[mythtv-users] whats the best graphics card for HD playback?

[Frank Lynch]

Hi Folks,
I' running myth on an AMD Athalon 3000 XP with an nvidia GeForce MX
4000 card (which only has 64MB of RAM). I can playback most HD streams
with simple xv accelaration enabled (without XvMC), but 1080i streams
stutter.

When I enable XvMC I cannot even playback 720p streams, it stutters
like crazy. My system also uses way more cpu cycles when XvMC is
enabled.  I believe that I have the correct nvidia drivers installed
(7667), I get an nvidia logo when X starts, and my on screen display
is black & white (as it should be) when XvMC is enabled. I've tried
playing with HD ringbuffer sizes, but that didn't make any significant
difference.

At this point my guess is that my cheap MX4000 isn't up to the job, so
I'm thinking about getting a new graphics card. I'm looking to get a
graphics card that will allow me to playback 1080i streams with my
current cpu and motherboard. From what I've read that means that I
need a card with decent XvMC support.

So if cost isn't really a factor, what would be the ultimate graphics
card for HD playback with myth?

cheers,
--Frank