I'm upgrading an old SFF GX280 2.8Ghz Dell PC. It's a modest machine, but I want to add a low profile HDCP compliant graphics card. I am seriously considering the 3450, more specifically, the HIS-HD3450-D2LP which offers: PCI-E 256MB 64-bit DDR2, Dual Link DVI, TV Out, HDTV, HDMI, Superscalar unified shader architecture, 40 stream processing units, 64-bit memory interface , DirectX® 10.1 / Shader Model 4.1 support, PCI Express® 2.0 support, ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance, High-speed 128-bit HDR (High Dynamic Range) rendering, Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing, ATI Avivo HD video and display technology, Built-in HDMI and 5.1 surround audio, Support for the ATI Radeon DVI to HDMI adapter, Unified Video Decoder (UVD) for Blu-ray and HD DVD, ATI PowerPlay energy conserving technology (Include 2 Single Slot Low Profile Bracket).
The go-price is around $50. The power requirements for this model are listed as higher than what my Dell SFF is rated at (only about 130w, but a lot of forum discussions seem to hint that the Dell machines are often underrated). Also, according to a PC Authority review this model graphics card has 'ATi PowerPlay' which apparently keeps power consumption to a minimum by shutting down portions of the card that aren't being used, so I'm willing to take that risk (unless someone out there has tried what I'm about to and has failed - by all means, let me know).
BUT, my core question is regarding Blu Ray playback. Even if I get this bargain graphics card, is my old Dell SFF motherboard going to let the team down?|||well to play Blu Ray you need an HDCP ready graphics card which im assuming your 3450 is, if not there are 8500/8600 nvidia cards that are, a HDCP ready monitor which can be costly, a Blu Ray player, and software that can play Blu Ray video's like PowerDVD 8 Ultra or WinDVD 9 Plus, so your motherboard as long as it has a blu ray drive installed and has a HDCP video card with an HDCP monitor, will be able to play Blu Ray
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