Hd2400 Pci!!!

[pBS]

here's an interesting tidbit for you mini-itx peeps out there, a decent PCI video card! [for once]

yes, that's right, it says PCI...and if you look at the picture, it actually is a pci slot.. and fanless too..
performance/how it handles HD will have to be seen, but since it offloads the whole video stream, it technically should be able to do 1080p [tho i doubt it, as all 2400's have their quirks.]
i know the bus isn't a problem, it's plenty fast enough to pump hd video thru by the math...
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I..._212709175
not bad price either at 64$US

just thought some might be interested..i know i've NEVER seen anything decent for a pci slot...hard enough to get a decent agp card nowdays..lol

[whurlston]

Deinterlacing of MPEG2 HD video is not great on the 2400Pro. You still need a fairly good CPU. As long as it doesn't have to deinterlace, it performs pretty well though.

[topperdude]

Saw a similar PCI card (I think by Visiontek at Best Buy).

Would be really interesting to see what this can and cannot do. As with ATI cards, I wouldn't be surprized if the drivers end up being the biggest bottleneck with these cards. Oh well, here's hoping....

-Topper

[pBS]

i saw an x1550 also....that'd be my choice...tho curious as to how the 2400 does work on pci...i know 1080p is out, but sd and 720p should be ok...
1080i may a bit of a challenge tho...

now if they can squeeze a HD3650 on there we'd have something..
i just thought it was nice that it was even possible...maybe someone will work a better chipset for pci one of these days...

[whurlston]

The PCIe 2400Pro does 1080p well enough for me. It's just that the shaders get maxed if it is deinterlacing 1080i content leaving no room for denoising.

[Bathman]

I was temepted to buy one of these for my D201GLY2 client however I have heard of a couple of problems

1. The heatsink is huge and takes blanks off the adjacent pci slot
2. Powerplay is not working. Thus it never clocks down generating more heat than it needs to.
3. It draws too much power for the PCI slot on the D201GLY2 motherboard and thus will not boot.

Can anyone confirm/deny the above?

[stustunz]

i had a pcie one man it was hot
yes slot either side cant be used
mpeg2 playback was crap (i think ati forgot how to deinterlace )
dunno if the drivers have got better
i probably just brought a dud

[Deusxmachina]

The stock 2400pro defaults to Bob deinterlacing for 1080i. It is simply not powerful enough to use the better deinterlacing methods. Not that Bob is the worst thing in the world, mind you. Mine was a huge PITA with GBPVR and 1080i. It did work better with other DirectShow media players for some unknown reason.

I don't get why people get so hyped over fanless cards. One with a decent-but-not-huge heatsink and a decent fan are practially noiseless anyway and probably 20 degrees cooler. My fanned HIS 2400pro was mute, as was my BFG 8500GT until the fan started dying (after one week). The 8500's heatsink and fan are garbage, though. Both are crazy-tiny. Was quiet, though.

Oh well, nice to know such a PCI card is available if needed.

[K.S.]

I don't get why people get so hyped over fanless cards.
...
The 8500's heatsink and fan are garbage, though. Both are crazy-tiny. Was quiet, though.

you've answered your own question. the fan-equiped budget versions tend to have tiny fans. my geforce 5200 had such a crap straped on. it started to gather dust in the heatsink & become louder over time, had a dubiuos airflow design... heatsink was rather flat but much bigger than the fan, fan integrated in the heatsink & the rest of the heatsink covered with plastics to force the air through the heat sink. given enough time the fan bearings failed after a sort whining period (thank god ), the fan is now dead, the GPU is still functioning & seems to never have needed the fan, it's still working, the fan failed over 1 year ago...

[Deusxmachina]

the fan is now dead, the GPU is still functioning & seems to never have needed the fan, it's still working, the fan failed over 1 year ago...

That's pretty much what I meant. The no-fan heatsinks on a lot of cards aren't that great, either, and often run 20 degrees hotter than a fanned version. If I take the fan off a card, I'd probably expect it to run about 20 degrees warmer anyway.

Now, cards with GOOD passive heatsinks, that's a different story, but those are probably just as hard or harder to find as a good fanned heatsink on a comparable card.

Eh, just was a little odd reading places like AVSforum where so many people wanted a passive heatsink no matter what due to noise apparently without even bothering to read reviews of fanned versions. HIS is known for using good heatsinks, but I saw people dismissing the HIS 2400 simply because they thought it would be noisy due to having a fan. It was silent AND cool.

You can get away with a lot more on something like an HTPC if it never uses 3D mode, though. My 8500GT with an 80mm ziptied to it is fine, and probably would get by even without the fan, but if I play a game on it the temps skyrocket. Looks like the PNY version uses the same fan/heatsink as the BFG, so if anyone buys one of either, expect it to fail.