Novatech GeForce 8400GS Low Profile (HDMI-out so suitable for a Media Centre PC) [£22.90 Delivered @ Novatech]
![Novatech GeForce 8400GS Low Profile (HDMI-out so suitable for a Media Centre PC) [£22.90 Delivered @ Novatech]](http://www.statichukd.com/images/hukd/loader-grey-big.gif)
Alright, so not great at all for gaming, but this low-profile PCI-E card has a HDMI output, and is advertised as being a 'Media Center Graphics Card' so great for anyone building one on a budget.
The GeForce 8400 GS LP (Low Profile) offers the features of the GeForce 8 series architecture at an incredible value. Being Windows Vista ready, the GeForce 8400 GS LP run Vista features quickly and seamlessly. Allowing you to play the latest Microsoft DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 games, and enjoy outstanding HD DVD/Blu-ray movie experience.
Connectors 1 Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x VGA + TV Out
Max VGA Resolution 2048 x 1536 @ 85Hz, 32-bit color
Max Dual-Link DVI-I Resolution 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz, 32-bit color
Maximum HDTV Out (Component) Resolution 1920 x 1080 (1080i)
Maximum TV Out (S-Video) Resolution 720 x 576
Max Monitors Supported 2
API Supported DirectX 10.0, OpenGL 2.0
TV Inteface HDMI
All Comments (22)
Jump to unread Post a CommentIf you need a dedicated card for media you might try this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-XFX-HD-4350-PCI-E-20-%28x16%29-1000MHz-GDDR2-GPU-600MHz-80-Cores-D-Sub-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP
It does sound over HDMI, is passive and low profile etc..
Then again.. if you are buying new, then just get a decent Integrated graphics solution on the motherboard, saves power, heat, and noise if you end up with a small fanned graphics card.
Not voting hot or cold since this is the price of these, I just think the alternatives make more sense.
(from a happy fanless/low profile/hdmi 8500gt owner)
Actually I doubt you are allowed to call it HDMI if it does not support sound...
That being said, it is a great card for Linux. I had Ubuntu working on it with 3D effects and two monitors, and it works straight out of the box. My new ASUS board does the same with on board graphics, albeit not quite a smooth.
The price is only average - this is a very old card by now, and you should be able to get it under 20.
You are, sound is optional for the HDMI spec. However, the only reason you'd go for the silly falling out HDMI connectors over the far better DVI ones is if you wanted integrated sound so most HDMI inputs and outputs will deal with it.
I'd agree with staffsMike that his 4350 link is the better card in general. No fan, two digital outputs in the low profile bracket and sound over HDMI.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1028703/nvidia-g84-g86-bad
The 8600 GS in my PC has been changed twice in 19 months - fortunately has 3 year warranty
Perhaps. If you're building a media center from scratch I'd recommend a motherboard with an integrated ATI HD 4200. Really good value for money.
No, the cpu does the work.
Connectors: 1 Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x VGA + TV Out
and the photo clearly shows a card that lacks HDMI.
On top of that there are very few 8400 GS cards that support HDMI so I'd double check before ordering.
Sound is carried over HDMI, but as this is a graphics card you wont be able to that in this situation as it would only carry picture.
Yes that IS right.
You just need suitable software such as media player classic home cinema edition which has a codec that activates the direct x video acceleration (DXVA) on the card.
You can also use that codec in other programs as the default video decoder.
I have an old media pc under the tv and with the 8400gs I can watch 1080p material and the old Pentium 4 3.2 is barely reaching 10% load whereas without the 8400gs it would be maxing out and the frame rate would become choppy in scenes with lots of action.
The DXVA can be picky about how the files it plays are encoded but in that situation you could try coreavc which can take advantage of the unique CUDA technology in geforce cards, this will accelerate hd material regardless of how it is encoded and is a lot more flexible but it is slightly less efficient than DXVA, a 1080p file played on my system using coreavc will result in about 25% cpu usage, still a lot better than nothing and you can play some files that DXVA will refuse to play. It's amazing when you consider how dirt cheap that card is.
Not so. My 4870 has no HDMI ports, and is a graphics card as you said. However I can connect a DVI to HDMI cable and it carries sound too.
I'll vouch for this but you have to bit stream audio over hdmi to get DTS / AC3 otherwise it's just 2 channel audio over hdmi, so no 5.1 / 7.1. Depending on the motherboard you could run the audio from the onboard chipset over optical to your receiver tho, but that defeats the idea of a single cable carrying both signals imo.
Wait for the low end 5 series due 1st Qtr next year, these will be able to bitstream 5.1 / 7.1 and HD audio formats such as TrueHD etc.
Connectors: 1 Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x VGA + TV Out
and the photo clearly shows a card that lacks HDMI.
On top of that there are very few 8400 GS cards that support HDMI so I'd double check before ordering.
I checked with customer service and it doesn't have a HDMI port.
It's normal for HDMI graphics cards to have a digital audio in socket and they then do put audio over HDMI. You would then need a soundcard or motherboard which gave you digital audio out.
Most modern budget boards handle HD video just fine - but it's just they only usually have VGA output...this is where a low-profile cheap card like this comes in handy :)
Right and wrong. http://www.avforums.com/forums/graphics-cards-tv-tuners-webcams/793497-wheres-he-divide-between-gpu-cpu-hd-playback.html
The GPU is needed if playing back Bluray or HD DVD discs but not if playing HD MKV's for example as the CPU does all the work.