recommend a budget graphics card

[stelladrinka]

Moved my PC and I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card. It's running a 40" HDTV so I need 1080p play back for movies not looking to play games through a HDMI output, the motherboard has pci express slots and I'm running a dual core amd processor, my budget is £50. Any suggestions please?

 

[little_pob]

If you're not gaming, the nvidia GT 430 or ATI 6570 will see you good.

 

[stelladrinka]

Thanks pob, will I need separate audio leads or will it run through the HDMI lead?

 

[jamesyboyjim]

I've got a radeon 5670, you can get it for around the 50 mark if not less nowadays it'll happily play 1080p movies via hdmi, you can even output 5.1 audio from the hdmi to an amp aswell it's a perfect card from a htpc perspective, and a bit of light gaming (skyrim works fine if you turn aa/af down)

 

[stelladrinka]

Thanks James, just to clarify I don't need to run audio cables up the wall just a HDMI.

 

[little_pob]

You should get sound over HDMI with both nvidia and ATI -though you may have to turn it on in Control Panel.

If the card only has DVI out, both nvidia and ATI graphics cards have a feature called "sound-over-DVI". This is not a DVI or HDMI standard, so you will normally need the manufacturer specific DVI to HDMI adapter (often included, but check the specs list), rather than a DVI to HDMI cable from ebay.

 

[jamesyboyjim]

Thanks James, just to clarify I don't need to run audio cables up the wall just a HDMI.

Yes mate just the hdmi cable

Then you just go into sound in control panel just select the hdmi digital panel as the default sound output

Be careful of some older cards with hdmi as I have an nvidia 8400gs and that'll happily output video via hdmi but it has no ability to output sound

 

[little_pob]

...Be careful of some older cards with hdmi as I have an nvidia 8400gs and that'll happily output video via hdmi but it has no ability to output sound

My 8400GS does in a roundabout way. It has a SPDIF header on the card, and the card acts as a pass through.

 

[stelladrinka]

Why is this so cheap? Too good to be true? h**p://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-637184-001-Hd6570-1gb-Pcie-2-1x16-Fh-Video-Graphics-Card-ATI-Radion-/160772324297?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item256ec6fbc9

 

[little_pob]

It's 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort (aka DP), so you'll need a DP to HDMI cable/dongle too. Just make sure you get a full size one, rather than one for miniDisplayPort (aka mDP), e.g. Kikatek.com | (DP2HDMIADAP) StarTech DisplayPort to HDMI Video Adaptor Converter - M/F

Other than that, no reason not to get it. The seller states it's working and accepts returns.

 

[stelladrinka]

Thanks Pob, will this give me issues with audio through the HDMI?

 

[little_pob]

TBH, I'm not that familiar with DisplayPort.

I've been lead to believe, however, that DP and HDMI are "compatible" with each other (i.e. you only need an adapter, not a convertor) and both can carry sound.

 

[stelladrinka]

Did a little digging and it does support audio through the DP, think I'll give it ago Thanks all.