Wow hd4890 1gb @ £159.90

[scaryjim]

If it's *just* for media playback - no games - you can either build on an AMD platform and go with a 780G / 790GX board (the integrated graphics has Avivo HD for hardware decode up to 1080p), or go with a HD4350 discreet card.

If you think you might decide to have the odd sneaky game on it, then go with either a price-hacked HD4830 for ~ £75, or a HD4770 - They're in stock *now* at Scan for £85, and Sapphire's implementation is on pre-order at both Scan and Ebuyer for £75 if you can wait...

Either way, if you're not gaming regularly on it there's no point spending £150 on a graphics card. Save the money and put it towards more RAM, bigger or faster hard drives, or something else that will actually make a difference to the performance of the machine for its intended purpose

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would definitely go for a cheaper card if it is for media playback and occasional gaming!!

The HD4770 is now available for under £80:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1005142

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=hd+4770&x=0&y=0

The card has similar idle power consumption to an HD4830 but much lower load power consumption.
Performance is better than an HD4830 in many games.

However Crysis will run much better with an HD4870 or HD4890 though!

[sammorris]

Yeah, it's not especially simple to do, but you can get rid of then Zen charge.
Shipping costs still render the HD4890 cheaper from Pixmania, but don't forget delivery takes a full week from Pixmania, whereas it's next day from Scan. That in my mind makes the difference relatively close. I want my hardware NOW lol.

[bertie]

Shipping was a day and a half for me from Pixmania

[sammorris]

I went next day and it took 4 working days, i.e. a week in real terms. I got an email telling me it'd be delayed, but only after I'd signed for the delivery... o_o

[.Style]

2 days it took for my hd4890 to get delivered by DHL, to me..Very happy with pixmania deals

[cheekster]

I was half thinking this card was way OTT for my planned new HTPC build, shame as it seems like a decent deal.

Thanks: CAT-THE-FIFTH, ScaryJim & .Style for recommendations/advice.

Cheekster.

[sammorris]

Agreed, the HD4770 uses Less than half the power of the HD4890, yet performs like an HD4850 (i.e. significantly better than half the performance). That's basically an £80 high-end gaming card that barely needs one PCIe plug, let alone two.

[dfour]

Its a superb deal and you can get £7 off the price if you havent ordered from them before and are recomended by another . (pm me I can do it if the offer is still valid).

I just got a 4650 from ebuyer for £40 + delivery for my HTPC and its superb. Will allow you to play older games no problem and quiet. No real point spending more unless you want to play more modern games at higher resolution. Even the 4770 seems overkill for your stated needs Cheekster.

[sammorris]

Indeed, if you're a non-gamer, even the HD4550 would suffice, and as you say, the HD4650 can deal with a lot of games well, it's as powerful as the best of the X1000/7000 series cards we paid £300 for back in 2006. Not to mention, it's easy to cool passively. The HD4770 is amazing because it's faster than any single GPU card from the Geforce 9 series, rivalling the HD4850, with much lower power consumption, easy passive cooling, and half the price tag such cards carried only a few months back.

[matadorluis]

I also bought it when the second time offer but I am a bit dissapointed with the overcloks I get, far below the average for the card.

At least was a good price for a good GFX

[sammorris]

How far have you got with it?

[stevencage7]

Tell me about it ,,scan today only xfx 4850 for only 80,, u can see why,, T_T