Bog Standard Graphics Cards

[Ardesco]

8800GTS!!! You'll start making me go to Lanparties and water cool my case next.
I might wait until the G45 chipset comes out and stay integrated.

I'm not suggesting you buy a 8800GTS, just suggesting that you get something in the 8series range. The one I initially posted is cheap and cheerful and should do the job.

[crack_ho]

8800GTS!!! You'll start making me go to Lanparties and water cool my case next.
I might wait until the G45 chipset comes out and stay integrated.

[Ardesco]

8 Series is the way to go. I upgraded my 7600GT to an 8800GTS a while back and my frame rate more than doubled. I can actually play games in 1900*1200 now. They have done something amazing with the 8 series IMHO it blows everything else out of the water.

[MrRobin]

So everyone agrees that Nvidia Geforce is better than ATI Radeon at the moment?
What do I need for HD playback? Do I need an 8 series or can I go for 6200 or 7200?

I would stick with the 8 series if you want to output to HD (and preferably a card with a HDMI / HDTVout output ofcourse, like that 8500). The other cards might work OK, but drivers aren't updated as often and may have performance issues especially if you want full 1080 HD.

[crack_ho]

So everyone agrees that Nvidia Geforce is better than ATI Radeon at the moment?
What do I need for HD playback? Do I need an 8 series or can I go for 6200 or 7200?

[DimPrawn]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119720

Passive cooling. Cheap.

[MrRobin]

I'm not sure they sell dedicated graphics cards that tulipe!

That 8500 in Ardesco's post is pretty good, altho be aware that the heatsink is pretty humungous and you should make sure there is enough room in your case first!

This 7200 is a bit smaller and a bit cheaper but will still be able to run vista etc and has a DVI interface

[Ardesco]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=338560

GeForce 8 series is miles ahead of anything else atm, dunno how fast the budget ones are but I'm guessing it will be more than good enough for what you have in mind. (Note it has no fans and is the silent edition)

HTH

[crack_ho]

Ive been looking at new motherboards but was thinking of getting a chipset that doesn't have integrated graphics i.e Intel P35.
Is it possible to get a PCI express graphics card thats the equivilent of the Intel gma3100 integrated graphics.
i.e. I want a bog standard graphics card.
No fans or massive heatsinks and still runs cool.