That is a sexy card.

Nice, it's more slimmer than the original... Still, it will support Crossfire configuration?

983264Nice, it's more slimmer than the original... Still, it will support Crossfire configuration?

Yes, it will. Check the pic with the specs.

Very nice look card. :D Love the cooler. :)

It'd be even better if it was single-slot.
Low-profile single-slot edition FTW!

HTPC and dual slot graphics card are incompatible. The underlying idea of HTPC is to be small, furthermore, there are only few HTPC cases with two or more expansion slots.

WarLordHTPC and dual slot graphics card are incompatible. The underlying idea of HTPC is to be small, furthermore, there are only few HTPC cases with two or more expansion slots.

I have to agree with you here. This card is not suited for small and thin HTPC cases.

I think people are moving away from the whole "Home-Theater Personal Computer" idea. A home theater consists of audio and video, not gaming (in my opinion). Therefore, having a card as powerful as this seems ridiculous and just a waste of power if you ask me.

I currently have an integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 on my ASUS board (Which is part of my HTPC build) and that decodes 24-bit/192 KHz FLAC / Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Master Audio, 1080p 24Mbit video files, so this is literally just overkill.

I have a main PC on which I game at the highest settings and this entertainment center for a silent and low-power experience.

link2009I have to agree with you here. This card is not suited for small and thin HTPC cases.

I think people are moving away from the whole "Home-Theater Personal Computer" idea. A home theater consists of audio and video, not gaming (in my opinion). Therefore, having a card as powerful as this seems ridiculous and just a waste of power if you ask me.

I currently have an integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 on my ASUS board (Which is part of my HTPC build) and that decodes 24-bit/192 KHz FLAC / Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Master Audio, 1080p 24Mbit video files, so this is literally just overkill.

I have a main PC on which I game at the highest settings and this entertainment center for a silent and low-power experience.

rubbish. if anything, people are moving towards more PC gaming on their sofa.
there's no reason why a modern multimedia pc should be confined to a desk, and the increasing popularity of the mini-itx from factor, smaller low-profile matx cases, as well as things like digital downloads, services such as games for windows and steam (although they're currently lacking somewhat in 10ft UI's), 3d displays, cheaper hdtv’s and surround sound set-up’s and the like, coupled with the decreasing size of cpu/gpu die for less heat and power requirements, all point to growth in this area.

there are dozens, if not hundreds of cases capable of housing this card, and probably thousands upon thousands of users that would love this sort of gpu power in a small htpc/gaming build, including me.

lazydaverubbish. if anything, people are moving towards more PC gaming on their sofa.
there's no reason why a modern multimedia pc should be confined to a desk, and the increasing popularity of the mini-itx from factor, smaller low-profile matx cases, as well as things like digital downloads, services such as games for windows and steam (although they're currently lacking somewhat in 10ft UI's), 3d displays, cheaper hdtv’s and surround sound set-up’s and the like, coupled with the decreasing size of cpu/gpu die for less heat and power requirements, all point to growth in this area.

there are dozens, if not hundreds of cases capable of housing this card, and probably thousands upon thousands of users that would love this sort of gpu power in a small htpc/gaming build, including me.

I appreciate your opinion but I think you're overly optimistic.

We are not at a point in our technological development where you can literally play games at an acceptable quality (based on each person's preference of course) while relaxing on your couch or sofa.

If you look at this review, you'll see that neither the 5750 nor the 5850 can play Crysis at a high resolution (I'm looking at 1920x1200) since most TVs support 1080p.

And looking at future games, purchasing this card for gaming does not seem like a good investment to me.

You want to talk about digital distribution? I don't know how many people have adopted digital distribution, especially since not A LOT (relative) of people invest in high-speed internet nor would everyone have a way to hook up their HTPC to the internet. Wireless you say? I would hate to play an online game on 802.11n, the lag would be horrendous. Powerline adapters... maybe, but again, this adds to the cost of the entire build.

Forget about 3-D TVs and "cheaper" HDTV. This will not be relevant for a while. Can't you see people are milking people of their hard earned income by introducing "LED" HDTVs? A 40" HDTV will be around the same price in 4 years as a 40" HDTV is now (albeit a different technology).

I would argue all day but considering EVERYTHING is getting more expensive (HINT: Look at Ontario with the HST) and some analysts are predicting another depression, I doubt people will look at investing so much in technology.

Just my 2 cents.

link2009I appreciate your opinion but I think you're overly optimistic.

We are not at a point in our technological development where you can literally play games at an acceptable quality (based on each person's preference of course) while relaxing on your couch or sofa.

If you look at this review, you'll see that neither the 5750 nor the 5850 can play Crysis at a high resolution (I'm looking at 1920x1200) since most TVs support 1080p.

And looking at future games, purchasing this card for gaming does not seem like a good investment to me.

You want to talk about digital distribution? I don't know how many people have adopted digital distribution, especially since not A LOT (relative) of people invest in high-speed internet nor would everyone have a way to hook up their HTPC to the internet. Wireless you say? I would hate to play an online game on 802.11n, the lag would be horrendous. Powerline adapters... maybe, but again, this adds to the cost of the entire build.

Forget about 3-D TVs and "cheaper" HDTV. This will not be relevant for a while. Can't you see people are milking people of their hard earned income by introducing "LED" HDTVs? A 40" HDTV will be around the same price in 4 years as a 40" HDTV is now (albeit a different technology).

I would argue all day but considering EVERYTHING is getting more expensive (HINT: Look at Ontario with the HST) and some analysts are predicting another depression, I doubt people will look at investing so much in technology.

Just my 2 cents.

Overly optimistic... perhaps so, but citing Crysis, especially on highest graphics settings, is an extremely weak argument. How many games that are far better than Crysis have come out after it demanding less in the way of graphics performance?
Some tweaking to the in-game graphics would get most games to play sufficiently well at 1920x1200 on a 5750.
Even if we are not at the 'gaming HTPC' stage yet, we are but a step away, and with ATi soon releasing the HD6000 cards we might be there sooner, rather than later.

High speed internet might be limited to relatively few global users, but are you seriously saying that 300Mbps (802.11n) is too slow to play a game across?! How can that be when most people's internet is far slower? LOL
I know entire LAN parties that run on 56Mbps (802.11g), so I don't know where on earth you came up with that lag idea.:slap:
Besides that, digital distribution is in fact becoming huge and a major factor in sales of audio-visual media.

How would the cost of the TVs and Audio equipment factor into having a 'gaming HTPC'? Wouldn't any console owner face the same expense?
Rather, the HTPC has a great potential to give consoles serious competition and re-igniting developer interest in the PC platform by acting as a console itself and letting people that want to game on the couch do so, whilst still enjoying the myriad of benefits of using a PC over a console.:nutkick:

The shroud and fans looks like it would be awesome for a ram cooler...:)

inferKNOXOverly optimistic... perhaps so, but citing Crysis, especially on highest graphics settings, is an extremely weak argument. How many games that are far better than Crysis have come out after it demanding less in the way of graphics performance?
Some tweaking to the in-game graphics would get most games to play sufficiently well at 1920x1200 on a 5750.
Even if we are not at the 'gaming HTPC' stage yet, we are but a step away, and with ATi soon releasing the HD6000 cards we might be there sooner, rather than later.

High speed internet might be limited to relatively few global users, but are you seriously saying that 300Mbps (802.11n) is too slow to play a game across?! How can that be when most people's internet is far slower? LOL
I know entire LAN parties that run on 56Mbps (802.11g), so I don't know where on earth you came up with that lag idea.:slap:
Besides that, digital distribution is in fact becoming huge and a major factor in sales of audio-visual media.

How would the cost of the TVs and Audio equipment factor into having a 'gaming HTPC'? Wouldn't any console owner face the same expense?
Rather, the HTPC has a great potential to give consoles serious competition and re-igniting developer interest in the PC platform by acting as a console itself and letting people that want to game on the couch do so, whilst still enjoying the myriad of benefits of using a PC over a console.:nutkick:

I accept your argument on the HD 6xxx cards but so far, we are being optimistic again, since we are only speculating that they will boost performance significantly.

As for WiFi, I don't know my friend but I have tried gaming on 802.11g on my home network and I get around 40ms of lag in First-Person shooters. It might just be my home network (although I am running DD-WRT and I've optimized everything to my knowledge). I was not really talking about speeds. 802.11g over-saturates my 10Mbit line anyways.

As for the TVs, I agree with you. Since you already have a TV you might as well use it with your HTPC :banghead:.

The only issue I can't really agree on is playing without a control. PC gaming (imo) is heavily dependent on a mouse and keyboard. I hate using a controller, which is why I rarely play console games. How can you sit on your couch with a keyboard in your lap and a mouse by your side? I've tried using a table and it still feels kind of weird.

This is all good and well, but the problem is, none of these cards are showing up at newegg. I am still waiting for the PNY 460 oc to show up, as well as the powercolor 5770 vortex edition. No telling if this card is going to show up either :(


NEVERMIND, i seen them.

Pfftt.... We were making full-sized gaming PC's intended for the living room and calling them HTPC's well before someone decided to use the term for what it's known for now.

Time to take it back! REVOLUTION!!!

/me runs off into the sunset....

According to Powercolor's site the power requirement is 450W so that puts my HTPC out of the upgrade question.

I was interested in this card so I could take my small HTPC to LANs instead of lugging around my h2O behemoth.

kenkickrAccording to Powercolor's site the power requirement is 450W so that puts my HTPC out of the upgrade question.

I was interested in this card so I could take my small HTPC to LANs instead of lugging around my h2O behemoth.

Keep in mind they say a 450 w psu is requiredwhen using a gtx460.

Seeing this, I must say. After FERMI, every other card (be it low end, or slim or anything) had been having better and much more convincing heatsink designs. I don't know if Fermi really did anything in this regard, but it looks to me it did. I have never seen so much sophisticated and good looking designs in low-mid class cards that I do today. It seems the manufacturers are looking more on acoustics and lowering the temps maybe even more than needed.

Just my few cents.

kenkickrAccording to Powercolor's site the power requirement is 450W so that puts my HTPC out of the upgrade question.

I was interested in this card so I could take my small HTPC to LANs instead of lugging around my h2O behemoth.

They just say 450W PSU. I'm running a 5750 on a 300W PSU lol. So this low profile card should be able to run in a 250W or so. :D

Does it use power connector?

This is the perfect card for a mini itx board and the ACER X1300 case I inherited the other week. TBH the PSU is more limiting that the case at 250W.