8 series vs 7 series for HDTV

[soulrider4ever]

Any noticeable differences between the 2? From what I see the 7 series are good for 123 points, while the 8 series are good for 128 with the HQV benchmark, but was wondering if anyone out their has done any solid testing.

[Wicked Klown]

I wondering the same as I'm looking at either the 640mb or the 320mb 8800GTS. I read this post over at HTPCNews (http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25513&hl=8800) not sure if it helps tho.

[soulrider4ever]

yea, well I was hoping to find some actual professional tests regarding this... anyone here have both a 7-series and 8-series to do some side by side testing?

[thegreek]

a high end 8 series would be a waste of money, wait for the lower end 8 series like a 8600GT

[Evilsizer]

i would do a 7xxx since the point difference is so small. i dont think the IQ would get any better in the 8xxx line for dvd playback. purevideo is also affected by core speed. the faster the core speed the better purevideo does, fyi if you didnt know.

a high end 8 series would be a waste of money, wait for the lower end 8 series like a 8600GT
when those come out the 8300gt would do better imo for HTPC.... looking at rumored pricing the 8600gt would be a waste to use just for HTPC reasons.

[soulrider4ever]

Aye, well basically, I've recently retired from gaming, and am converting my PC into a HTPC, and my 8800GTX is a tad overkill :D

[thegreek]

Aye, well basically, I've recently retired from gaming, and am converting my PC into a HTPC, and my 8800GTX is a tad overkill :D
Evilsizer is right, you need to look for a card that has a high clock on the core. The 7300GT series are around 350 and the 7600GT series are around 550. The higher end cards are also around 550 so there is no point in paying more money. The higher the core, the easier your HTPC can play HD videos.

EDIT: the reason I said to wait for the 8600GT is because they might be HDCP but with the release of anydvd hd you don't need a HDCP complaint video card to play hd anymore.

[Evilsizer]

well just fyi i have a xfx 7300gs older modle with 500mhz irc core speed. 4 pipes and can oc to 625mhz and not artifact till 630mhz. the down side is the 64bit memory and TC is used. i thought about giving it a go with Purevideo but the cost of the "purevideo" package for what i want is the price of a DVD player... imo the price for each package should be dropped. even more so should be included with the card if the card costs over like $300. thats just me though... im still on the fench about which way to go, though i keep leaning towards ati's avvio.

though from the 7xxx line these are the cards i would look at...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121014

maybe even spend a bit for the vf-700 or possibly the vf-900 and oc the core as high as you can take it.

*edit*
well here is the card i have i bought this for my backup pc... buying it when it came out cost me $80...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150128

[soulrider4ever]

EDIT: the reason I said to wait for the 8600GT is because they might be HDCP but with the release of anydvd hd you don't need a HDCP complaint video card to play hd anymore.

Wow, that sweet if true, isn't it illegal tho?? At any rate, currently I'm only playing DVD's...I'm not planning to go to HD content until it's matured a little more. I give it another year or so before I'll start looking into it, as then I'll need HDCP, and a reciever/sound card that can handle the good stuff, will probably all be hdmi by then with a connection going from the sound card directly to the gpu, then output gpu via hdmi 1.3.

[nd4spdbh2]

if you want a quiet an cool htpc... a 7 series. heck i use a 6600gt agp in my htpc and i love it... what i really need is a faster processor to produce better images (the use of ffdshow to post process the image, and purvideo codecs really taxes a old p4 2.8 northy). Purevideo is nice for hd content and this is where a higher end gfx card would come in for the hardware acceleration, but in dvd playback ffdshow, useing purevideo codecs (in software mode... only way ffdshow will work unfortunaly) will produce ALOT better picture than ANYTHING else so you need a good cpu too.

my htpc is setup to use coxial digital passthrough for sound to a yamaha HTR-5890 reviever, then a dvi to hdmi converter to go to the tv

[soulrider4ever]

Yea I just ordered a Asus 7300GS, I'm going to keep my e6600, so that should be more than sufficient to operate anything I throw at it.

Do you think you could do a side by side comparison with your htpc and your 8800GTS with DVD playback?

[nd4spdbh2]

Yea I just ordered a Asus 7300GS, I'm going to keep my e6600, so that should be more than sufficient to operate anything I throw at it.

Do you think you could do a side by side comparison with your htpc and your 8800GTS with DVD playback?


what would you like me to compare...

(ps i am awaiting frys to come back with the E4300 and Ecs mobo combo for my htpc as a 2.8ghz p4 does not scale a dvd from 720x480 up even 2x so 1440x960 without making a slideshow... my e6600 can scale up to 3600x2400 or 5x original size with only 65% usage this is using ffdshow with purevideo codecs)

[thegreek]

nd4spdbh2, which player are you using?

[Wicked Klown]

what would you like me to compare...

(ps i am awaiting frys to come back with the E4300 and Ecs mobo combo for my htpc as a 2.8ghz p4 does not scale a dvd from 720x480 up even 2x so 1440x960 without making a slideshow... my e6600 can scale up to 3600x2400 or 5x original size with only 65% usage this is using ffdshow with purevideo codecs)


How about a screeshot of each runnnig Zplayer and watching Tokyo Drift?

[nd4spdbh2]

How about a screeshot of each runnnig Zplayer and watching Tokyo Drift?

i can almost tell you right now the difference between a 8800gts playing any movie with zplayer using purevideo codecs and a 6600gt will be non... but i will take a look at it.

Btw i use Media player classic with ffdshow postprocessing the video after purevideo codecs have taken the raw data off the dvd... its insane the picture quality difference between say powerdvd and MPC + purvideo + ffdshow. i just am waiting for the e4300 deal at frys.... i will then make a tutorial on how to use MPC with pruevideo and ffdshow to get some AMAZING picture to any high res screen. i really dont feel like luggin my huge lian li V2000b downstairs to act as a htpc to take screen shots for the tutorial. :beer:

[soulrider4ever]

Alright, as far as I can tell their's no difference in IQ in DVD playback between the two...

[Evilsizer]

well look at how new the 8xxx's are. purevideo was done and release around the 7xxx line. i would expect to see an improvement till NV does tweaking for the 8xxx line.