New Graphics for new PC - any ideas?

[Pez2]

Hello,

I was wondering if you could help.
I'm bascially building a new pc in the next couple of weeks, and i want it to be powerful (quad core, 4gb ram etc) but i'm not sure what graphics card to get.

I don't play games but i want the card to cope with HD video content with high vid resolution.

Could you please recommend a card for me? My budget is about £100 but maybe that's too much?
I've been looking geforce 8600 gt, which seems ok? but reviews here suggest its a little costly for what it does?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Pez

[rick1967]

Anything less than an 8800GT seems a waste in such a system. The 8800GT is available for relative peanuts now. No brainer for me.

eg £108

PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

[Andy3536]

There's a couple of 8600 at scan at £45 - £50, awaiting eta but there certainly not cheap for what they do, wait till they get in stock.

8600's
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Amazing price for this one
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

[MSIC]

Anything less than an 8800GT seems a waste in such a system. The 8800GT is available for relative peanuts now. No brainer for me.

Sorry Rick1967, but that is absolute nonsense.
Did you read the post?

I don't play games but i want the card to cope with HD video content with high vid resolution.

Why have a gaming card when he doesnt play games?
No, a lower end 8000 series like a 8600GT is fine, overkill maybe even.

A Radeon 3450, such as this one for £27 from Scan is designed for up to 1080p high-def video decoding.
It's cheap, will use minimal electricity, and meet the needs.

Now, if you fancy playing 3d games aswell, then the card is not for you...

[Mithrandir]

If you want a powerful multimedia card then I would recommend the 2900gt for £48 delivered from Novatech.

Than again this is a dual slot card so may not be ideal.

[MSIC]

Mithrandir have you gone mad??
Name 1 single benefit that you think a 2900gt would have over a 3450.
And don't mention gaming ability because it's already clear that is not required.

I dunno, someone asks for a cheap run-around vehicle to pop to the local shops in, and people here post back with "Ferrari Mondial would be ideal for your needs...."

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A HD3450 or HD3650 should be fine.

[Mithrandir]

Mithrandir have you gone mad??
Name 1 single benefit that you think a 2900gt would have over a 3450.
And don't mention gaming ability because it's already clear that is not required.

I dunno, someone asks for a cheap run-around vehicle to pop to the local shops in, and people here post back with "Ferrari Mondial would be ideal for your needs...."

lol.
Sorry didn't see your post before posting mine.
The 2900gt has great multimedia capabilities (not gaming wise) but compared with the 3450/3650 probably not so great.
Wasn't too sure of the 3450/3650 performance.

[MSIC]

S'alright, I expected that you posted without reading LOL
PS Havent said before i dont think, but I like your avatar

[Mithrandir]

PS Havent said before i dont think, but I like your avatar

Likewise- yours is a fine avatar

[Pez2]

Thanks for all of your replies, its very helpful,

now i have an idea of the model, can anyone recommend a brand? Should i go for
Gigabyte,
gainward
xfx
MSi.......ect...

And also they appear to have different memory like 256, 512 and even 1gb, I assume the higher the memory the better?

Also
Some say they have HDMI and some say HDTV - am i correct in saying that HMDI will be the actual connection and HDTV means that the card has some kind of adapter to connect to a HDMI device?

Do you think i can get dual DVI with HDMI?

Thanks again

[MSIC]

The brand itself honestly doesnt matter - they don't make them, all the companies do is get them from the manufacturers, test them a bit, add different ports on, put a nice sticker on, maybe change the heatsink/cooler and add a game or two. The actual board & chips are the same. (Well, there are always exceptions, but you know....)
I was trying to find one with a native HDMI port on it, and in fact the 8600GT's (like you originally asked about) are about the best ones with those on, however as long as you get a card with "DVI with HDCP" it means that any TV or monitor with a DVI port will allow High Def TV (via Blu-Ray or whatever) to be displayed properly.

As for memory, DO NOT pay more money for more than 256MB. It is pure marketing and you will get no benefit whatsoever. If a 512MB version is £1 cheaper than a 256MB version then fine, but otherwise steer clear.

I'd still recommend my first posted suggestion, unless you know that you definitely only need a HDMI port, in which case get this one:
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

[timothius]

I'd recommend an ATI card over an NVIDIA one, as they have slightly higher HD video quality.

[rick1967]

Sorry Rick1967, but that is absolute nonsense.
Did you read the post?

Why have a gaming card when he doesnt play games?
No, a lower end 8000 series like a 8600GT is fine, overkill maybe even.

A Radeon 3450, such as this one for £27 from Scan is designed for up to 1080p high-def video decoding.
It's cheap, will use minimal electricity, and meet the needs.

Now, if you fancy playing 3d games aswell, then the card is not for you...

Of course I read the post. He was looking at 8600GT's and was willing to spend up to £100. I pointed out an 8800GT for £8 over budget. A much better card for very little extra and in a totally different league to any of the others mentioned.

This is a reasonable option and matches the rest of his system well. Hell, we might as well say forget about quad core as hardly any applications make use of 4 core multi-threading.

[Pob255]

Execpt for things like photoshop, infact there are more non-games that will use the 4 cores than games.
esp when multitasking, I don't know about others but I don't tend to run other things while playing a game.

And a 8800GT is only a better card for 3d applications (eg games) I'm not fully sure what the 8800gt is like on encodeing but the 8600gt was better than the old 8800gts for that.
The 8600gt like the one MSIC linked has built in HDMI output that you'll not find on a 8800gt

[colmo]

A different approach would be to go for a AMD 780G based motherboard, eschewing the need for a graphics card altogether, while leaving the option to upgrade at a later date - it even has Hybrid Graphic Technology (it uses a sort of Crossfire to combine the efforts of the onboard and any extra ATI graphics card in it, afaik).

Unfortunately, it's limited to the faltering Phenom CPU line, though you can now pick up a triple core for around £100. For a budget video-oriented desktop, it's a decent option - it all depends on the applications you use.