How good is the 3200 integrated graphics? M4A78 Pro

[kless001]

I've spent a good amount of time looking through these threads and product reviews for the M4A78-Pro "I used search function" and still couldn't find what I was looking for, so sorry in advance if this questions has been answered before. Anyways this MoBo is being shipped to me right now along with a phenom quad core 9850 2.5ghz and 2 sticks of 2gb "Gskill" ram <----it had great reviews and pricing, so I ordered it, although I am aware it was intended for intel use, I here a lot of amd users run it with no problems.

I'm going to hold off on a graphics card for a few weeks, more important to get the system up and running first of course. I'll just use the onboard 3200 'crossfire' radeon integrated graphics. Here is my question(s) and I'm very gratefull for anything information given to me because I've been starring at specification layouts for this board and it's nothing like talking to experienced people.

Just how GOOD are the integrated 3200 graphics?? Will it handle COD4 or 5 on minimum settings? Or am I stuck playing starcraft brood war until SC2 comes out and I buy a 4870 radeon? Also, with the whole crossfire that the board supports... From what I understand the g.card you put in the pci-e slot must be a 3200 series card for the crossfire to work, is this true? Will 4850 radeon work in crossfire mode? Keep in mind I'd like to watch blu-ray soon once I get the drive.

Here is the set-up that is being shipped to me right now through newegg.com, the thermaltake mxarmor+ will be here tomorrow, according to ups tracking, so I get to stare at the box and drool for a week while the mobo/pcu/ram/cpu-fan/vista-64bit catch up.

Thermaltake MxArmor+ midtower
PhenomQuadCore 9850 2.5ghz
ASUS M4A78-Pro
Gskill ram 2 (2gb)=4gb 1066ghz
XIGMATEK cpu cooler
Vista-64bit
WD 500gb hd
ACeR 24inch hd 1080p monitor "already arrived" hooked up to my brothers ps3 via hdmi he doesn't want to give it back


How does this setup sound to you guys, anything stick out that would indicate something wouldn't be compatible? From what I understand the MoBo supports vista 64 bit so I shouldn't have any problems right? I did many hours of research before buying, "give me credit for selecting a good MoBo" So basically I need the blessing of all of you to start my first build!

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope I get replies, I suppose i could have shortened it, but I'm so damned excited guys, building this machine is a right of passage for me.

 

[gkay09]

Well the onboard graphics is sufficient for the blue ray playback...but I doubt it will be sufficient for the latest games...mayb u can play them at the lowest details....

And ur set up is very gud...

 

[kless001]

Thanks guys, keep the posts coming! I will without a doubt get a graphics card soon, still have $500 left in the budget for this so I've stayed well under my cap.

 

[nikomido]

i have 2 mobo, one is asus m3a78 emh-hdmi and m4a78 pro that uses 3200 integrated gpu. to tell the truth 3200 perform really slow. to have any game playable, u have to set your setting to low low low..still..hmm...not that smooth. so..i bought med range eah3650 top gpu, guess what? it perform really well with crysis, grid, any latest game u can imagine. set to all high without any problem. but...anyway u have to disable fsaa to play smoother. =P overall..buy non integrated gpu better. it u have the cash, go for asus dark night 4870..hehe...u're goona be satisfy!!! XD

 

[kless001]

Build was successful. Just ordered a 4970 Saphire Radeon card off newegg.

 

[PV9685]

The greatest features behind the newer IGP's are more or less their feature set and not their speed. Theoretically the 3200/3300 should be able to do light gaming... Though I believe the design is best suited for running the Windows 6 Aero (Vista/Win7) interface smoothly with low CPU overhead.

IMHO, Integrated graphics are designed to suit every need of a normal computer. Once you get into games or intense video editing, etc.. you are no longer using the PC for everyday tasks..... even if you play videogames all day, every-day! lol

Anyhow, the whole Hybrid-Crossfire idea looks to be in it's infancy. The pairing allowed for the combo is so lack-luster that it wouldn't be worthwhile for most to even buy a dedicated GPU to work with the setup. In time, if it were designed with power management and better pairing... perhaps the IGP could take over until the GPU is needed, during that time the GPU could be in a low power mode. That would be useful.

Anyhow - the SidePort memory feature was a GREAT idea... Or at least from what I have seen it was. Essentially this makes the IGP like a REALLY low-end dedicated GPU built on to the motherboard. (The whole idea is that it does not EAT system bandwidth to access RAM) This seems especially important now that memory controllers are integrated on the CPU and memory access would have to travel through the CPU's memory controller to go from IGP <-> System Memory (and across HyperTransport on the way)

 

[jtisgeek]

Yeah the 3200 sucks when you put a newer video card you can leave it on to runs extra screens so thats nice we use it at work cause it saves money on quad screen setups. Board wise mine is water cooler and am still working out the kinks my 9950 is only running at 2.8 right now.

 

[blackpanther26]

I hope you got the Phenom 9850 for a good deal becuase it is not the best compared to the Phenom II X4 940. Any ways I would still get a GPU on the side.