[mythtv-users] recommendation for video card needed

[Tim Draper]

 ---- On Mon, 11 Dec 2017 16:48:24 +0000 Jerry <mythtv at hambone.e4ward.com> wrote ---- 
 > On Mon, Dec 11, 2017 at 8:06 AM, Jim Abernathy <jfabernathy at outlook.com> wrote:
 > I have a Core 2 Duo system that is not doing anything right now and I
 >  would like to make a mythtv frontend with it.  However, the Intel GFX on
 >  that box doesn't produce good video playback with mythfrontend.  High
 >  motion scenes mess up a lot.
 >  
 >  I figure there has to be a Nvidia GFX card out there the is cheap and
 >  works well with Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS and Mythtv.  Is there a consensus
 >  of what to get to solve this problem? I know there are a lot of gamer
 >  cards out there, but video playback is much simpler and less GPU intensive.
 >  
 >  Thoughts?
 > 
 > Hi Jim,
 > I was using an nVidia GTX 260 in my Core 2 Quad system until very recently when I upgraded to a newer computer.  It played x264 content very well.
 > I don't think you can buy such an old card anymore (nearly 9 years old!) but I'm sure you can find at least a 7xx card that would do the job even more nicely.  I did not play around with the interlacing settings, and I suspect my 260 would not have all the bells and whistles of a newer card, but for my purposes it was fine.  I have a 760 GTX in my backend/frontend machine now and it's pretty much overkill for my needs.
 > 
 > I always stick with nVidia cards as they have great support with Linux.  I would still be using that card and system but I don't have a need for it right now.  I run Fedora and use the rpmFusion drivers (akmod - the driver automatically compiles against a new kernel.  Sometimes, not often, I have to hold back a kernel while the newest akmod driver catches up but this only happens for a few days and then it works.  I think if I remember that you run Ubuntu.  That's not as bleeding edge and you won't run into those kinds of issues).
 > I usually get a x60 card but it's for my main system, and that card gets migrated to my backend/frontend.  I was looking for the VDPAU feature list for each card and I can't find it!  sorry!  It was on Wikipedia.  The newer the card, the more features it has, obviously.  I did see that the 9xx cards (except for 970 and 980) support x265 decoding onboard.  That might be a nice feature for future proofing, but x265 is pretty new and not seen everywhere yet.  x264 decoding is pretty widely supported with probably any card you will find.  I was able to watch x265 recordings with my system, but that was all software decoded and wasn't based on my card.  I don't know if a Core 2 Duo can handle it.  Get a sample video and see for yourself.
 > Anyway, the short of it is that you will be able to watch mostly everything with just about any half-decent card you'll find.  Look for VDPAU support for the chipset you are looking at, find a value you like and pull the trigger.
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 > 
i've used entry level nvidia (and ATI) cards without issue. looks like the nvidia 710/720 is the current ones to go for and well worth getting a passive version.
i tried c2d era onboard intel and it wasnt upto much more than SD streams.  partly down to weak intel/linux support on that specific platform, partly down to grunt.
i do use a 2 year old celeron NUC with onboard intel gfx and does 1080 h264 without issue so i'd say if you were buying now, anything will handle broadcast tv. 2k/4k content will be where you'd need to research a bit more if thats something of interest.
also run rpi3's as non-primary FE's, definately handle any 720p but cant think if i've ever tested 1080p.