HTPC Question

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masteroc

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I am about to buy a Sony XBR4 52" tv with an HD resolution of 1920x180 (1080p). I want to be able to play high definition (blu-ray) movies and tru HD content from my computer to the TV. I want it to run through HDMI on the TV, so i need to upgrade the video card to one that outputs to HDMI. I don't need anything for gaming, i just want the card to be able to play the full HD 1920x1080 content without any stuttering, artifacts, or anything like that. The computer is a dual core pentium with 1gb of memory and a SATA HD. I was looking at getting the ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO that is on sale at Compusa. Will this card be able to handle the full 1080p resolution without problems? Also, what is the best OS to handle this, should i get windows xp media center (i hate vista) or should i try one of the linux variants with mythtv?

Thanks!
 
Sony, themselves have a nice HTPC out, but I think it is still just a DVD player and not blu-ray... shame really. Anyways, I think you would be best off with something like an HD 2600PRO
Newegg.com - PALiT AE/260PS+HD21 Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

or
8500GT
Newegg.com - MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Silent Heatsink Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Either way I would suggest Linux would be the a great and easy option as long as you know Linux well enough to set everything up. Gentoo Linux would probably be a good OS for this HTPC.
 
So your saying that the HD 2400 PRO will not be able to play back the 1080p content well enough?
 
If you could link me to the exact 2400Pro you are referring to, I could tell you whether or not it would work. The 2400Pro's I have seen do not have HDMI and would require an adapter which may not give the best quality.
 
Yes it looks like that 2400PRO should be perfect for your needs. When it comes to just 1080p video, even many older cards can do that with ease. This one has HDMI on it, so that is good and it's only $50. I would say this is a great choice. If you get it and it doesn't perform to what you need, at that point I would return it for the slightly newer and better HD 2600PRO or 8500GT... but the card you have chosen should do everything you need it for.
 
Great! I'll grab that one then. Thanks for all your help. Also, I think Gentoo is a little to advanced for me, so i'll probably grab mythbuntu or something like that to get this stuff working. Thanks again for the help!
 
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