Looking for a HDTV video card...

[Sonikku]

A friend of mine is looking to get a Video card with an HDMI interface that can hook up to her hdtv. She wants to play World of Warcraft on it, has a PCI Express 16 interface and has about $160 to spend. Is it doable? And if so, which model might suit her needs?

 

[Schmide]

PowerColor HD4830 512MB

64.99 AR

If you think she may need more there are certainly better cards out there.

For WoW you don't need much anyways.

 

[Schmide]

BTW I didn't want to sound like that card isn't that good. It is certainly above average with plenty of power to drive a HDTV playing WoW full resolution.

 

[Sonikku]

is there anything a bit higher end that would allow her to max out WoW settings with a comfortable framerate? It's also on a high def display, so it will have to be smooth at 1080p

 

[Schmide]

I never see benchmarks for WoW, so it never crosses my radar. I guess the new Wrath of the Lich King can actually tax systems a bit. Not extremely but a bit.

That card would run full resolution max detail. If you wanted to step it up a 4850, GTX 260, 4870 could satisfy your friend. One of the issues with getting cards of this level is they start to require greater power sources (PSU).

The 4830 needs about 80w of power which most PSUs can do no problem.

The other cards
4850 = 100w
GTX 260 = 120w-140w (55nm 65nm respectively)
4870 = 130w

A couple deals going on now within your price range.

MSI Radeon 4870 1GB - $169.99 AR + ship

eVGA GTX 260 $149.99 AR + ship

Would she notice a difference? Yeah sure. Is it worth the extra power and cost for the extra performance? Not sure. I'll let a few others chime in to give their take.

 

[Schmide]

BTW I don't think the GTX 260 can send audio over the HDMI, correct me if I'm wrong. I know all the ATI cards can do 7.1 over HDMI and all come with a port or adapter.

 

[themisfit610]

Another vote for the 4830.

WoW is CPU limited when it gets slow, the GPU is almost never the problem provided you have a half-decent GPU.

I run it maxed with 4xAA on my 4830 at 1920x1200 and it's fine Dalaran and some other areas, but they're also slow on a Core i7 with a GTX 295

~MiSfit