Ideal graphics card for HTPC

Was wondering what is a suitible graphics card for HTPC. Used for Blu ray, mkv and very light 720p gaming. Budget less than £80.

Thanks

An HD5450 for around £30 is low profile and will be fine for media duties but weak for gaming.

There is also the HD5570 GDDR3 which is low profile too but is around £57:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...sub-dvi-i-hdmi

If you don't need a low profile card I would look at the HD5670 GDDR5 for around £60:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512mb...-dl-dvi-i-hdmi

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190138

The HD5000 series also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio unlike the HD4000 series which may or may not be useful for you.

The 9800GT GDDR3 can be had for around £65 and is faster than an HD5670 but worse for media duties.

Define "light" gaming ;)

You might be OK with a HD4650 which can still be picked up for ~ £40: ebuyer have a couple like this XFX "4670" - which has DDR2 like the 4650 but runs the GPU at 750MHz like a 4670 (the slow memory will mean it performs more like a 4650 though).

Alternatively you're probably looking at the 5550: if you don't need low profile this Sapphire Passively cooled DDR2 version (£52) will give similar performance to the 4650 in games, but has upgraded media capabilities (and DX11, of course ;) ) and will be totally silent. A DDR3 version will have better gaming credentials, though: much nearer the 4670 than 4650: this low profile ASUS card is £55.

On the nvidia side, the cards you're looking at are going to be the GT220, GT240 and GT430. The GT220 is somewhere around the gaming performance of a HD4650, with the GT240 and GT430 having roughly the same performance just a little bit above a 4670. Personally out of those I'd go for the GT430 as it has better media capabilities and a newer architecture - prices start at ~ £55 if you shop around.

So the key is how light your light gaming will be - do you need to go for a 5570 / 5670 / GT430 to provide sufficient power for the gaming, do you want to go for a current gen card for the DX11 compliance and ehanced media features, or do you want to spend as little as possible while fulfilling the basic requirements?