integrated graphics fast enough for HD videos?

[XebelBit]

Hi!
At the moment I have a Celeron D 2,13Ghz CPU. I have an integrated graphics card VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP and a GeForce 4 Ti AGP 8x. No matter which graphics card I use my computer is too slow for playing HD videos.

Now I want to upgrade my PC, buy an Athlon64 X2 5000+ for example and a mainboard with integrated graphics because of my low budget. I don't need 3D power because I don't play games. I would like to know if an integrated graphics card together with that CPU is fast enough for playing HD, h264, VC1, Blue Ray Disc videos and all the modern stuff.

Thank you for your advice!

[lucassp]

Yes, AMD 780G, 790GX, nVidia 8xxx and 9xxx series can do that.

[DJ Bobo]

I confirm.
I have a motherboard with the AMD 780G chipset and an Athlon X2 4850e (2,5GHz) and it plays h.264 1080p trailers flawlessy (60% CPU load max). Trailers don't rely on the GPU acceleration, so this is to give you an idea of what you can expect from a 5000+, which is slightly faster than the 4850e.
As far as blu-ray playback is concerned, rest assured, it will work flawlessly, the guys at tom's hardware managed to play such a disc on a mere Sempron 3200+ (1,8GHz) thanks to the acceleration of the 780G chip! so it will be a child's play for your 5000+. They got less than 18% average CPU load with the 5000+ during blu-ray playback!
You can read the full review here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-780g-chipset,1785.html

Oh yeah, my motherboard is an ASUS M3A78-EM if you're curious.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Indeed! Make sure you use the hardware acceleration capabilities of the 780g if you intend to go down this route.

~MiSfit