[lastexit0120]

im building my first htpc and am trying to figure out if i had to choose which would be better between a Radeon X1600 Pro 512mb or ATI RADEON™ X850 XT 256mb
all so any help with other parts would be very helpful im going to try and go high end kind of or just long lifed parts if that makes any since you know parts that i wont have to upgrade in a year

thanx in advance

specs so far are
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe MOTHERBOARD
intel Q6600 quad core CPU

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Hi lastexit0120, welcome to Geeks to Go! I'm just wondering why you are looking at the last-gen graphics cards, is this because of the price? In all seriousness, I would look at an ATI HD2400 or HD2600 card for a home theater PC, these cards are new, support DX10, and have onboard hi-def processing capabilities, which takes the load off the processor. You can even get some with a native HDMI output, depending on the screen to which you are connecting to...

What's your budget for the graphics card?

[Troy]

Hi lastexit0120, welcome to Geeks to Go! I'm just wondering why you are looking at the last-gen graphics cards, is this because of the price? In all seriousness, I would look at an ATI HD2400 or HD2600 card for a home theater PC, these cards are new, support DX10, and have onboard hi-def processing capabilities, which takes the load off the processor. You can even get some with a native HDMI output, depending on the screen to which you are connecting to...

What's your budget for the graphics card?

[Neil Jones]

If you have to choose between the X1600 Pro and the X850 XT, then the X850 XT wins hands down.
In fact on Tom's hardware chart: http://www.tomshardw...card/page6.html the X850 GT is four tiers above the 1600 Pro - therefore its probably worth an upgrade from a 1600 Pro to a X850 XT on its own.

If you're going high-end then ideally you should start looking at an X1800 or higher, maybe the new HD 2xxx range.

[SOORENA]

I don't know about tomshardware any more because they seem to have lots of errors and false data. I would however still recommend the X850 XT over the pro since its a newer gen card than the 1600. Also have you considered NVIDIA by any chance? They have more options and less pricing in some cases.

Soorena

[lastexit0120]

hello all
troy my budget is around $150 to $200 i just have these cards all ready and was trying to invest thye money else where if possible but as i said im new to the building world and i do want to go high end as i said so if these cards arent within reason im going to upgrade
oh and someone else had asked why im not going with NVIDIA ony cause u thought it would be compatible with my motherboard
all so i was wondering what fan and or heatsink you would think of using with a Q6600 and other cards would be recommended with this kind of build
again thanx for all your help guys its a blessing to find people so willing to help
god bless

[SOORENA]

Sorry if I misunderstood anything but are you implying that NVIDIA is not compatible with your board? If yes then how so? Also I would recommend if your going with ATI to get the new HD3850 for that budget because it has DX10.1, HDMI, and many other features.

Soorena

[lastexit0120]

Soorena , troy and everyone thanx for your help ,
i havent tried NVIDIA due to lack of every having the chance ive used ATI so i feel safe but im very open to trying them out what would you recommened
again i have the
asus p5w dh wifi motherboard
intel Q6600 cpu (still need help with cooling BAD)
apart from that im just looking around trying to figure where to go from here
please let me know what you thoughts are with any parts
thanx again everyone

[Troy]

For the Q6600, unless you plan on overclocking, the retail fan should be fine (the one that came with the processor). If you are looking to overclock, or are going to place it in a very warm environment, there are a couple of options to look at that will give you better cooling, although usually they are much bigger and/or expensive:

1) You could try a watercooling kit, very expensive option.
2) You could try an after-market heatsink/fan combo, such as these:

• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118019
• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835186134
• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835109140 <--- This one you need to add a 120mm fan as well...

In all seriousness, if you have those two cards you mentioned already, I would use one of those, they have been discussed already - the X850 XT is the more powerful card. With that said, though, when it comes to a HTPC, you don't really need the most powerful, just something quiet. If you are willing to spend on a graphics card, I would look at something like this.

[SOORENA]

For the Q6600, unless you plan on overclocking, the retail fan should be fine (the one that came with the processor). If you are looking to overclock, or are going to place it in a very warm environment, there are a couple of options to look at that will give you better cooling, although usually they are much bigger and/or expensive:

1) You could try a watercooling kit, very expensive option.
2) You could try an after-market heatsink/fan combo, such as these:

• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118019
• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835186134
• http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835109140 <--- This one you need to add a 120mm fan as well...

In all seriousness, if you have those two cards you mentioned already, I would use one of those, they have been discussed already - the X850 XT is the more powerful card. With that said, though, when it comes to a HTPC, you don't really need the most powerful, just something quiet. If you are willing to spend on a graphics card, I would look at something like this.

I think what he meant is that he already has those parts or did I misunderstand, again, lol. Anyways for the video card go with the HD3850 or if you have the money go with 3870 which I can't find. As for NVIDIA if your gonna get one it should be a 8800 series which is out of your price range.

Soorena

Edited by SOORENA, 29 November 2007 - 08:40 AM.

[Troy]

If you aren't going to be playing 3D games at all, just using it as a HTPC, then the HD38x0 cards are overkill.