“Although playing back DVD content is easy enough with any modern CPU now, the advent of High Definition content and the rise of Blu-Ray as the winner of the next-generation optical format war have brought new and far more demanding computing requirements to the PC marketplace. While a CPU alone will struggle to handle High Definition content recorded in 1080p, modern GPUs are ideally designed and placed to take most of that workload away from the CPU, which means that the latest generations of graphics boards from both NVIDIA and AMD’s ATI graphics division are capable of accelerating most if not all of a High Definition video stream.”Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- ATI Radeon 3870 Review @ TechwareLabs
- Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512MB Toxic @ HotHardware
- Two vs. Three: Zotac GeForce 9800 GX2 Against 3-Way CrossFire ATI Radeon HD 3870 @ X-bit Labs
- Diamond Radeon HD 3870 1GB with 512-bit bus @ NordicHardware
- ATI 3870X2 CrossfireX Review – Part I @ Rage3D
- Gigabyte GV-NX98X1GHI-B GeForce 9800 GX2 Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews
- MSI N9600GT-1GB @ t-break
- Gigabyte 9600 GT 512MB @ Techgage
- Gainward 9800 GTX 512MB Video Card Review @ Madshrimps
- XFX GeForce 9600GT XXX Alpha Dog @ motherboards.org
- ASUS GeForce 9600GT 512MB Graphics Card @ TweakTown
- LN2 Cooled Galaxy 9600 GT Breaks World 3D Records @ Madshrimps
- Asus EN9800 GTX Review @ OCC
An eye for quality
High frame rates with all the bells and whistles on in a desperate firefight is processed two different ways. With high clock speeds and numerous shader pipes, you can get the performance in a first person shooter. What if you are going for less involvement, and would prefer to watch a movie with intense firefights instead of playing it for your self? Elite Bastards checks out the quality you can expect from AMD and nVIDIA when watching SD and HD movies. See which is better to put in an HTPC.