2. Passively Cooled Graphics Cards With Video-Out

If the integrated graphics in the motherboard you choose for your HTPC don't cut it for HDTV, you'll need to select a add-in graphics card for video output. Many vendors now offer passively-cooled (i.e. fanless) mid-range cards that also include a TV output. All of the following cards can handle output of NTSC (North America) or PAL (Europe, Asia) signals and include S-Video, VGA (D-sub) and DVI connectors. They also support component video output through the use of an (in most cases optional) adapter.

Gigabyte GV-RX80L256V: Passively Cooled

This passively-cooled PCI-Express graphics card from Gigabyte not only keeps its ATI Radeon X800XL chipset cool, but also the video RAM attached to the back side of the board. However, both of its heatpipes run over the top of the card and are likely to disqualify it from installation in low-profile HTPC cases.