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Which is better for HTPC, the PureVideo HD in G84/G86 or UVD in ATI RV610/RV630? Bottom line is, they’re really powerful in video decoding compare to their precursors, even a $50 card can beat its $500 “big brother” in case of HDVideo decoding.

The newest recent low and mid-range graphics cards from AMD-ATI and NVIDIA have an extended and new video processing unit that can decode all the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD glory. It’s a good time to put some of the newer graphics cards to the test.

Click for more on HD-Video Decoding: Nvidia PureVideo HD vs. ATI UVD »

Not everyone’s a gamer. When you see ATI or Nvidia release chips for cards that will cost upwards of $600, quite a few people simply shake their heads and wonder what the hell those companies are thinking. Aren’t there any next-gen cards for non-gaming PCs? You know, computers that are mainly used for Web surfing, email, and shopping online; or for business, finances, spreadsheets, and monitoring stock tickers?

Meanwhile, Windows Vista is making its best attempt to steamroll across the country, though the actual need for it is questionable at best. But some of us are early adopters, and we want the latest. Not all of us who fall into that category, however, want to pay an ungodly sum of money for a graphics card that will handle Window Vista’s frosty-cool Aero interface.

Extremetech.com tested 8 DX-10 cards and here is the quick specification:

3DMark06 Test

Vista Experience Index

And the conclusion:

Source: ExtremeTech.com