Video card recommendation for 1360x768?

[odditude]

I'm about to build a general-purpose PC that's going to be hooked up to my TV, which has a native resolution of 1360x768. How high-end a video card will I need to get to run with all of the bells and whistles enabled in current games (assuming no CPU bottleneck, of course)?

It doesn't seem any hardware review sites show comparisons at such low resolutions anymore. While I have issue spending money for quality, I also don't want to burn money on overkill hardware.

 

[Rifter]

i have a 720p TV in that res and i use a 4830 OC to 800/900, you wont be able to play crysis maxed out unless you want to spend some serious money but it handles grid and follaout 3 fine with 4xAA. i mean for the price the 4830 is really hard to beat.

 

[odditude]

thanks for your response.

by "handles fine," does it stay at 60fps consistently?

also, there's likely going to be thermal constraints (i'd like to keep this machine as quiet as possible), so overclocking isn't ideal - i'd probably need a stock 4850 to match your oc'd 4830.

that being said, what *at stock speeds* could handle everything BUT crysis, at 1360x768@60hz and full settings; and then what could handle crysis that way?

 

[n7]

4850 would a be a good fit for that resolution IMO

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The faster card you get, assuming no or little CPU-bottleneck, the better. But I'd stay away from SLI or Crossfire solutions.

It will still be tough for even high end cards to get 60 FPS consistently in Crysis if you turn everything up with AA, which is why I'm suggesting faster is better. However, Crysis doesn't need to run at 60 FPS to be smooth. As long as it stays above 30 it is extremely playable, so I'd say GTX260 or HD4870 (512) would be good. Although, if we throw out Crysis, then an HD4830/HD4850 class card should handle just about all games fine.

 

[fffblackmage]

the HD4830 ($65-$80?) and maybe the HD4850 (~$100?) are good bets. But, of course, you could always spend more, but those two are probably the best bang for the buck.

 

[AstroManLuca]

At that low resolution, you probably won't need more than 512 MB of VRAM. You might consider a 512 MB version of the Radeon HD4870. Yes, it's more expensive than the 4830/4850 by a fair margin (cheapest price is $135 AR vs. $100 AR or $75 AR), but it is a faster card. Just something to consider. Otherwise I'd say go for a 4850. Look for a good deal. Like I said, they can be found for around $100 after a rebate.

 

[Spike]

That res actually does not take all that much horespower. Not that this would work great for you but I use a 9600 GSO in my HTPC and I'm able to play my LAN specific games (UT3, WiC, CoH, CS:S, L4D, TF2) all maxed out with no issues. I had some lag when I was hosting the UT3 match but that had more to do with the hosting and the fact my HTPC is a vista box with only 2GB of ram.

In your case I would reccomend the 4830 for a good blend of low power performance. If you want faster the 4850/4870 or GTX 260 would all work but expect more noise and heat, two not so good things in an HTPC. With my dual slot 9600GSO and some tweaks I finally got my HTPC to be basically silent except for the oldish Seagate 500gb which has a slightly audible grind (my samsung F1 1TB is silent). The biggest change came from moving everything over to an Antec Solo case but going with the 9600GSO also helped.

 

[odditude]

Thanks for all the help.

It looks like the final config will be:
e8400 (stock), dg45id, 4gb ddr2-800, scythe ninja mini, 4850 (possible aftermarket cooler), caviar blue 640GB, samsung sh-223f, antec fusion 430 (black)

I have everything but the mobo, ninja, video card, and optical - fortunately, I've got the luxury of time on this build so I can wait for deals to show up.