@User:

alternative? yeah - buy a bigger box. ever heard the saying 'you can't have your cake and eat it'?

although if you see my previous posts you'll realise that you can have a slice and still admire the rest...

Low profile, but two slots? Sorry, that does not compute. And neither does it fit into my computer (ITX enclosure).

Besides, I bet the jet engines (formerly known as fans) also run during normal operation.

Alternatives? Anyone?

"a low profile bracket that forces users to forego the D-SUB connector completely."

Why on earth is provision for the D-SUB not made on the blanking plate of the second slot?

"Point is if you want a dedicated HTPC system you need to run Linux and the only Graphic solution available to decode those nice HD Channels comes from the Green Goblin (i.e. nVidia), and there VDPAU decoder for Linux."

Dear Anonymous, I have a Radeon 4200 decoding videos just fine using a combination of mplayer vaapi and fglrx.

Thank you.

@Poindexter: my low-profile htpc with a hd 5570 can run crysis on high/very high at 720p at about 30fps.

@Anonymous: a htpc doesn't have to have a tv receiver built in, in fact they often don't. although of course everyone has different needs and i appreciate your point about the inadequacies of both Windows and AMD/ATI when it comes to more specialist requirements.

surly not...
First of all we can toss out Microcraps crappy MCE's 'cause there aint a single version out there that can do DVB-C (i.e. Digital Cable), and since I happen to live in an area where I'm prohibited from using a Satellite Dish this doesn't leave me much choice and DVB-T ~in Germany~ is a sad, sad joke, I don't even watch that crap on Cabe (when it was free ~as it still is~) to want to waste more money on such a solution.

Point is if you want a dedicated HTPC system you need to run Linux and the only Graphic solution available to decode those nice HD Channels comes from the Green Goblin (i.e. nVidia), and there VDPAU decoder for Linux.

AMD/ATI have been promising something of a similar nature for last few years now. And, I for One am still waiting...

I don't know why low profile == HTPC.
I built a low profile machine for it's reduced size and had a hard time finding a decent performing video card.
Likewise, with decent fan throttling one can comfortably watch DVDs and BRs with a fan-fitted video card.
Launch Crysis and things change, though...

"Aimed at no one in particular."

Not quite. It's aimed at users like me that want alot of gpu power in a low profile box. I doubt that those two fans would be a noise issue at low speeds (I already have four fans in my HTPC/gaming system that are pretty much silent at low speeds), and this would definitely make for a nice upgrade from my HD 5570.

Why when we see low profile card previews they are always are with a full height bracket?