Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > [Solved] Any consensus on a good non-gaming Win7/64-bit card?

[Solved] Any consensus on a good non-gaming Win7/64-bit card?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - [Solved] Any consensus on a good non-gaming Win7/64-bit card?

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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 12:26:11 AM

I've been using an old Nvidia FX1300 forever and I just upgraded to Win7/64 and it looks like it may be time to upgrade the video card. I don't do any gaming and the most computer intensive stuff I do is photoshop and I have dual monitors. I don't see a lot of Win7-64bit discussion so I'm wondering if there are any known solid cards for this configuration? Many thanks!

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Best answer from EXT64
I think a lot of them will work, which is why it isn't discussed much. If you aren't gaming, you will want a low power consumption card. I use an Sapphire ATI 4650 DDR3 in Win7-64 and it works fine. My main uses are general office and light CAD. The card can even do a little gaming if you'd like. And best of all, only $50 (or less). That's my experience at any rate, I'm sure others will have other options to consider as well.
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Bronze Graphics badge EXT64   10-28-2009 at 12:30:36 AM
Best answer

I think a lot of them will work, which is why it isn't discussed much. If you aren't gaming, you will want a low power consumption card. I use an Sapphire ATI 4650 DDR3 in Win7-64 and it works fine. My main uses are general office and light CAD. The card can even do a little gaming if you'd like. And best of all, only $50 (or less). That's my experience at any rate, I'm sure others will have other options to consider as well.


Message edited by EXT64 on 10-28-2009 at 12:31:11 AM
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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 12:43:22 AM

Thanks for the reply. Is there any issue with one of the ports being HDMI out? I have dual LCD's and right now they are both connected to a DVI-D connection. I'm assuming you can simply buy an HDMI to DVI adapter?

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Bronze Graphics badge jaguarskx   10-28-2009 at 12:53:59 AM

I would drop down lower to the HD 4550 which is powerful enough to be used to watch Blu-Ray movies from the PC (assuming a BR drive is installed).

If the video card has a HDMI you can simply look for an adapter.

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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 12:59:37 AM

Are there any reasons to drop to the 4550 besides price? They are within $10 of each other. My biggest concern is that it work well with Win7/64.

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4745454b   10-28-2009 at 03:49:55 AM

Based off the same chip, I would think both the 4550 and the 4650 would work as well with Win7-64bit as any other 4xxx chip. There is no reason to think one would work better then the other. You don't even need to get a card, there are motherboards out now that support dual monitors. I would get oneof them, or whatever cheap modern card you can.

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reconviperone1   10-28-2009 at 03:54:54 AM

I would go for a 4650, or even a 4350 if you only do photos in photshop

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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 05:57:11 AM

Ok, so looks like everyone agrees the 4650 is a solid card. Now, is there any reason to go with name brand ATI/AMD vs. another manufacturer like Sapphire/XFX?

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dredg98   10-28-2009 at 07:20:41 AM

i like xfx i just bought a 4870 1gb just a couple days ago and it runs sweet i love it and xfx has a double lifetime warrenty on there cards

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4745454b   10-28-2009 at 08:27:41 AM

Does ATI/AMD still make cards? I thought they stopped doing that.

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------------------------------ The voice of REASON
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Always a DEMON!
 Reply to 4745454b
zipzoomflyhigh   10-28-2009 at 12:28:52 PM

I think Sapphire is AMD/ATI's default distributor. XFX, sapphire, msi, asus, they are all good.

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cscott_it   10-28-2009 at 05:53:10 PM

Sapphire is a solid brand and usually the least expensive (it used to be the primary distributer for ATI). I've had good experiences with them back with my old X1900's

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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 06:40:55 PM

4745454b wrote :

Does ATI/AMD still make cards? I thought they stopped doing that.



I don't know, from their website I got the following link to FRYS... http://wheretobuy.amd.com/prodinfo [...] ?price_tab It sure appears to be AMD/ATI?

Reply to gerrym
gerrym   10-28-2009 at 06:42:31 PM

Did the 4670 replace the 4650? Looks like the the only change is the clock speed is faster?

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gerrym   10-28-2009 at 09:35:23 PM

Awesome article on the 4650 vs. 4670 on this site http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2444.html

Looks like I will be going with the 4670 since price difference is almost negligible and power consumtion is not an issue (4650 48W, 4670 59W). I'll be sure to post my results.

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