Legit Reviews

I am currently faced with a conundrum. I want to buy a Blu-Ray drive to put in my HTPC but I also want to take out the 8800GTS that is in it. I have the hottest room in the house, thanks to two overclocked PCs. I was looking at ATi cards with HDMI ports but I don't know what is capable of smooth playback. There is the HD4350 for around $30 that has a HDMI port on card. The next card I've seen with a HDMI port is the HD4550/4650. I know that the latter is better at gaming but is it better at HD/Blu-Ray playback? I have no intentions of playing any games just watching television and movies.

HD 4350

HD 4650

I'm looking at the ATi cards because the sound is already built into the card so in essence it's easier to setup.

HTPC
C2D E6750 @ 3Ghz
4GB DDR2 800Mhz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
8800GTS
Lite-On SATA 20x Burner
Hauppauge PVR-150
250GB OS/Music/Other Drive
250GB Recording Drive
OCZ ModXStream 600W PSU
XP Pro x86
SageTV Frontend

Had a 4350, it couldn't handle blue-ray or DVDs that well. Get the 4650 or higher.

Well that answers that, thanks.

You might want to go with an HD4550 if you won't be gaming. It's works pretty good for Blu-ray and available in fanless versions.