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Cheap card for 1080p HD and Windows 7...

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Hello all,

It's been a while!

I was hoping to get some 2nd opinions on which cheap graphics card to buy for my cousin. He needs a card capable of full 1080p playback and smooth Windows Vista/7 performance. I don't really know much about the low end scale but I was looking at either:

4670 1GB DDR3 @ £56

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161825

9600GT Super+ 1GB DDR2 @ £57

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164122

Would any of these be fine? Is 1GB overkill? Would 512MB be enough? It is not for gaming, only HD movies, surfing and general production. Would any cheaper cards be good enough like the 9400GT or HD 4350?

Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks everso!

Message edited by killtacular on 08-01-2009 at 09:45:18 PM

Since your not using the card for gaming the 4670 has better reviews and by far out proforms the 9600gt by far. Nvidia is struggling to keep up with ATI these days

Reply to fatmark801

4670 and 9600GT are very much overkill for HD movies. I believe the 4350 or 4550 would be a better choice, as long as your not doing any gaming (like you said).

Message edited by Raidur on 08-01-2009 at 10:25:10 PM

------------------------------ Intel Q9550 @ 3.6Ghz 1.23v / Abit Quad GT IX38 CrossFire / 4870 1GB /
2x2GB Gskill DDR2-1066 / WD Black 640GB / Rosewill 630w
Reply to Raidur

Thanks all. I will take a look at the 4350 and 4550 series then.

Thanks muchly!

Reply to killtacular

raidur is correct

------------------------------ Recipient of multi-best answer awards and $3 power ball winner!!
Reply to ct1615

Makes no sounds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125250

Reply to invisik

Okay, I have narrowed it down to 3:

4550 512MB DDR3 @ £30.24

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169291#

4650 512MB DDR2 @ £39.99

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160923

4650 1GB DDR2 @ £44.29

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164369

Reading this great Anandtech article, you can see that the 4650 is way more powerfull than the 4550:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3420

The three cards I have listed all have HDMI which is a must. I guess my final question would be is 1GB ram necessary for HD playback at 1080p or will 512MB be enough?

Thanks again all!

Message edited by killtacular on 08-02-2009 at 08:56:16 PM

Reply to killtacular

The 4550 would be a perfect choice, trouble is they seem to be in very short supply:The card you linked to is now out of stock as are Overclockers, CCL and Scan.
Do not bother with a 1 Gb card unless it is the same price or you will be paying for memory it will never use.

FLASH!!!!:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151453

Message edited by coozie7 on 08-02-2009 at 09:15:11 PM

------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

Oh dear, Asus out of stock. I do not think the Force3D has HDMI out?

Reply to killtacular

@ They do not say, not even on the home site: Unless you can find another 4550, move up a tier and get the 4650 instead.

------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

Cool. 4550 is pretty much like gold dust at this moment in time. I'll tell me cousin to go for the ASUS HD 4650 512MB DDR2 @ £42. Gotta love eBuyer! Yorkshire lasses rule! LOL!

Thanks coozie!

Reply to killtacular

My son and I have been spec'ing things out for an HTPC low-profile system. To us it appears the 4350 and 4550 cards have similar processing power, etc, although neither has the power to do high-end graphics. So look at the 4350 since you can't find a 4550 card. Check at XFX here for fanless (heatsink only):

http://www.xfxforce.com/en-us/prod [...] /4350.aspx

There are 3 versions; the lower two have HDMI outputs and either 512 MB or 1 GB DDR2.

These cards are all low-profile with standard-profile end brackets, but they come with a low-profile replacement bracket for conversion. It is not clear to me, though, where the D-dub (for VGA) goes when you do that conversion. You either mount it on a second plate (included or not unclear?) or just forget it.

Message edited by Paperdoc on 08-12-2009 at 06:15:40 PM

Reply to Paperdoc

Hm personally I would go with ATI 4650 or 4670 there's an article on the front page talking about those two

Reply to wintermint

Why not getting at least the cheapest next generation DirectX 11 video card?? So far as I know, Radeon HD 5000 series are the only "Windows 7 Certified video cards" out there (compatible and designed for next generation Windows 7 OS) and would also support Windows 7's DirectX 11 just like computers with Windows 7 certified sticker. Radeon HD 5000 series would also support Future Blu Ray's Full HD Audio for your cousin's Full HD home theater entertainment such as Full HD Movies. At least get a Radeon HD 5750 or wait for Radeon HD 5670...

Message edited by Techno-boy on 10-27-2009 at 06:30:58 AM

Reply to Techno-boy

Because he wrote this about 2 months before DX11 cards came out, also alot of stuff you wrote, especially about Win7 is incorrect.

*Thread Closed*

Message edited by TheGreatGrapeApe on 10-27-2009 at 06:50:27 AM

Reply to TheGreatGrapeApe

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Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Cheap card for 1080p HD and Windows 7...