upgrade from x1250

blinken · **15th June 2008, 09:41 PM**

Hi guys, i'm looking to upgrade from the onboard x1250 i'm currently using to something with a bit more poke when it comes to 1080p. The machine is a dedicated HTPC so gaming doesnt bother me. I'm thinking i'd prefer to go with ATi still but could be talked into nvidia if it come to it. the 2 cards i was looking at were either xpertvision 2600pro Sonic which has 256mb ddr3 or the powercolor HD3450 which has 256mb ddr2 onboard. Both have native hdmi ports (which i prefer over the adaptor). Can anyone suggest which would be the better option or any other cards which would be better suited to the job.
thanks

krypto · **15th June 2008, 11:35 PM**

I did the same upgrade, went for a Palit HD3850 because I couldn't find any lower models with HDMI port.

The 3450 would be the better choice provided its silent.

blinken · **16th June 2008, 07:49 PM**

yes the 3450 is passively cooled, and as a bonus is cheaper as well. Is the performance increase between ddr2 and ddr3 not all that significant when relating to htpc application ?. As i'd been told ddr3 would be the better way to go.

vlad · **16th June 2008, 08:27 PM**

It is not just a DDR2 and DDR3 - it is GDDR2 and GDDR3)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDDR2#R...to_GDDR_memory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDDR3
It is very different beast to normal DDR2 and DDR3.

Be aware:
"However, further confusion has been added to the mix with the appearance of budget and mid-range graphics cards which claim to use "DDR2". These cards actually use standard DDR2 chips designed for use as main system memory. These chips cannot achieve the clock speeds that GDDR3 can but are inexpensive enough to be used as memory on mid-range cards."

I would personally go with GDDR3, especially if you are going to use BluRay.