Upgrading video card... need advice

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drdeutsch

2[H]4U
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Sep 17, 2004
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Was poking around in a local store today and I saw this card:

GIGABYTE GV-R455D3-512I Radeon HD 4550

for about the same price (I live in Taiwan). I've been wanting a new video card lately. My 8800 GTX is still kicking, but I've been watching a lot of H.264 720p videos lately and I'd prefer to have a video card that can do DXVA decoding to take the strain off my CPU.

That one has decent reviews. I don't do a ton of gaming.. maybe some TF2, KOTOR, etc. Not a lot. This card would mostly be for some gaming and the DXVA decoding. This could handle that, right?

Otherwise, I also saw this one:

GIGABYTE GV-R465OC-1GI Radeon HD 4650

But the reviews on that one don't seem nearly as good.

If push comes to shove, I could wait a bit. I have a much larger selection if I drive about 1 hour north (large computer parts/outlet store sort of thing).

Again, just looking for a decent video card for some PC gaming, DXVA decoding, and so on. Would you recommend something else in the sub-$100 dollar range (Doesn't have to be ATI)?

Oh, and last question. I'm still running a s939 Asus A8N-SLI Premium. It's got PCI Express 1.0... adding a 2.0 card should be no problem, right?

Thanks for your time, help, and advice.
 
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The HD4550 should be fine at for gaming at a 1440x900 resolution. You may be pushing it if you want high visual settings at a 1680x1050 (or greater) resolution, but I can't say for certain.

I would normally say that you should take NewEgg reviews with a grain of salt, but you can't ignore the fact that many people have commented (negatively) on the Gigabyte HD4650's loud GPU fan.

If you can, wait until you can make the trip. The HD4850 would be a better choice for gaming, and it also has all of the HD-offloading features of the other two cards, but I don't know how much more it would cost you to buy it "locally."

All of the cards mentioned are backwards-compatible with the PCI-E 1.1 slot, so you won't suffer any performance degradation during gaming.
 
Yeah, my gaming will be at 1920x1200 on a 24" monitor.

Maybe this one:
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4850 512MB

That way I get HDMI as well. Seem likes a good deal for just over 100 bucks (prices might be different here in Taiwan), assuming I can get the same brand model. If all else fails, i can order it online and have it shipped to a friend and forwarded to me.

Does Newegg pack stuff pretty well?

edit: the 4890 seems like a bit overkill. 2x 6-pin power connectors? Also, no HDMI. HDMI isn't a must... but would be a nice benefit. I do like XFX, though, with the double lifetime warranty.
 
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drdeutsch said:
Yeah, my gaming will be at 1920x1200 on a 24" monitor.

Maybe this one:
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4850 512MB

That way I get HDMI as well. Seem likes a good deal for just over 100 bucks (prices might be different here in Taiwan), assuming I can get the same brand model. If all else fails, i can order it online and have it shipped to a friend and forwarded to me.

Does Newegg pack stuff pretty well?

edit: the 4890 seems like a bit overkill. 2x 6-pin power connectors? Also, no HDMI. HDMI isn't a must... but would be a nice benefit. I do like XFX, though, with the double lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

It's not overkill at that res, and Newegg does pack stuff well.
 
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