Best video card for HD playback...

I'm looking to upgrade my onboard graphics to a video card with an hdmi port. I need a card that has an hdmi port that carries both sound/video through the one cable. It will be used to playback 720p/1080p .mkv/h.264 HD files and streaming 720p video. I want it to playback smooth, full quality with no stuttering. Could someone recommend the best card for this situation? I will also be upgrading the PSU, so power will not be an issue...I just want the best HD playback with no lag/stuttering/scanning issues. Also will use for light video editing.

Here's my mobo/system specs in case that helps:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc [...] R1002_USEN

how bout a different approach to this a new motherboard with a good intergrated graphics with an hmdi port an leaves the option of multiple upgrades in future ? interested http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128395
just add faster ram an reuse your cpu an everything else but you gona upgrade your psu

thought the 'mainstream' pc makers came to thier senses and started using standard hardware ,if not just get a 4670 should be plenty for your needs

Naaaa, they would lose money if they used standard hardware.... that is the main reason why they have their own little wacky way of mobo placements... this way when it is time to upgrade you end up having to buy a whole new tower.... the DELL and HP's that have full standard hardware are the High-End systems....

like the xps 725 wich costs $6000 round here

south africa

we got a few e tailers round and a few chian stores (matrix,incredible corruption*cough*meant connection) but i buy from an indoor market for extras they tend to get asian imports

Thanks for the suggestions, I originally thought about building a whole new machine, I don't think putting it together would be a problem, but I'm not really familiar with installing & setting up bios/drivers/other stuff to get it running. So, for now, I was just going to try an upgrade. I would like the card to be rather quiet and now that I think about it, sound through hdmi cable is not important.

Would one of these do the trick, which do you think is better? I probably wouldn't even have to upgrade my PSU, since both run around 300w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102819
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121293

Any other suggestions are welcome!

I guess it doesn't have to be. I just found a good media player last night, it plays back 720p content very smoothly and skips to parts without freezing the program. So, I guess if I can get away with the 4550 without having to upgrade my psu, it's worth it. All I really need is that HDMI connection.

Also, could you verify the 4550 would be compatible with my system, I'm not sure if the 64-bit GDDR3 on the card is compatible - or if that even matters?

Nope, the video ram doesn't matter. As long as you have a PCI-E x16 slot you're pretty much good to go.