Now I need help speccing an nVidia card please.

See my BSOD thread for reasons...

I now need a nVidia gfx card to do the following :

No games :)

1440x900 main lcd panel for gp use

1920x1080p TV for HD movies.

My main monitor is right next to the PC so no problem there, but the TV is 20 feet away, and up till now I've used a VGA cable which, until the crashes, was working perfectly happily cloning 1440x900 to the TV. I dont want to extend my desktop, but again, ideally, I want to run a 1080p signal to the TV while using 900 lines on the main monitor, so not *exactly* cloning :)

First, is that possible ? and if so, I have a modest budget of 50-70 quid to do the job.

If the two differrent signals are not possible Ill stick with cloning at 900 until I can afford a 1080 local monitor, then I can clone at 1080.

Did that make sense ?

Makes sense, but why do you need a nvidia card?

cuz I got cheesed off with the ATI (esp lack of response to my problem in their own HeXus section !) and as a double safegaurd just in case it *was* just a driver problem :)

The hexus section here is long dead as far as I can see. I'd say a 5450 or something would be best for such a low graphical requirement, there aren't really any problems with them I've heard of, and it should be cheaper (not to mention better for running blu-rays on).

My nephew's getting along fine outputting to his 1680x1050 LCD and a 1360x768 TV (as separate displays) from a 9800GT, switching between gaming and GP stuff.

20 feet? Use a longer HDMI cable (10m from Scan).

So about 6 meters, you can carry a vga signal over a far greater distance than that with a good cable.
Projectors in the hall at work carry a 1280x1024 signal over 100 feet on vga, cable quality plays a major role when you are trying to push a signal over distance.

Think Im decided on a GT430 by Asus. £65 at Amazon UK and Im sorted unless anyone objects ?

It's just more than you need to pay, that's my only objection :p

Why the Asus particularly? Scan have a 1GB Gainward GT430 for a smidge over £55.

I currently use a HD4670 in my HTPC although I only connect to my HDTV via HDMI.

A HD5450 is less than £29 at scan...

Ahaaa, I've just found a shop that's literally 2 streets away. They have the Sparkle and GigaByte ranges at similar prices. As my mobo is GigaByte, is that not a more logical choice ? I've also seen more comparitive reviews that reckons maybe the 240 is a better card, although I get the feeling those are more gamer related reviews... Oh, and silence is important too, so which is quietest ?

And if I have that budget, I'm not too worried about spending to my limit (she holds the purse strings!). Maybe I'm trying to overspec for the future (or something :) )

I'll make me mind up soon, honest :)

There's no real benefit in buying a card thats the same brand as your motherboard.

I currently run a Gigabyte GTX 460 OC2 on an Asus M4A87TD and they have paired up really well indeed.

As above on the mobo front, but go with Gigabyte anyway - better support :)

If you want to just play movies I would suggest a G210 or a second generation 8400GS.

The G210 has fourth generation PureVideo HD.

The AMD alternative is the HD5450.

As cat said the G210 is perfect for what u want, i speced my step-dad a htpc with one in a few months back and its running like a dream.
there very low power/heat aswell so no need to worry about noise. indeed i would agree 240 is overkill for just hd video and desk-toping.
as far as customer service and support go evga and gigabyte are miles ahead of the pack.
if u really want to spend a bit more i would go with a newer gen card like the G430.

Just ordered the Gigabyte GT430 from ebuyer, 66 quid all up, many thanks for all comments and suggestions.

I'm sure the 430 will be an excellent choice.

Lower end cards always get pushed as being ok for media work, but the shaders get used for video post processing (de-interlacing, noise reduction etc) so entry level cards do lose some quality.