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Is it worth me buying a HMDI graphics card?

iGrumpy

iGrumpy

iGrumpy

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Joined
5 Dec 2007
Posts
7
I am considering purchasing a new graphics card. I stream (is that the right word?) a lot of 720p avi files on to my 42" 1080i plasma TV. Currently I have a Geforce 7600 GT and I see a lot of snow/dots on the screen when viewing avi files etc. I assume that is because I am using a vga cable I am seeing the dots?
Therefore I am considering buying a ATI HD card as the Geforce cards I have seen in the OCUK catalaogue are £300+. Would a HMDI card/cable fix the issue? I am not looking to purchase a high end graphics card as I don't use my PC for gaming much at all.
I am alaso aware some cards arwe very big/long. Not sure if it matters but my case is a Lian Li something.... not sure which model. So the case is smaller than the average PC cases.
Could anyone offer some suggestions from the OCUK range? FYI - my motherboard is a Gigabyte S4. Budget is ideally £100 - £200.
 
if you do want a new card, i suggest something in the 3600 or 3850 range. not sure which ones have a dvi-hdmi convertor in the package or a hdmi port on the card though.
 
Wouldn't a dvi dongle/convertor mean a drop in quality? I am looking to use a HDMI to HDMI connection. Do any of the ATI cards actually have a HMDI connector? Or do only the high end Geforce cards have HMDI ports?

I should perhaps also mention my main PC screen is 24" widescreen LCD running at 1920x1200, also bought from OCUK. Both Plasma + LCD are always connected to the PC.
 
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You wouldnt really notice any quality loss from that adaptor, well certaintly nothing that u can see.

Id also recommend ATI they have far better picture/HD output technology and under XP they still support full screen video mirroring which can be set to have full screen or same size as source.

This one looks good

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-171-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=168

id still email/phone ocuk to find out if it has the HDMI adaptor included.
 
I'm getting a little confused, if a convertor can be used, whats stopping me using a DVI to HMDI (if such a thing exists) to connect my Geforce card up? Is it the case with DVI to HDMI cards, they have on board additional hardware necessary for HDMI signals such as that for audo pass through? Just not the connection port?
 
The converters are propriety to the card. And plus, the ATI decodes HD vid onboard, along with sound, and outputs through DVI. your current one simply doesnt.

Im going to prepair a pre-written answer for these type of threads:

"Passively cooled low to mid range ATI 3000 series cards own all when it comes to HTPC or HD video playback"
 
i use a dvi - hdmi cable I bought from a popular auction site. DVI and HDMI are the same signals, you just need to set the resolution slightly diff to normal TV as you loose a slight bit of picture from the outside otherwise, but apart from that works great :)
 
Skeeter said:
The converters are propriety to the card. And plus, the ATI decodes HD vid onboard, along with sound, and outputs through DVI. your current one simply doesnt.

Im going to prepair a pre-written answer for these type of threads:

"Passively cooled low to mid range ATI 3000 series cards own all when it comes to HTPC or HD video playback"
Click to expand...

precisely, ATi's decoding of video has always been better than nVidia, nVidia have the speed crown at the higher end, but that doesnt mean its good at every price range and application.

in your £100-200 budget id go for a HD 3870 XT (~£150) or a HD 3650 (~£50), i wouldnt get anything lower as it uses ddr2 memory, whereas the most common type used is in the gfx market today is gddr3. you might as well have it for a few extra quid.
 
iGrumpy said:
I'm getting a little confused, if a convertor can be used, whats stopping me using a DVI to HMDI (if such a thing exists) to connect my Geforce card up?
Click to expand...

You wont get audio over HDMI, that's the main reson to go with the ATI cards suggested.
 
So is it possible to use a nvidia AND an ati card in a system (with two pci-e graphics slots obviously) and use the nvidia card for gaming and the ati one for hdcp output?

I ask because I have a 8800gtx atm which is fine for games but id like hdmi out.
 
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