New
#11
You would be better off with a nvidia card, specially for what you're after. DXVA works flawlessly, and then there's CUDA. Few video encodes/streams/live tv don't go well with DXVA, but work under CUDA decoder (tip: MPC-HC - the best video player).
Not really needed since MPC-HC comes with LAV codecs as internal filters (that one offers the CUDA decoder/intel quicksync).
But not harmful either since we're not using xp anymore :)
Hi All
Just chipping in with my conclusion. I had less time than I would have liked to consider every aspect of the purchase and ended up getting the AMD Radeon R7 240. For reference it's a "GV-R724OC-2GI (REV. 2.1)" 2GB DDR3 and I got on Amazon for £55.00.
However after I bought it. it transpired that my need to install W10 wasn't as pressing as I thought it was, but at least I've installed it now and it runs wonderfully with Win 7. The Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser now says my PC is now compatible with Win 10, so goal achieved.
Also, it was a pleasant surprise to find that after I'd installed the drivers and set the Catalyst Control Centre to clone monitors, both the Acer monitor (running from VGA Port) and my Sony TV (from HDMI) are running happily together at the same resolution (maximum for this card - 1920x1080). I have tried doing this with other cards and it's always been a bit of a mare, although I might just been plain unlucky in my previous attempts to do this. The Mobo is also Gigabyte, so I like to think it took the R7 240 under it's wing like a long lost son (sounding like Jeremy Clarkson now, so ill shut up). If I do find anything untoward with this card, I'll update this, but so far so good.