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Post by mtrb1966 on Sept 25, 2015 10:30:27 GMT
The GT 730 looks fine for my needs. Before I go ahead and purchase, I did have one last thought that I thought I would mention.
I have not used the in-built TV tuner in the VGX-XL201 for sometime and now that I have a Samsung 4K TV and a 500GB recorder in my Sky HD box, I'm not sure I will ever do so again.
If I remove the TV tuner and the riser that it sits in, I could then fit a full height graphics card in that slot which could connect to the PCI slot using an extended ribbon connector.
Would this be a viable and better option? I don't game but watch films and was looking at fitting a Blu-ray to my VGX-XL201 when changing over to Win 7.
Once again, many thanks for steering me through this minefield.
Mark
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Post by Woody on Sept 25, 2015 14:34:16 GMT
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Post by IT Troll on Sept 25, 2015 18:06:19 GMT
The cards we have mentioned are more than sufficient for standard HTPC duties (including Blu-ray). You only need to be looking at more powerful cards for gaming.
I have a Blu-ray in my XL201 and persevered with using it as a Blu-ray player for many years. However earlier this year I gave up and switched to a dedicated hardware player. The trouble with using a PC as a Blu-ray is you are entirely reliant on the software player. I was using Arcsoft's TotalMedia Theatre which was arguably the best on the market, but they suddenly discontinued it. Without regular updates you soon start having problems with new discs.
I think PowerDVD is the only serious player left. But for the cost of that you can buy a really decent dedicated player that with give you fast disc loading and rock solid playback. Sony do some really nice compact models.
It is a real shame because I really wanted the one box does it all solution.
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Post by mtrb1966 on Oct 16, 2015 12:02:10 GMT
Thanks again for all your good advice.
Just to confirm that I went for the Nvidia Geforce GT 730 1GB GDDR5 graphics card by EVGA and after a few issues with downloading some aspects of the drivers package, it is working absolutely fine.
It seems that some features (e.g.Geforce Experience) are not fully supported on XP. This should be solved when I change the operating system to Windows 7. Oh and it did come with a couple of low profile bracket options.
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Buckwheat
Junior Member
"Lost in the digital wilderness!"
Posts: 39
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (64-bit)
VGX-XL: VGX-XL3
HTPC: Windows 7 Media Center
Case: OEM
PSU: 500W Athena Power AP-MFATX50P8 (Conv. to 18-pin)
Motherboard: Sony/ASUStek P5BW-MB Rev.2.00 (OEM)
CPU: Intel Xeon X3230 Quad Core 2.67 GHz 8 MB L2 Cache
RAM: 8 GB (4x 2 GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 2-slot Superclocked 4GB GDDR5
BIOS: Mod V1.2 (Advanced)
HDD/SSD: 2x 240 GB OCZ AMD RADEON R7 SSD 'RAID-0'
Optical Drive: Matshita/Panasonic UJ-265 Blu-ray
TV Tuner 1: Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH - 5504-DCT06EX-ETH
TV Tuner 2: SiliconDust HDTC-2US HDHomeRun EXTEND
Media Changer: VGP-XL1B2
Keyboard: VAIO VGP-WKB4US (OEM)
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Post by Buckwheat on Oct 17, 2015 7:36:46 GMT
Thanks very much IT Troll for the advice. I have in fact returned the GT 610 card to Dabs as I was still just in the 14 day cooling off period. The cooling fins did indeed go right up to the edges of the card so it would not have been possible to fit it without modifying the fins. It sounds like I will either go for the Nvidia GT 640 that you have fitted or the HD 7750 mentioned by Woody. Does anyone know if the HD 7750 card needs any modification? It looks like with the HD 7750, there is more clearance above the edge connector. If I can get the HDMI connection to work with the replacement card, I can then start to think about the OS change and all that entails. Gulp. The build quality of the VGX XL is too good to junk it just yet. Mark Hello Mark,
You have not yet filled in the system configuration information for your VGX-XL* so I am unable to tell if you have either of your horizontal expansion slots populated with devices. For those owners who have both horizontal slots unpopulated, I recommend the video/graphics card I am currently running in one of my VGX-XL3 systems, connected to the PCIe x16 slot by a PCI-Express PCI-E 16X Riser Card Ribbon Extender Extension Cable
EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB GDDR5
This card only requires a 300W power supply, a good match for our OEM Delta 297W PSU's.
There is also an optional heat-distribution backing plate available from EVGA for US $15
This card runs cool, is very quiet due to the large diameter fan (low RPM), draws little wattage and displays Blu-ray like a champ with no discernible judder or lag.
MAIN PRODUCT PAGE: www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-3753-KR
- OVERVIEW
- DETAILS
- FEATURES
- COMPATIBILTY
- SUPPORT
SPECIFICATIONS: www.evga.com/products/Specs/GPU.aspx?pn=7eac3c86-1a83-4df9-8a8b-5c55264d2bd0
EVGA GTX 750 Ti BACKPLATE: www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=100-BP-3751-B9
PCI-Express PCI-E 16X Riser Card Ribbon Extender Extension Cable: www.ebay.com/itm/New-PCI-Express-PCI-E-16X-Riser-Card-Ribbon-Extender-Extension-Cable-EA-/252065399975?hash=item3ab044c4a7:g:TfYAAOSwT6pV2CwF
PHOTOS:
Using Passmark Software "Performance Test v8.0", the tested performance of this EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti Superclocked 2GB GDDR5 card greatly exceeds that of my Sapphire RADEON HD 6670 low-profile and Sapphire RADEON HD 7750 low-profile cards, and my Gigabyte GeForce GT 640 low-profile card, and nearly doubles the best 3D rendering performance of those cards.
Regards, Buck Wheat.
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Post by IT Troll on Oct 17, 2015 16:16:24 GMT
I recommend the video/graphics card I am currently running in one of my VGX-XL3 systems, connected to the PCIe x16 slot by a PCI-Express PCI-E 16X Riser Card Ribbon Extender Extension Cable
This is a good option if you are looking for more of a gaming card and don't need any tuners. The 750Ti is probably the fastest graphics card you can fit with the standard PSU. However it is overkill if you are just looking for standard HTPC duties.
It would be good if you could post a picture of your setup as I am sure it would help people understand the installation better.
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Buckwheat
Junior Member
"Lost in the digital wilderness!"
Posts: 39
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (64-bit)
VGX-XL: VGX-XL3
HTPC: Windows 7 Media Center
Case: OEM
PSU: 500W Athena Power AP-MFATX50P8 (Conv. to 18-pin)
Motherboard: Sony/ASUStek P5BW-MB Rev.2.00 (OEM)
CPU: Intel Xeon X3230 Quad Core 2.67 GHz 8 MB L2 Cache
RAM: 8 GB (4x 2 GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 2-slot Superclocked 4GB GDDR5
BIOS: Mod V1.2 (Advanced)
HDD/SSD: 2x 240 GB OCZ AMD RADEON R7 SSD 'RAID-0'
Optical Drive: Matshita/Panasonic UJ-265 Blu-ray
TV Tuner 1: Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH - 5504-DCT06EX-ETH
TV Tuner 2: SiliconDust HDTC-2US HDHomeRun EXTEND
Media Changer: VGP-XL1B2
Keyboard: VAIO VGP-WKB4US (OEM)
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Post by Buckwheat on Oct 18, 2015 11:06:47 GMT
I recommend the video/graphics card I am currently running in one of my VGX-XL3 systems, connected to the PCIe x16 slot by a PCI-Express PCI-E 16X Riser Card Ribbon Extender Extension Cable
This is a good option if you are looking for more of a gaming card and don't need any tuners. The 750Ti is probably the fastest graphics card you can fit with the standard PSU. However it is overkill if you are just looking for standard HTPC duties.
It would be good if you could post a picture of your setup as I am sure it would help people understand the installation better.
No, I do not do any gaming at all; never have. My system is a pure HTPC / Home entertainment system for which I wanted maximum video performance. As noted in my system setups / devices in the left sidebar my TV tuners (Ceton and SiliconDust) are attached to the network router. They are available to all televisions, dlna, PVR/DVR, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connected devices on the network.
Regards, Robert.
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Post by jimbobuk1977 on Jan 12, 2016 14:36:48 GMT
The trouble with the HD 7750 and GT 640 is they are both discontinued so you may struggle to get either now. You may have to look at newer model cards. The closest current Nvidia equivalent is the GT 730. There was a post recently from someone who was planning to fit a GT 210 which has a very small cooler. But I am not sure how they got on. The GT 210 is a very low performance card though. The built-in graphics on modern CPUs can easily match these cards now and so the market for them is disappearing. I've just had a very quick search and from the pictures it looks like these should fit without any modification. EVGA do normally include the low profile brackets. www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-610-DDR3-Graphics-Card/dp/B00847TOLC/www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-NVIDIA-Graphics-1400MHz-DVI-I/dp/B00L5H5B06/Hi has anyone had any luck with a palit fanless gt730 yet? Im looking to get one to replace the dying 7600gtl that came with my xl302, will it work/fit?? It will only be used as an HTPC (running plex HTPC software) it will not be used for any gaming. My gaming PC (which also currently acts as my plex media server (which needs upgrading but that's another story...)) Has a 2GB Palit GTX 750 Ti KalmX Silent, which is an awesome card I was thinking of getting one of those for it, with the riser cable & taking out the two TV cards which I have never used, this seems a bit over kill though to be honest! Any help greatly appreciated. Jamie
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Post by IT Troll on Jan 12, 2016 15:12:35 GMT
Unfortunately the Palit fanless GT 730 has a double-slot heatsink and so will not fit. The GT 730 comes in two version. One with DDR5 RAM which typically has a single-slot active cooler. Whilst the other has slower DDR3 RAM and typically has a double-slot passive heatsink. A full double-slot cooler won't fit in the VGX-XL unless you have removed all other expansion cards and the riser board. However I have seen a passive GT 730 from Zotac (ZT-71106-10L) which looks like it might fit. If it does indeed fit, it is probably the best option for a passively cooled graphics card as it has a TDP of just 28W. They offer it in a variety of memory sizes but 1GB is plenty for non-gaming duties. The Zotac is slightly larger than a single slot but I think it might still fit. I am currently using a GT 730 in my HTPC (no longer a VGX-XL) and it is a great silent card for media playback.
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Post by Oliver on Jan 12, 2016 21:56:12 GMT
My graphics card seems to be dying, video play back is jerky and randomly about once an hour the screen goes black just for a sec but still annoying. I'm looking at these in order of preference. Sapphire AMD Radeon R7 250 Graphics Card (1GB, GDDR5, PCI Express 3.0) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I940LHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_QmxLwbMZ95KKD£61 1gb ddr5, because I believe this will be the most powerful for the money ASUS AMD Radeon R7 240 2 GB DDR3 Graphics Card (PCI Express 3.0, HDMI, DVI-D, 128-Bit, Dust-Proof Fan, GPU Tweak Utility) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FSC50N2/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_evxLwbHAGFP6Y£50 2gb ddr3. Cheaper, not sure if the ddr5 is worth the extra £11? Or I could maybe get... Asus VGA GT730-2GD5-BRK Graphics Card www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q46V738/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_iExLwbWQB3QEHAsus GT730-1GD5-BRK Nvidia Gt 730 Graphics Card (1GB, GDDR5, HDMI, Dl-DVI-D, PCI Express) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MPATUMM/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_mHxLwb790KCQRWhat do you all think, 4 good choices? The comparisons I found online seemed to suggest the r7 250 is the better card performance wise, but I'm not sure. Do you think they'll all fit in a VAIO? Cheers for any advice, Oliver
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Post by IT Troll on Jan 12, 2016 23:42:04 GMT
They all look like they should fit. The 250 is a little longer than the others but probably no bigger than the original 7600. I noticed that it has a micro HDMI connector but does come with a converter cable. Personally I don't like these because typically you end up with a heavy HDMI cable hanging of a flimsy little connector.
If you are not playing games it really doesn't make a difference which of these you go for. I would go for a cooler running, possibly silent card, rather than higher 3D performance you may not use. If you are wanting a card for light gaming then it really needs to have at least 2GB of DDR5.
Is that the second AMD that you have had to replace now? Perhaps that should inform your choice this time?
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Post by Oliver on Jan 13, 2016 7:39:22 GMT
Thanks IT Troll for your advice, my first card was the original Nvidia, it was around 5 years old it came with my second hand VGX-XL301. My second card is the HD6670 it is around 3 years old. I believe the original card was dying for long time before I replaced it, I didn't know what was wrong with the VAIO getting occasional bsod, the VAIO was much happy after getting the card replaced and I hope it will be again. I didn't notice some cards had micro HDMI, I'd prefer to avoid that thanks for spotting it. Gonna have a look at the cards again now and compare price, cheers
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Post by IT Troll on Jan 13, 2016 13:51:56 GMT
I thought you also had a HD5450 which went bad?
Rumors are starting to surface about new GT 930 cards from Nvidia in Q1. The line up will include a Maxwell based model which could top the performance charts whilst having a TDP of just 15W! If we are lucky it might even have HDMI 2.0. Cost is expected to be around $90.
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Post by Oliver on Jan 14, 2016 20:56:06 GMT
I thought you also had a HD5450 which went bad? Your right I did, I forgot about that, thinking back I think I swapped the original card for HD5450 for better HD playback but I started playing up after rather quickly, I put this down to over hearing as it was fanless. Sound great, I'll wait and see what comes out
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Post by Oliver on Jan 15, 2016 7:54:04 GMT
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Post by IT Troll on Jan 27, 2016 14:30:19 GMT
Nvidia have just announced the GT 710. This is not the Maxwell card I mentioned previously, but rather a low-cost entry level card designed purely for multimedia.
It is actually the same card as the GT 720, but running at a higher clock speed, for less money! Cards cost ~£30. Vendors will produce cards in the various formats; passive, active, low profile, full height. Maximum power usage is 19W. Should be good for standard HTPC duties, but not for gaming.
The Maxwell based cards are still rumored. We should see the GT 930 (1st Gen Maxwell) which will add support for HEVC / H.265 and uses just 15W. We may also see a GT 940 (2nd Gen Maxwell) which will add full hardware decoding of HEVC / H.265 and HDMI 2.0.
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Post by Oliver on Jan 27, 2016 23:45:24 GMT
My 12yo son is getting into steam and PC gaming so he wanted a new graphics card, the best that would fit his Dell 9010sff is a Nvidia GT750ti and he's really pleased with it. So I now have his leftover AMD Radeon HD 7470 with 1gb 5ddr which I may as well use in my VAIO. Not got round to installing it yet but I have a few days off work so I'll try to get it done and report back. I think my current card is a slightly higher spec so its perhaps a small down grade, but as long as it manages clear 1080p I'll be happy and if it plays 3D OK, that would be a nice bonus.
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Post by IT Troll on Jan 28, 2016 9:15:21 GMT
The GT 750 Ti is a great entry-level gaming card - really good value. In a couple of years he will be asking for a Titan though.
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simon214
Junior Member
Posts: 24
VGX-XL: VGX-XL100
CPU: D 945 pentium dual core 3.4Ghz
RAM: 4 GB 533mhz DDR2
Graphics: NVidia GT 710 1gb
BIOS: Mod V1.2 (Standard)
HDD/SSD: 1TB
Optical Drive: standard
TV Tuner 1: Philips 210SE DVB-T
TV Tuner 2: none
Keyboard: kensington trackball
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Post by simon214 on Mar 22, 2016 14:09:18 GMT
I have here an MSI version of the Radeon R5450 passive graphics card, just reading this post ive noticed the ATI R7 240 aswell, with i could try too. But having installed my MSI radeon, no picture displayed.. not even bios. I've come back to see if you guys had a preparation rom for the swap or something.. It's a low profile board so i thought it could be defaulting to its VGA header ... but still nothing. It actually fried the card in my other machine which was on a different input on the same monitor. shame really... it was the R7 240 ! I did try both outputs on the card and installing the driver and utility but nothing..
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Post by IT Troll on Mar 24, 2016 0:43:02 GMT
We have had a few reports in these forums of the HD5450 not working on the XL100. Just one of those annoying compatibility things I'm afraid.
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