Best card for PC gaming on 720p HDTV?

[MD1]

Hello everyone,

Need some advice on which graphics card to pick for my HDTV. Its a 60hz 720p 37" LCD. Max rez is 1366x768 so im looking for a card, something mid to high range, to do some PC gaming on it. ( mostly mmo's and stuff...nothing hardcore like crysis )

One other question...would it be better to go RGB or HDMI as this is the only options for PC hookup on this tv?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[PennySavre]

If the rest of your system is pretty decently-powerful, you could get a 4850... that might be overkill though, depending on how much gaming you want to do.

 

[MD1]

OK, so 4850 on ATI....how bout NVIDIA?

 

[niko084]

OK, so 4850 on ATI....how bout NVIDIA?

9800GTX+ or GTX260, but at that rate you could grab a HD4870 also.

9800GT isn't too bad but the HD4850 spanks it, 8800GT isn't bad either but 4850 beats it pretty good for not much more..

4850 is pretty much your bang for you buck by a good majority right now.
It's pretty much like the x1950pro in its day, it just was the card if you didn't want to spend $300...

But to be honest if its all light duty gaming which it sounds like a HD4670/HD3870/8800GT/8800GS/9600GT would all fit the hit really well.

 

[MD1]

Thanks for the advice....ok, does it matter if I use RGB or HDMI? Any advantages to one or the other?

 

[JrRacinFan]

I used to play on a 37" 720p. Never had any fps lag issues with an HD3870. Go with HDMI if you can with a HD4850 Toxic Be able to max pretty much 99% of your game library.

As for nvidia, 9600GT over Component.

 

[niko084]

I used to play on a 37" 720p. Never had any fps lag issues with an HD3870. Go with HDMI if you can with a HD4850 Toxic Be able to max pretty much 99% of your game library.

As for nvidia, 9600GT over Component.

Pfft 100% at 720p... I don't know about the rest but the HD4850 will upscale games as well as movies!

In fact it does it so well, that I played a really crappy 540mb 320x240? or something AVI my friend had on his mp3 player through my video card into a 1080i 42" and it looked perfect!

HDMI if you can is way superior to component, and I believe its the only way you will get the upscale.

 

[MD1]

Thanks everyone for the advice...just one thing...I plan on picking a graphics card for a microATX build/case. I'm afraid of overheating issues. Will I be safe?

 

[JrRacinFan]

I SAID 99% NIKO!!!!! LOL

.... that other 1% is Crysis

EDIT: Now were talking mATX, need a 3rd party cooler now on the vid card and cpu, with a few high cfm 80MM fans. Best person to ask is MKmods.

 

[niko084]

I SAID 99% NIKO!!!!! LOL

.... that other 1% is Crysis

EDIT: Now were talking mATX, need a 3rd party cooler now on the vid card and cpu, with a few high cfm 80MM fans. Best person to ask is MKmods.

Eh, I can max Crysis in 1080

Minus AA anyways.

The vista issue is poor programming... Period, because the original crysis I can play it perfectly well at 1080 with 4x AA.

 

[MD1]

OK guys, let me be more specific, I'm looking for enough juice to play WoW and still be good enough for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 down the road. ( I've got a Xbox 360 for everything else )

Lets hear it fanboys, pick me one card only for the task at hand. LOL

 

[magibeg]

OK guys, let me be more specific, I'm looking for enough juice to play WoW and still be good enough for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 down the road. ( I've got a Xbox 360 for everything else )

Lets hear it fanboys, pick me one card only for the task at hand. LOL

Would probably help if you gave us a budget as well, but yea, a 4850 is one hell of a card.

 

[niko084]

OK guys, let me be more specific, I'm looking for enough juice to play WoW and still be good enough for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 down the road. ( I've got a Xbox 360 for everything else )

Lets hear it fanboys, pick me one card only for the task at hand. LOL

The 4850 is really the bang for your buck all around... Even Nvidia fanboys will admit, may not buy but will admit.

 

[JrRacinFan]

The 4850 is really the bang for your buck all around... Even Nvidia fanboys will admit, may not buy but will admit.

IM still kinda learing towards the HD3870 for him because its half as much and not too much of a decrease in performance.

 

[Kwod]

Thanks for the advice....ok, does it matter if I use RGB or HDMI? Any advantages to one or the other?

Will HDMI do 768....I thought it would only do 720 and 1080

 

[Kwod]

Thanks everyone for the advice...just one thing...I plan on picking a graphics card for a microATX build/case. I'm afraid of overheating issues. Will I be safe?

I bought the HIS Ice cooler to avoid any heat concerns, and I've to have a problem with heat in my mid sized NZXT Hush case.

Only probs is that the HIS is more expensive and is dual slot.

Why don't you get a 4670 and then replace it when the other more demanding games come out....?

 

[niko084]

IM still kinda learing towards the HD3870 for him because its half as much and not too much of a decrease in performance.

Well the 3870 is another option IMO also, its not quite 1/2 as much its more like 2/3 but I do see your point being the games are not very heavy, but that's why I included the 8800GT/GS and 3870/4670 in my op.

 

[Eternal]

Will HDMI do 768....I thought it would only do 720 and 1080

768 is high def 720p. It sorta just doesnt utilize the other pixels. High def is only 720p, 1080i or 1080p. n above of course.

 

[spearman914]

8800 GT or 4850.

 

[m4gicfour]

Right now I've got a HD4850 in my Silverstone Lascala LC-13 HTPC case. I've had the same issues as everyone else with the fan set too low stock, but with a quick tweak that's fixed. Even though I did have to tweak the fan setting, i'd still say the HD4850 is the way to go; its the sweet spot for bag-for-buck, and a hell of a good performing card as well. If you do decide on a 4850 and have heat issues the fix is as simple as using Ati Tray tools to setup a custom fan table, or a BIOS tweak if you're adventurous. IMHO the heat isn't the problem here, in my case the card hit the Floppy/HDD cage, so I had to use it in my secondary PCIe x16 slot. You said you are going mATX so you might have similar problems, just make sure to check the specs before you buy, you might have to go for the shorter (anybody got a link to it ) powercolor version.

EDIT
Sorry its a Palit not a Powercolor (oops)
Here's a couple north american links:
Newegg US
Newegg.ca
NCIX (Canada)

 

[JC316]

4850, 8800GTS 512MB, HD3870, or 9800GTX will do fine. Take your pick.