Hello-
I'm building a PC that I intend to use both as an HTPC for playing downloaded and ripped videos and as a gaming PC. I need a video card that will play all or most games at something close to 1366 x 768 for my 50" plasma. Since it's in the living room, it needs to be practically silent. I had an MSI 8600GTS but the fan was so freakin noisy I RMA'd it. Right now I'm looking at this MSI 8600GTS with passive cooling, but I could find very little info on it online so I'm a little wary.

I prefer NVidia because I've had consistent bad experiences with ATI drivers and software, but it's not set in stone. I'm willing to spend a little extra to get the right card, but I don't see any reason to get top of the line for my modest requirements.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
SN

I would recommend the 8800GT that just came out it is about the same cost and i know if you use rivatuner you can set the fan speed on your card to max or min speed, adjust it as needed. Currently have dual 8600gts and i would say go for the next big card.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them"

Definitely the 8800GT. Even though the name would suggest otherwise, the 8800GT is quite a bit faster than the 8800GTS-640MB, and almost as fast as the 8800GTX.

Plus, it's got all sorts of awesome video acceleration features that other 8800 models lack (such as Purevideo 3.0, which will decode HD-DVD/Blu-Ray with next to no CPU utilization).

The best part is that this kick-ass card only costs around $220.

The Movie PC:
Pentium III-S CPU: 1.66GHz, 158MHz FSB, 512K
2GB DDR333
7950GT AGP
Vista/XP
X-Fi
Optoma 1280x720 projector
JBL 5.1 audio
and now 89 upconverted WMV-HD flicks

Thanks for the recommendation...I checked all the usual suspects (buy.com, zipzoomfly, and newegg), and couldn't find any 8800GT cards in stock for anywhere near the $220...Where can I pick one of these badboys up? Is there any specific model that will be quieter than the others? I don't mind giving up a little performance for silence.

Thanks a ton!
SN