Upgrading Card, Need Advice

[DocG2828]

Hi everyone! I just bought a new prepackaged PC.....HP m7650n. Duo Core 6300 w/ 2gig DDR2 4200 ram. It has a built-in vid card and I know it needs to be updated to get the full performance out of this pc. It does have a PCI express slot.

What would be a good vid card? I'll give you a bit of info that might help narrow it down for me.

-display is 55" Sony SXRD full 1080p HDTV w/ VGA, HDMI, HD component inputs.

-looking for something that will work well with the rest of my system and play 3d games in good quality, without having to spend $500 bucks on a vid card.

-something that is HDCP compatible with HDMI outputs would be ideal, eventually will be adding a BluRay or HD DVD and want a full 1080p picture coming from this thing to my TV.

Should I buy something reasonably priced now and wait until later to get the HDCP card? I'd love to spend about 150 and get it very soon!

Please help, there are too many options and I don't know enough about all this!
Thanks!!!!!!!!

*edit* I don't know what power supply this pc has yet, and know this may be an issue with a PCIe card.

 

[GlimmerMan]

For the best bang-for-the-buck...

7900GS for about $170 (rebates are around now)
x1950pro for about $200

The x1950pro is new and a bit faster. Both cards can do HDCP.

 

[DocG2828]

Look like good cards.

Anyone know how well those HDTV dongles work? Look like it converts it to a HD component output? 1080i right?

How about the DVI to VGA converters? How high of res can they handle? Would DVI to HDMI converter be better for me?

Can anything do 1080p at this point?