Cheapest 1080p capable Card?

[mcwildcard]

A mate of mine is joining the HDTV generation, so needs to upgrade his media PC to accomodate it. He currently has a 6800GT installed, but that's not going to be powerful enough for 1080p output, so what would the cheapest card be that can handle it?

 

[Dingleberry88]

He currently has a 6800GT installed, but that's not going to be powerful enough for 1080p output

It is.

HD relies on CPU more than anything.

 

[jaykay]

It is.

HD relies on CPU more than anything.

Well purevideo is surpose to help, and i think the 6series didnt have it or it was broken. So a nvidia 8500Gt should help.

 

[Darg]

No reason why the 6800GT wouldn't cope for video playback. Gameplay at that res would probably cripple it though.

 

[gareth170]

ati 2400 is good for hd media.. it doesn't relies on CPU

 

[Columbo]

If you search round you'll find an MSI 7300GS that has a true HDMI output on it. I've got one in my media centre and it outputs 1080p no probs.

Its got passive cooling on it as well, OcUK dont sell it so I can't link it in here, but trust me it does the job a treat.

Setup could'nt be simpler and I just use Media Player Classic (b-cos its free.!!) to output the video at full res my new Pioneer 1080p plasma

Cost me £46 hard earned notes..!!

 

[Darg]

But the 7300GS will perform worse then a 6800GT

 

[Columbo]

But the 7300GS will perform worse then a 6800GT

In gaming of course it will, but if all its doing is outputting video then gaming performance surely does'nt matter. I was simply indicating that the card mentioned was the simplest solution.

The op did'nt specify gaming as a requirement.

 

[Lanz]

So if your mate getting a BlueRay or HDDVD drive for his media center?

If so ATI 2400/2600 or Nvidia 8500/8600 would do the trick.