Video Cards with HDMI

[dagnabulous]

I've got a media center PC and I'm looking into buying a new video card (probably a Radeon 4000 series). I'm looking for one that has a HDMI out port, as I haven't had good results with the adapters, and here's my question:

Why is it that some versions of the same video card have HDMI ports, and some do not? Even when I want to narrow it down, it seems a toss up if a certain manufacturer will have that card AND with HDMI.

Is there some rhyme or reason behind this?

I'm thinking 4800 series (i.e. 4850/70/90), with HDMI onboard, from a somewhat trustworthy manufacturer so I don't get screwed if I get a DOA card. Unfortunately Newegg only has cards that fit that category from either

1: A manufacturer I've never heard of or
2: I've heard bad things about

If it matters here are my system specs:

Acer Aspire M5640
Intel Quad Core Q6600 (@2.4 GHz)
3 GBs Ram

Current Video Card: Radeon HD 2600 Pro
OS: Windows Vista

Also, the TV I am looking to port to is a 56in Rear Projection type.

In the past I used an adapter with OK results, but had trouble with blue ray not wanting to play occasionally because I had "2 or more monitors connected" (I had the one monitor and the TV both connected).

 

[Guest]

Well i would say that not everyone has a hd screen but do have a dvi or vga screen,but still want a top card, so i guess that's why if that's what your asking.

 

[soundefx]

The new 5000 Series cards has a built in hdmi port in it. The 5770 is approx. $160, so that should be in your price range.

 

[dagnabulous]

Thanks for the tip on the 5770, I was about to cave and get a 4850 or 4870. Looks like Newegg has plenty of these too. Odd though, all of them were the $160 you mentioned except XFX, which is $15 more. I've heard good things about their customer service though so I may go with them anyway.

Probably going to check out some other review site to make sure there are no crazy known issues with the card, and if not order it tomorrow.

I was tempted to go with the 5870 at first, but i don't want to drop that ($370) on a media center PC when I'm about to build a gaming machine in the near future.