Solved! Is this powerful enough to play 1080p mkv's?

[bovis]

Building an HTPC. What I already have:

Case
2GB DDR2-800 RAM
Hard drive
500w PSU
Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz


What I plan to get:

MSI Radeon HD 4350 512 MB DDR2 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card MD512H

Gigabyte Core 2 Quad/Intel G31/FSB1333/DDR2-800/A&V&GbE/Micro ATX Motherboard GA-G31M-ES2L


What I'm most concerned about at this point is the video card. Is it good enough?

 

[jaguarskx]

The CPU is not a concern at all.

The HD 4350 can do it, but since it is the lowest of the low value video card it's low on processing power and some video algorithms which basically means you an watch MKV files and Blu-ray disc. However, if you spend a little more you can offload more processes from the CPU and improve video quality.

My first choice would the HD 5570 for $55 after a $15 mail-in rebate:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102875&cm_re=hd_5570-_-14-102-875-_-Product

2nd choice would be the older HD 4650 for $37 after a $15 MIR:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102843&cm_re=hd_4650-_-14-102-843-_-Product