NVidia 8600GTS

[SiM]

daniel.phillips, none of those have hdcp... so no good for connecting to a hdtv

[admur]

Further to my other posts, there is a similar spec one here:_

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15249)...-Bit-DDR2.aspx

However it is DDR2, but that shouldn't make a huge difference...

Good luck!

[Sprite]

daniel.phillips, none of those have hdcp... so no good for connecting to a hdtv

Heh, sorry, I have no idea when it comes to TV stuff

[SiM]

Heh, sorry, I have no idea when it comes to TV stuff

Its cool, in simple terms to get full hd playback properly you need a graphics card with hdmi and hdcp and a hdtv with hdmi and hdcp... Then of course you need the hd content... hdmi is the connection, hdcp is the encryption that the connection uses...

[staffsMike]

its not a terrible card for playing games and has hardware support for HDCP so sounds perfect for you.. unless ATi can do better..which is possible but who knows..

It's not a terrible online price for it at pc world but i'd only get it there if you're desperate..otherwise it's cheaper on scan for a leadtek version and even cheaper at lowest on the web.

Splitting hairs though I guess as its only a tenner.

[Queelis]

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127276 - or the lovely DDR3 version of the 8600GT if you want to OC, £75 delivered I think, from ebuyer using google checkout.

Uhh, I aren't all 8600GTs with DDR3, and only some 8500GTs?

[Biscuit]

Its cool, in simple terms to get full hd playback properly you need a graphics card with hdmi and hdcp and a hdtv with hdmi and hdcp... Then of course you need the hd content... hdmi is the connection, hdcp is the encryption that the connection uses...

the 8600GTS has HDCP so thats the one you wud have to get BUT im pretty sure a lot of x1950 pro/XT and 7950GT come with it and u can get them for around the same price if not cheaper. Its also easy to find heatsink versions of these cards which would probs be more appealing. If your not into games at all then dx10 doesnt matter so not any need to go with a 8 series.
As for HDMI connectors i have seen them on a few cards but its a bit of a rarety atm. Graphics card companies really need to start putting adaptors on them as a fairly standard feature soon!

[kungpo]

HDCP? Is that gonna cause me problems? All my HD content is via torrents....

[kungpo]

Incidentally, the PC is connected to the TV via DVI > HDMI

[Sprite]

Uhh, I aren't all 8600GTs with DDR3, and only some 8500GTs?

Woops my bad. Yup 8600GT = 1400 MHz - DDR3

Not my day today

[SiM]

the 8600GTS has HDCP so thats the one you wud have to get BUT im pretty sure a lot of x1950 pro/XT and 7950GT come with it and u can get them for around the same price if not cheaper. Its also easy to find heatsink versions of these cards which would probs be more appealing. If your not into games at all then dx10 doesnt matter so not any need to go with a 8 series.
As for HDMI connectors i have seen them on a few cards but its a bit of a rarety atm. Graphics card companies really need to start putting adaptors on them as a fairly standard feature soon!

Although the older card do come with hdcp and hdmi, they do not accelerate h.264 very well... thats why these newer ones are better for htpc...

[Pob255]

Ahh you never said for HD play back not games before.
then a 8600GT or 8600GTS will be best

In fact Dabs have got a XFX 8600GTS for £95+postage atm
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4HXJ

EDIT: no sorry it's just a GT they've misslabled it.

EDIT2: Novatech have got a GTX for £117
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...?nov-86gts&P=1

[brentonhill]

So if I want games and HD should I get 8800 or 8600. I probs will use it more for HD content but I will game a little.

[SiM]

So if I want games and HD should I get 8800 or 8600. I probs will use it more for HD content but I will game a little.

8600>>8800 for HD
8800>>8600 for games

If you have a fast CPU then hardware acceleration doesn't matter as much so get a 8800... If you have a slower CPU then definately get a 8600

[brentonhill]

Got a Core2 e6600

Im stumped. Will probs end up using it way more for a media centre type computer.

If you had a £200 budget for a gfx card and you wanted to use it more for HD but a small amount of gaming you would just spend £100 and get a 8600?

Running Vista ultimate btw...

[SiM]

Got a Core2 e6600

Im stumped. Will probs end up using it way more for a media centre type computer.

If you had a £200 budget for a gfx card and you wanted to use it more for HD but a small amount of gaming you would just spend £100 and get a 8600?

Running Vista ultimate btw...

I reckon either will do the job for HD media... But your CPU will be near 100% used when decoding high bitrate 1080p if using a 8800... If you want to do things in the background whilst watching 1080p then its better to go for the 8600gts as your cpu usage would be 30-40% only when watching 1080p...

If your screen is 1920x1080 then you have to go for the 8800 if you want to play any new games, the 8600 can't cope with that resolution for gaming.

Note: no graphics card atm can offload VC1 decoding... the new ati's are meant to be able to do that so it might be worth waiting...