Geforce 8500GT Pcie 256MB GDR2 3PORT Dvi Tv Out HDmi Passive Cool

Features one HDMI and one DVI port, fanless heatsink design, low profile (no low profile bracket supplied). Fixes frame drop problems playing back HD-DVDs on a NVidia 7050pv motherboard. The 7050pv is underpowered for HD-DVD playback but the Geforce 8500GT card fixes any HD-DVD performance issues. CPU utilization dropped from 100% to 45%.

Biostar TF7050pv, AMD 4400+, 1.5GB, Vista Premium, D-Link DI-655, D-Link 323 NAS, PowerDVD Ultra. Be sure to update all drivers. All works together for very good HD-DVD playback.

The 8500GT is just about the best low profile card available. There are a few 8600GT cards out there, but good luck finding one in stock. This card works great in my HP S3300f. It raised my Vista desktop rating to 5.0, and the gaming rating to 5.2.

The card itself is a low profile card, however the metal bracket that you actually screw into the PC is not. So to make this work in a low profile computer it required removal of the metal bracket and a hack saw to shorten it. This created a loss of component output plug which was fortunately unneeded.

The card was installed on Windows Vista, installation was flawless, however I did download the latest drivers off of MSI's site rather than take my chances with the version included on the installation CD due to concerns raised by an earlier reviewer of driver problems using this card on Vista.

The card is perfectly quiet due to lack of fan which makes it great for a media center PC. Another cool things about it that I didn't realize upon purchase is that it is one of the few cards whith included component out. If you have an older TV without HDMI you can still connect it to your computer and have a high quality video connection.