I know have everything for my HTPC bar the GPU. I am amaing for a good spec HTPC that can also be used for gaming with an XBOX360 wireless controller so the gfx card is a tricky one. I want it to be passively cooled as silence is key . I have found the following options out there. What would be the best one to go for as the 4650 is higher spec but the 4550 has gddr3 which apparently makes quite a bit of difference. Suggestions appreciated for other passive cards around the £50 mark. Linkies: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-Gigabyte-HD-4550-PCI-E-20-(x16)-1600MHz-GDDR3-GPU-600MHz-80-Cores-D-Sub-DL-DVI-I-HDMI http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-HiS-HD-4650-PCI-E-20-(x16)-1000MHz-GDDR2-GPU-600MHz-320-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-Passive Or I can go with HTPC favourite the HD4350. Its brilliantly cheap but will its run games to a reasonable standard i.e. slightly worse than the above. Or is the gap huuuge? http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-Sapphire-HD4350-PCI-E-20(x16)-800MHz-GDDR2-GPU-600MHz-80-Cores-D-Sub-HDTV-DL-DVI-I Thanks, Dean.
hmm... what games are you planning on playing? i would have a look at the gddr3 version of the 4650, as far as gaming is concerned you really cant go wrong for the price. as far as the ones u posted i would go for the 4650 just because of the higher specs check out the review on the sapphire 4550 512mb and 4650 512mb on http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=671&pageid=1 hope this helps a bit edit: srry I guess that the 4650 gddr3 is not really passive. In that case i would go for the passive 4650
Review: http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1411&pageID=5794 Card: http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=28861 Looks like it's a pretty good choice for mild gaming and media (including HD playback). Sounds like exactly what you need. Scan doesn't have it, but CCL does.
Not completely relevant but can I recommend Xpadder to handle your controller? (You'll have to find the link yourself I'm afraid but it's a good program)