Graphics Decent mid-range graphics cards?

It's been a while since I was in the graphics card market and I'm looking for something to put in a build for my Dad's new PC. Can anyone recommend a graphics card that is low power, quiet, but can still handle moderate graphical tasks like running Aero or fancy hardware accelerated websites. You may have guessed that my Dad is not much of a gamer, but I don't want a card that will useless at everday tasks. Looking at all the bit-tech reviews it seems all the cards are big dual slot monsters.

Thanks!

 

What kind of budget. Bit techs idea of mid range is a 560 costing £200

 

Well depending on the budget available to you i would personally suggest something along the lines of perhaps a AMD HD5670 (there's a passively cooled Sapphire version whhich would also be completely silent) or maybe for much better value a friend of mine has an EVGA GT440 which is still a 1GB card but has an effective and quiet cooler and is no thicker than the single slot itself, plus scan as this for £66.53 Here. It also draws all its power from the PCI-E slot so no need for 6-pin power cables.

In fact now i look at the 440 more ignore the 5670 suggestion lol. Do, however wait for others to yay or nay these thoughts. Just seems to fit the bill in my eyes.

 

Ok, perhaps I should say "budget" as opposed to "mid-range"

My budget is around the £100 mark. I'm not opposed to something second hand so long as it's decent. I guess my main concern with an older card is would it be suitable for playing blu-rays?

 

Have a look at an ati 5770.

 

The 460 GTX 786 mb is just a tad over you budget but well worth it.
The 5770 is a good choice but the 460 will be more powerfull.

A second hand 5770 on here will go for about 65 pounds.
But if al you are doing is playing blue ray a passive cooled 5670 might be a better card.

 

The above two card are the £100 ones when new
Be worthwhile looking in the marketplace
But honestly for aero/hardware acceleration browsing £50 can get you a more than adequate card.

 

You guys are aiming way to high:

Any GPU that is better than a Geforce 9300 will handle:
-> 1080p video playback
-> Aero at 1920x1200 smoothly
-> play 2 generation old games, or this generation games at minimum settings, and minimum resolution
-> Handel hardware acceleration Flash, Silverlight, HTML5/web browser.

For better performance, get a GPU with dedicated memory.

Anything bellow the 9300 won't be able to meet the above requirements.

My recommendations is to get a GPU with a large fan. Small fans are noisy and break fast (from my personal experience). Big fans are solid, and will last longer. A GeForce 9800 GTX is an excellent choice. It will play current generation game at near if not max settings at 1920x1200. But next generation games, you'll need to cut down on settings (your dad doesn't play games as you stated, but I just want to provide a general knowledge for you, to know what to expect)

You would have 0 problem driving 2x 1920x1200 monitors with full Aero ultra smoothly. The GPU quiet. My brother has it. You hear his Intel Core i7 860 heatsink fan more than the GPU at idle.

If you can't get the above... then check out the Geforce 240 or the GeForce GTS 450

 

Whoops, didn't really read the first post that well.
4850's go for about 35 pounds so they are well worth a look aswell.