Help me choose a video card

[robertq]

I am getting a new Dell PC with following Configuration.

I am going to use a 46 inch OR 55 inch TV as my monitor so I can do regular computing as well as use it as a Home Theater PC.

I am not going to use it for gaming at all.


Intel i-7 3.4 GHz Processor

12 GB DDR3 RAM

Windows -7 Ultimate

Integrated 7.1 Channel audio

Hauppauge® WinTV-HVR-1200 Hybrid Analog/Digital TV Tuner

They are giving 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT420 as default video card.

And they want almost $ 100.00 Extra for 1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD5770 Graphics Card

Should I pay extra for Radeon HD 5770 ? If yes, What will it do that NVIDIA won't ?

Thank You.

 

[EXCellR8]

the 5770 is more powerful than the GT 420, but either would be suitable for a HTPC. you wont need 12GB of RAM though, that's for sure, so if i were you i would save myself $100 on the memory and get the 5770.

 

[robertq]

I run Win -7 Ultimate, 3 or 4 Stock Market charting applications with 20 or so charts open along with few other applications like few word docs, 5 to 10 ie windows open etc. so I thought a lot of RAM would help & RAM is cheap. I am not hardware expert but just a crude guess & other people using that much RAM in my business. You can now suggest tthough.

My main concern is that I need good graphics on my stock charts & watching TV & movies with Large TV screen.

Extra $ 100.00 for a better video card is not a big deal if it is going to help in what I am planning on doing. But I don't want Dell to take advantage of me. Their service is good but they rip you off on extras like Videp cards, HDD, RAM, DVD/BD, TV Tuner etc.

Please advice.
Thanks

 

[Ritwik7]

The GT 420 should theoretically do fine for your HTPC requirements. And I concur with EXcell that you definitely do not require 12GB of RAM for the kind of usage you mentioned.