[mythtv-users] Low powered nvidia GPU

Andre Newman mythtv-list at dinkum.org.uk
Thu Jan 3 21:04:03 UTC 2013


On 3 Jan 2013, at 20:52, Bert Haskins wrote:

> On 01/03/2013 02:58 PM, Nick Rout wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Jan 3, 2013 at 9:27 PM, GZ <gzornetzer.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Fred Watt <fredwattmythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Thank you both for your thoughts, all progressive.  What I am looking for is
>> > a low powered kepler card.  When the slave is recording without anyone
>> > viewing the frontend it would lovely if the gpu idled as low as was
>> > possible.  Likewise when myth frontend is in use, a low draw would help with
>> > the efficiency of the slave.
>> 
>> Just to add a bit of background on the Nvidia GT 600-series cards -
>> note that even though they are designated  6xx, they are not all
>> Keplers..
>> 
>> The 610 is a rebadged GT 520 (Fermi architecture).  It will actually
>> be the card with the lowest power draw, but has some drawbacks.  Using
>> VDPAU, it cannot deinterlace 1080i using the advanced 2x profile,
>> which gives the quality.  It is generally agreed that you must step
>> down to a lesser deinterlacer.
>> 
>> The 620 is a rebadged GT 430 (Fermi). This card has higher power
>> consumption but can generally deinterlace 1080i using advanced 2x.
>> Some people in the USA (60 fps) have reported problems, but this
>> shouldn't be an issue for the UK (50 fps).
>> 
>> The 630 is a rebadged GT 440 (Fermi).  This card is a 430 with a
>> higher clock rate and faster memory.  Its power draw is similar to the
>> 620, and should work fine in a frontend.
>> 
>> The GT 640 is the lowest end card that's actually a Kepler.  You're
>> going to pay a bit more money for this card.  A review at tomshardware
>> (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gt-640-review,3214-10.html)
>> shows this card uses 20W less power than the 440 under load, but only
>> a 1W difference at idle.  You'll get better gaming performance, but
>> you won't really notice it if you're just using the system for video
>> playback. If having the latest card is important to you, feel free to
>> get it, but it will likely not result in significant power savings on
>> your frontend.
>> 
>> The GTX 650 is an interesting choice.  It's the same as the GT 640,
>> but the GPU is clocked slightly faster and uses faster GDDR5 memory.
>> It has better gaming performance (but you won't notice this unless
>> your frontend performs double duty).  However, according to the tests
>> at tomshardware
>> (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297.html)
>> it idles 8W lower than the GT 640, but is the same under load.  In the
>> US, these are running about $20-$30 more than the 640.
>> How much is the reduced power consumption with Kepler worth to you?
>> Or do you prefer Kepler to future-proof your rig?
>> I hope this is helpful.
>> 
>> No matter whether it is helpful to the OP, it is a great summary and will be helpful to many! Cheers. 
> So what is the best choice ( with a little gaming capability ) if you really, really don't want a fan?
> I have yet to see a graphics card fan that has lasted more than about six months and yet the ones 
> in my laptops seem to last a long time.
> No fan seems to equal low capability.

I bought a fanless GT640:

http://www.lambda-tek.com/GT640-DCSL-2GD3-ASUS-GT640-GRAPHICS-PLUS-2GB-GDDR3-DX11-HDMI-VGA-DVI-SUPER-ALLOY-POWER~cs/B1410439

It's been running for about a month, totally glitch free 1080i 2xAdvanced de-interlacing as it has buckets of headroom, runs quite cool to the touch. I'm mostly running with 1080i50 but a few 1080i60 files and some high bitrate playback from professional recordings run fine too.

It's a bit big, the heatpipes only just clear the mains inlet socket in the case I have but overall I find it a massive improvement over my glitchy and regularly overheating GT430.

Haven't tried any gaming yet or 3D either.

Andre


>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> 
>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> 
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list