For my case I need a card where the heat sink is on the right side of the card, when look from the tab end.
The MSI appears to have the heat sink on the left side and the Gigabyte has it on the right side. Can anyone with one of these cards confirm this?
Are there any other cards I should consider?
This is for an HTPC and I'm not a serious gamer.
Which passive 8600GT?
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I have the MSI card. Indeed, the main heat sink is on the "back" of the card. On the whole, I think this is a good thing: it allows the second PCI slot on the motherboard to be used, and exposes the heat sink to the airflow around the CPU (although it might conflict with some CPU coolers, I suppose).
Note that this card does require some airflow. During installation, I had it sitting open in a more or less static environment and watched the GPU temperature climb above 85C (the card never glitched or failed, but the numbers were freaking me out). In a closed case with some minimal ducting to the CPU fan, it tops out at 67 degrees. Just don't stick it in a cramped case with no access to a fan anywhere.
Note that there's a misfeature: the MSI site claims that the card has an HDMI connector that will mix an S/PDIF input, enabling HDMI audio output. No such connection exists, it's just a dual DVI card like any other. You have to run a separate audio cable to your TV for an HTPC application.
Note that this card does require some airflow. During installation, I had it sitting open in a more or less static environment and watched the GPU temperature climb above 85C (the card never glitched or failed, but the numbers were freaking me out). In a closed case with some minimal ducting to the CPU fan, it tops out at 67 degrees. Just don't stick it in a cramped case with no access to a fan anywhere.
Then why bother? Video playback works just great with the on-chipset graphics solutions.This is for an HTPC and I'm not a serious gamer.
Note that there's a misfeature: the MSI site claims that the card has an HDMI connector that will mix an S/PDIF input, enabling HDMI audio output. No such connection exists, it's just a dual DVI card like any other. You have to run a separate audio cable to your TV for an HTPC application.
For my case the airflow goes in front of the card.BugFix wrote:I have the MSI card. Indeed, the main heat sink is on the "back" of the card. On the whole, I think this is a good thing: it allows the second PCI slot on the motherboard to be used, and exposes the heat sink to the airflow around the CPU (although it might conflict with some CPU coolers, I suppose).
It depends how much of a purist you are.BugFix wrote: Then why bother? Video playback works just great with the on-chipset graphics solutions.
Video will look better (colors, deinterlacing etc) through a dedicated graphics card than the on-board ones. In fact, for HTPC I would go for a mobo withough graphics on board and get a proper graphics card.
Also, if you really want the best image - you want the best de-interlacing, upscaling, error correction, etc etc, and you want the best graphics card you can afford (and cool!) for doing that.