Get rid of my current graphics card for an hd one?

[fatpigeon]

Hey, i'm thinking of changing my graphics card for an HD one, but don't want to loose the speed or quality of my current card or as little as possible, which is an Nvidia GeForce 9400 GT 1GB, is it worth it? and if so what HD card would someone recommend?? my other specs are
AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core processor 4200+ 2.20GHZ with 2gb ram.

the telly i will be using is a 47" full HD, it has a vga port and also HDMI, could anyone please advise me on which card will go well for HD viewing and won't jepordise mygaming.....

Martin

[DMcCoy]

Any reason not to just use a DVi to HDMI adaptor instead, seeing as the 9400 already supports HDCP?

[fatpigeon]

didnt realise that, and if i do use this adapter, i will be able to watch HD films in full HD and will it work with a blu ray player??

[Potato-Peeler]

I don't think it would be worth the money tbh, you've already got a pretty good graphics card and like above, you could just use a dvi to hdmi connector

[localzuk]

If you want to watch in full HD, you have a few hoops to jump through...

These are:

HDCP compatible graphics card, and drivers that support it also (ie. make sure you're up to date)
HDCP compatible TV
HDCP compatible OS (Windows Vista or 7)
HDCP compatible playback software (I know Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra supports it)

[synaesthesia]

With the lack of a straight answer, "yes". Assuming you've got all of the above requirements, it will indeed be able to play HD content. It will work with a bluray player if you have one in your PC.

[mac_shinobi]

Not really worth the hassle - I already have a DVI to HDMI cable and the monitor you have has to support similiar resolutions etc otherwise you end up with a tear in the video playback.

Cheaper and easier to get a stand alone blu ray player ( Sony BDP S350 for about £150 from play.com )

Play.com (UK) : Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player with Free Blu-Ray Film* : Electronics - Free Delivery

[fatpigeon]

well the monitor i am using is my 47" HD telly, it's a Baird so not sure if that has the HDCP your on about? also i'm not to keen on the idea of installing vista on my computer, if it's possible to install a duel operating system with XP and 7 then i may do it that way? the only reason i am wanting to do it this way is cause i don't have enough room for extras, if i can use a blu ray in my computer then i save space, i know this may not make sence to some people but i rent a room and the room is very small so i need to save space.

[mac_shinobi]

The stand alone blu ray player mentioned above is fairly slim line and will most likely cost less then replacing graphics card, buying blu ray drive and getting power dvd ultra - that or a play station 3 ?

If you get ( cant remember if its the nero info tool or one that cyberlink made ) but then that will tell you if things are ok as far as the hdcp side

Cyberlink Blu-ray & HD DVD Advisor: A free download tool to diagnose whether your PC hardware is Blu-ray and HD DVD ready, from Cyberlink

The Green Button - Getting blu-ray working in Vista MCE

[sted]

aye bluray dosent work in mce though with popere dvd 9 ultra it kind of looks like it does (loads from the mce menu screen/autoplay and looks like mce sort of). Having done it its nice but there are odd issues as soon as i play a blueray it kills aero. you dont need hdmi to be hdcp certified my old hdtv that has no hdmi works and is hdcp compliant over dvi and the output from my soundblaster to my stereo (optical toslink) also passes the test. My main issue though is that on a 32" screen im hard pushed to tell a difference between a dvd and a blueray disk imo the only rason to go blueray is future proofing

the tool is cyberlink CyberLink Blu-ray Disc Support