolution is 16:9 ....

 

[regeHA]

Bro ... if it was a CRT, then again it was the display that is limited not the GPU or Mobo, I dont want to sound too critical always with my posts, but GPU even the AGP ones, had a max resolution that easily surpassed 1080p , I have not googled seriously, but I believe the native resolution of AGP cards coming around 2002 were 2048 x 1536, and this is on VGA I am talking about ..
We even had monitors CRTs supporting that resolution, but were rare and expensive ...
Coming to 1366x768 resolution that you are talking about is also wrong for that CRT, since CRTs were all 4:3 aspect ratio and 1366x768 resolution is 16:9 ....

No worries about being critical.

I should have been more clear. The resolution was when connected to TV.

The monitor, Philips, was 1280 x 1024. That worked fine.

Anyways I've not used it in a long time... time for me to stop derailing the HTPC thread.

 

[TheSeeker]

now i have gotten RAM & CPU too. kingston hyperx fury 8GB and intel G3250, both new. i today saw 2 offers for PSUs:



- Corsair CX600, sealed (RMAed piece), with 1.5 yrs of warranty left - 4k



- Corsair TX750 v2, with 2 yrs of warranty left - 5.5k



which one would you gentlemen recommend? esp. considering power-requirements for any future-upgrades.

thanks!



P.S. - components which i have now:

- an SSD

- CPU, RAM, mobo



next will buy new case, probably from corsair carbide series.

 

[sam9s]

Which GPU are you going for finally .?

Infact post your final full config ....

 

[TheSeeker]

sorry, forgot to mention the GPU. its the same, Zotac GTX 750ti. so the config would be:



Giga GA-H97M-D3H

Intel G3250 (and an aftermkt CPU cooler from CM if recommended)

Kingston HyperX Fury 1866MHz 8GB

Kingston 120GB SSD

WD/Seagate 1 or 2TB HDD (not yet bought)

Zotac GTX 750ti

Corsair Carbide cabinet (model not yet decided)



may buy a sound card above Xonar DX in future.



so PSU should be? Corsair CX600 or TX750 v2? guess the latter.

 

[sam9s]

Corsair CX600 will do easily ...