Best graphics card for Blu-Ray movies

[philipstreet]

Hi All,

I know this has been asked before but I wanted to clarify my specific requirements in case that affected people's opinion.

Approx purchase date : soon
Usage : Blu-Ray / HD-DVD movie playback, no gaming
Current GPU : Nvidia 8600GT
Other relevant specs : Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 Express ATX (GA-P35C-DS3R) mobo, Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 S775 2.66ghz CPU, 4GB RAM, Windows 7 Ultimate, Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 5
Country : UK
Parts preference : don't mind
Overclocking : no
SLI/Crossfire : no, not bothered
Monitor resolution : 1920 x 1080
Additional comments : Card needs to be silent / passive heatsink, HDMI output with HD audio passthrough as it will be connected to a Onkyo TX-SR308 recevier

Update : I forgot to mention my budget, which is up to £100.

Update II : I also forgot to mention the PSU, which is a Akasa Ultra Quiet Pfc 400W With 12CM Fan (AKP040FG7BKUK).

Many thanks,

Phil

 

[wa1]

Maybe this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102902

Combine with your specs I think it's more than enough for just HTPC PC.

 

[mrjericho1991]

hd 5670 is best bet,games + htpc.and its very low at price.+dx11 is future.

 

[wolfram23]

What's wrong with the 8600GT for bluray?

You don't need much for it, that 5670 would be perfect but you could probably even go a step down like 5650.

 

[philipstreet]

What's wrong with the 8600GT for bluray?

You don't need much for it, that 5670 would be perfect but you could probably even go a step down like 5650.

The 8600GT only has DVI out and does not output Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio - I currently use SPDIF to a Denon receiver, which down-mixes to Dolby Digital or DTS - or even plain Stereo on certain discs depending on the soundtrack.

 

[wolfram23]

Ah that make sense. Well yeah just get a card like they suggested.

 

[mrjericho1991]

hey but dont buy 1gb edition,get 512mb,its enough if you play games in which draw distance is intensive e.g gta 4.and 1gb will not help in bluray.if you just want to play bluray then i have 1gpu for you hd 5570,only if no gaming.

 

[wolfram23]

Actually another option would be to buy a sound card.

 

[philipstreet]

Actually another option would be to buy a sound card.

I did consider that option but decided against it for the following reasons;

1) All the dedicated sound cards that handle HD audio (Asus Xonar) that I looked at cost more than £100
2) Most sound cards that handle HD audio also decode, which is more than I need, i.e. I just need to pass-through the audio to the Onkyo receiver

I wil happily consider an audio card for £50 or less that does hd audio pass-through if you can suggest one.

P

 

[jyjjy]

Are you going to be using this with a 3D HDTV? If so the GT 430 is the only card that offers hardware accelerated decoding of 3D blurays so it is probably your best choice. If not then the HD5670 like others have suggested is the way to go.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

seriously, the cheapest ati series card, HD5450, does hd bitstreaming http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5450-overview/Pages/hd-5450-overview.aspx#2 it also supports stereoscopic 3d........ just dont plan to run games on it.

 

[philipstreet]

Are you going to be using this with a 3D HDTV? If so the GT 430 is the only card that offers hardware accelerated decoding of 3D blurays so it is probably your best choice. If not then the HD5670 like others have suggested is the way to go.

No 3D for the time being as the market and content isn't mature enough yet, probably wait several years.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

3d will not take off for home viewing imo. Small screens just dont work well with 3d, needs to be wall sized projection.