best bang for the buck video card for hdtv/blu-ray/hddvd

[xyyz]

at the moment i'm running an 8400gs. that card will go into another system soon.

i went out and purchased a 9500GT/512 for $50AR. considering no gaming will happen on this HTPC, i'd really like to do something cheaper than the $50.

i'm going to watch/record HDTV, and watch both blu-ray and HD-DVD titles on this system. at the moment, 720p is good enough, but i'd like something that can do 1080p smoothly in the future. i'd also like the card to run cool, and reduce the CPU usage as much as possible. given the last consideration, you're right to assume i want something with as low a power draw as possible.

HDMI is nice, but i have a DVI-HDMI cable, so i'm not really concerned.

 

[tno]

You can find Nvidia 9400's for something in the $35 range, but if you already have the 9500GT I'd just stick to it, it does a really smooth job and will keep up with 1080p content whenever you move up to that. You can always check the forum for something cheaper in the future, but it's not going to be lower than that.

 

[xyyz]

what do you think about the ATI 4350 and 4550 offerings? they use about 20-25 watts, which is much less than the 9500GT.

 

[yh125d]

Both 4350 and 4550 are good. Get a HDMI model, maybe a fanless one so it's quiet

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Either a 3450 512mb or a 4350 256mb. Either one and you'll be set