Pc to panasonic 42 in. Plasma ?s

[Killerandy23]

Hello,
I'm getting ready to attempt to run all my media( DVDs and music through my 42 in. Flatscreen. My pc is older and does not have hdmi hookups like my tv. I was wondering what hdmi video card would be the best to get. Pretty much will just be watching movies and such with the occasional web surfing. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[COLGeek]

What are the specs for your system? Be sure to include the make/model of your power supply along with all other installed devices. Include your case info as well.

Last, what is your budget?

I have 2 (one at home and other with my daughter at college) HTPCs. One is connected to my Panasonic Plasma HDTV (with a Radeon HD5570 video card) and the other connected to a Samsung LCD HDTV (with a Radeon HD4650). Both have HDMI and perform their tasks VERY well.

Please clarify and I am sure we can point you in the right direction!

 

[Killerandy23]

Well I'm not the techiest of guys so I'm not real sure what I'm looking for but I wrote down everything that was on the tower. E. Machine. Model T5234, AMN 64 athlon x2 and it runs windows vista ( don't know if that helps). My budget is $200 and under unless spending a little bit more would improve quality.

 

[bucknutty]

chances are your tv has a vga. If it does just use that. You will get great quality at no expence.
On top of that many TV dont have driver support in windows, so when the monitor is installed as a standard plug and play monitor while using HDMI windows hides some display modes. I currently use VGA on all 3 of my tvs and it works great. Run BD at 1080.

If you have a PCIe mobo and want a new video card and HDMI I would go with a AMD 5450. They start at like 30 bucks and can decode BD with out much trouble. If you still on AGP I would not spend the money.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you are not going to be playing games, then you don't need to spend $200 on a video card.

I recommend the following Radoen HD 5550 for $60 + $7 shipping. It does not require much power so you should not need to upgrade your power supply. It is a PCI-e 2.0 video card which will work in your PCI-e 1.0 slot without any issues. Many Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series cards are PCI-e 2.1 card and there have been a few instances of PCI-e 2.1 cards being incompatible with PCI-e 1.0 slots. Most of the time there seems to be no issues though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141127

 

[bucknutty]

Your PC has a PCIe mobo but I dont see the specs on the PSU. I would go with a ati5450 for a cheap solution, or a 6670 for around 70 for a more powerful solution. With out knowing the psu i would not go biger than a ati6670, plus that video card will be over kill for your stated needs.

 

[rozz]

Do keep in mind - plasma TV's do tend to get burn in - please please please dont let your PC sit on the desktop for long periods of time. Your start menu and icons will start to be burned to your screen and you will get a permanent ghost of your desktop - be sure to have the screen saver set for a couple minutes...

 

[Killerandy23]

Thanks all for the advice and recommendations.