I dont game should I get 8400GS, 7300gt, or something else?

They make noise, too.

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comfortablynumb
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I dont game should I get 8400GS, 7300gt, or something else?

Post by comfortablynumb » Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:40 pm

I need a new PCI Express graphics card, I do not game, and I don't have built in Video. I mainly do photo editing, Watch DVD's, and surf the web. I run Windows XPsp2 and I have a Viewsonic 19" widescreen LCD running 1440x900

I would like something passive cooled and on the cheap side and I was looking at the following cards at Newegg.

7300GT link
730GS (10 dollars cheaper then the GT) Link
8400GS Link

Blue_Sky
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Post by Blue_Sky » Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:43 pm

I would have thought it was a no-brainer. The only real difference is DX9 vs. DX10. Sure you may use XP, but the 8400GS should run a tiny bit faster than either 7300. Or you could upgrade your motherboard with the money and get something integrated (will obviously cost you more, but could save you some money if you are thinking of building a new computer any time soon).

jessekopelman
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Post by jessekopelman » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:24 pm

I second the 8400GS. Only $10 more than the 7300GS and the H264 acceleration may come in handy down the road. 7300GT is not even worth considering, as its only advantage over the 7300GS is better 3D acceleration (games). What about a HD2400Pro, though? $5 cheaper than the 8400GS and, I believe, lower idle power consumption. Also, most people claim that the AMD/ATI video output looks nicer than Nvidia.

comfortablynumb
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Post by comfortablynumb » Thu Nov 29, 2007 8:45 am

jessekopelman wrote:I second the 8400GS. Only $10 more than the 7300GS and the H264 acceleration may come in handy down the road. 7300GT is not even worth considering, as its only advantage over the 7300GS is better 3D acceleration (games). What about a HD2400Pro, though? $5 cheaper than the 8400GS and, I believe, lower idle power consumption. Also, most people claim that the AMD/ATI video output looks nicer than Nvidia.
Yea I bought a 2400xp but for some reason Im getting allot of eye strain with it. I tried drivers, brightness settings, anything I can think of to no avail. I go back to my old Geforce 6200 and I'm fine, so I was just going to get a new Nvidia card.

Tommy Jefferson
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Re: I dont game should I get 8400GS, 7300gt, or something el

Post by Tommy Jefferson » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:35 pm

comfortablynumb wrote:7300GT link
730GS (10 dollars cheaper then the GT) Link
8400GS Link
What are the power requirements of those cards?

More power equals more heat which equals more expensive utility bills.

Tommy Jefferson
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Post by Tommy Jefferson » Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:54 am

I'm in a similar situation.
I want the "sweet spot" video card for a Tivo-like box that will run 24/7.
It gets HOT where I live, so I need low electricity consumption.
I don't want to add to the cooling requirements my house already has.

Where is the real sweet spot for A/V performance versus energy consumption?

Image

From: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000662.html

jessekopelman
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Post by jessekopelman » Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:57 pm

Tommy Jefferson wrote:I'm in a similar situation.
I want the "sweet spot" video card for a Tivo-like box that will run 24/7.
For a "Tivo-like" box, your best bet is just using a motherboard with integrated graphics. All recent Intel, NVidia, and AMD integrated solutions are fine for playing video unless it's very heavy duty 1080p stuff.

Tommy Jefferson
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Post by Tommy Jefferson » Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:09 pm

I thought about going that route, but video standards are in a state of transition.

I would like to be able to switch to HDMI, DVI, or whatever in a couple of years when the High Definition formats get settled down.

jessekopelman
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Post by jessekopelman » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:42 am

Tommy Jefferson wrote:I thought about going that route, but video standards are in a state of transition.

I would like to be able to switch to HDMI, DVI, or whatever in a couple of years when the High Definition formats get settled down.
First off, you can get integrated solutions with either HDMI or DVI. Second, DVI and HDMI are compatible -- you can buy inexpensive cables that are DVI at one and and HDMI at another. Third, while new standards will always come along, HDMI isn't going anywhere anytime soon. You will note that many TVs still have component, S-Video, and composite inputs despite all of these being "obsoleted" by HDMI. Unlike PCs, A/V equipment is expected to have a useful life of 10 years and great effort is made for backwards compatibility in input/outputs. Fourth, if your integrated video does become obsolete before the rest of your HTPC (unlikely), you can then disable it and add a PCI-E video card that has the latest and greatest.

sjoukew
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Post by sjoukew » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:37 pm

If you want to run vista with aero, get at least 128mb ram onboard, the minimum requirement.
linux Compiz can also use some video memory.
Video / DVD playback is greatly influenced by the GPU, a little bit of research into that area can prevent you from "disasters".
I do need a register tweak every time I upgrade the driver from my atix1950pro to watch TV with an acceptable image quality. (I have to disable the post processing)

jojo4u
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Post by jojo4u » Tue Jan 15, 2008 3:00 pm

The sweet spot should be a Radeon HD 2600 pro at a 11 W idling. Just search for my posts in the VGA forum.

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