HDMI graphics card

[zeta333]

Im going back home after a stint in the army and recentlly bought a 27.5inch moniter and i want to purchase a graphics card that has a hdmi port in it as well as dvi/vga and im wondering whats a good one. I dont care about having sound run through the hdmi as i have my own sound solution and i just want pure good video for surfing net and game. Iv seen some reveiws on several cards that arnt good when looking at text on hdmi. Money is not a option and i dont care between ATI and Nvidia. I will be purchasing windows 7 when its released and installing it but now im running windows xp on that pc. Please any suggestions will be awsome. Remeber Money is NOT a factor. thanks

zeta

 

[evongugg]

Welcome to the forums!

Are you a gamer?

 

[obsidian86]

if money is't an option get 2 gtx 285s or a evga gtx 295 co op if you looking for something cheaper get 2 at 4890s 0r a 4870x2 but since the new gen cards are are mere weeks away it would be best to hold on till the out an grab one by the nuts hard an fast

 

[zeta333]

Yes im a gamer. Crysis and WoW and all the other games.


How much of a improvement will the next gen graphics cards be? I seem to remember everyone saying awhile ago the 9900 was coming out but it never did..... And what sort of price am i looking at for the next gen? Also im not running i7 yet iv got a 3.0 wolfdale.

 

[obsidian86]

based or current estimates next gen has 50% min increase on compareble current gen and a wolfdale would dumb down most of my suggestions

 

[belial2k]

if money is no object you should upgrade to an i7 with a minimum of two gtx275 or two 4890s with the current cards. Yes, the new cards are coming, but the improved performance will come with a bigger price premium, so cost/perfomance wise this generation will still get you more bang for your buck.

 

[zeta333]

well then im wondering if someone could point out some good i7's and mobo's to go with them pls.

 

[belial2k]

Its hard for me to do "money no object" unless I know a budget for a starting point...but for a resolution of 19x12 I would suggest the following (you could spend more, but it would not get great improvement in performance)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359
2x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131140
overclock the i7 to about 3.6 - 4.0, overclock the video cards using autotune in CCC, and you'll have about as good of real world performance as anything costing much more.

 

[belial2k]

just in case it wasn't clear...I meant the i7 920, preferably with D0 stepping if you can find it

 

[obsidian86]

zeta take a look round here http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-269162_13_0.html

 

[zeta333]

see iv herd bad things about asus mobo's. I have a asus laptop and havnt had any problems but herd nothing but bad things about there mobo's.

 

[darkvine]

Well as far as HDMI almost every card today comes with adopters for DVI to HDMI as well as dvi to vga.

AS for the core i7 go for the 920 as it is the cheapest but can overclock amazingly well. As for a mobo if you are looking at mid to high end range there is

ASUS makes good motherboards and bad ones. Usually their high end is great and low is is questionable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365
Some people claim they have some problems with it while others swear it is one of the best boards they have owned. I have done 2 builds with them for other people myself and say they are solid from the short time I worked with them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046
Great board with a amazing warranty from EVGA. Also don't let the name fool you it does support Crossfire and sli like all x58's do.


If you want seriously high end then EVGA has the classified and ASUS has the Rampage Extreme II. Very pricey though.

 

[zeta333]

ok on the recomended gamer rig on that link that was posted the ram is out of stock but then i noticed its 1333 speed and the mobo supports 1600 anyreason i cant get a tri set of 1600?

 

[belial2k]

lol...i'm not sure where you've heard that about Asus MBs, but they are consistently the most reliable boards on the market. I'm a system builder, and have used 100s...they had a bad production run when the p6t deluxe v2 came out, but that is the only issue I know of. Just take a look at the customer reviews, and keep in mind the majority of review sites, including toms, use the p6ts as their reference x58 MBs.

 

[zeta333]

also in addition to the ram i dont like the look of that heatsink , i have this one and have used it on alot of other systems and love it, will it fit over a i7 ? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

 

[obsidian86]

on the ram well the 1333 is clocked slower but with better timings then the 1600 and on a ddr3 board any ddr3 will bout work but this is some good ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227408

 

[belial2k]

you need a HSF that will work with the 1366 socket, the one you linked does not seem to have a bracket for the 1366. Take a look at this article for the top performers with i7
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=16

 

[zeta333]

it would be really awsome if newegg HAD any of those.......

 

[darkvine]

I would go with the zalman 9900 myself. Great cooler.

You can get it here with free shipping.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010387&prodlist=froogle


the thermalright ultra-120 eXtreme is also an amazing cooler,

 

[zeta333]

Only problem im worried about is some of these fitting in my antec 900 case.....

 

[darkvine]

The ultra-120 eXtreme I know for sure fits but you have to take the side panel fan off as I recall.