Graphic Cards Cheapest Possible Graphics Card for Watching HD Movies

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Xavier

Xavier

Galvanizer
Okay, so here's the deal. My ancient PC (2007) is in dire need of an upgrade but due to severe budget constraints, I won't be able to do that for another 6 months or so. In the meantime, a friend of mine shifted to the States and gave me his Viewsonic 24" full HD monitor. My current config runs okay on my Viewsonic 19" 1440x900 monitor and my primary usage of the comp is browsing+watching TV shows/movies and occasional Lightroom+Photoshop (won't be doing this very often in the future as well).

The 24" is currently not being used as my PC simply does not have the horsepower to run 1080p and everything lags a lot. Also, it does not have HDMI/DVI input ports. Since I cannot upgrade the entire PC, I'm thinking of going for a cheap(est) graphics card that will let me view full HD content and browse in a satisfactory manner. I will be upgrading my machine in 8-10 months and won't use this graphics card on the new PC as I'd be aiming for something much better during that time.

I'm open to buying a used one from the TE market as well, provided it meets my requirements. Can you guys help me with choosing an el cheapo card that will complement my ancient rig

What is your budget?
3k (would like to keep it even below this if possible)

Current rig Specs

CPU
Intel Pentium Dual Core 3GHz (don't know the exact chipset name)

Motherboard
Again, not sure. Some Intel one

RAM
1GB DDR2 (Had two 1GB sticks but one of them failed recently)

Monitor
1440x900 (currently using)
1980x1080 (intended usage)

Which PSU/SMPS will you be using? Rating + Brand
Local Intex brand 400W (?)

Primary use? (Casual gaming, Hardcore gaming, Just for display, Movies/HTPC)
Browsing & Watching HD content
What resolution do you game on?
N/A

Interested in Crossfire/SLI?
No

Open to both Nvidia/ATI?
Yes

Thanks in the advance for the help. Tagging @ALPHA17 and @Jakob for help regarding the same.
 
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amd 6450 fits your requirement.
It will happily drive both panels and doesn't need separate power supply.
 
I bought a HD5450 2 GB DDR3 for Rs.2.3K and sold it within 3 months for 2.1K. I used it with my ACER 24" LCD Monitor, did everything well except play the newer games. Has HDMi, DVI & VGA ports. Good stop gap card.
 
I would offer my 3 months old gigabyte amd 6450 gfx card.
it has 1gb ram and windows 8 and 1080p runs as fluid as it can get.
check your PM.
I upgraded to 6850 for eyefinity set up.

thanks.
 
I bought a HD6450 1GB last week for my HTPC and it plays full 35-40GB blu-ray ISOs without any problem. It also gives DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD output flawlessly.

Perfect card for HD movies I'd say.
 
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