New Graphics Card Causing Problems

[CloudAndSky]

Hello everyone. First thing I would like to say is that I'm not all too computer savy, so please go easy on me.

A couple days ago, I bought a graphics card for a rather old computer. Everything was running fine, however I discovered that upon playing any 720p video (downloaded, not sure about streaming) would be very choppy and would lag. The sound worked fine though. Before, I was just using integrated graphics and I could play 720p videos with no problems. Also, on some games that would work without many problems before, would give me low fps (~3-6) on this new graphics card.

I'm sure I have the latest drivers that I downloaded from the site, not the ones that came with the CD, and that I disabled the drivers for my integrated graphics before installing.

So, does anyone have an idea of what's wrong? And, of course, any methods of fixing it? Any help would be appreciated.

The graphics card that I bought was the ATI Radeon HD 4550.

Thanks for reading.

 

[suzhicheng07]

do you mean that when you play videos,the sound was ahead the graphics?if it is,your video card haven't got any problems.It's the software problems.My solution is change another player.

 

[suzhicheng07]

Generrally speaking,if your video card got any problem,your system would suddenly shut down when you are playing games ,but not this problem you discribed.

 

[CloudAndSky]

Well, it's true to say that the sound is ahead of the graphics, however, what I meant was that the graphics were behind the sound. In other words, the graphics were playing very slowly, while the sound came out normally.

And no, the system wouldnt shut down suddenly, I would just get much lower fps, so are you suggesting that it's not a graphics card related problem?

Well, I'll try another player and thanks for the reply.

 

[Onus]

This might be a driver problem. Try uninstalling all your old graphics drivers, then install updated drivers for your new card (unless it's a Diamond, then use the CD). While not great for gaming, a HD4550 should be fine for movies at 1080p, and better than the IGP for games.

If your graphics card is a Diamond, however, then install the drivers that came on its CD; updated ones from AMD/ATi may not work properly on it.

 

[CloudAndSky]

Yes, it is a Diamond, so I did as you said, and this time installed the drivers from the CD, however, it didnt seem to have fixed the problem. I tried another player and had the same graphics lag.

 

[Onus]

I'm not sure what else to suggest concerning that card. Diamond earned a spot on my personal "Do not buy" list a few years ago, but I don't know how much that helps you. If you can, return it for something a little nicer, like a HD4650. Biostar has one for $50 that uses GDDR3 RAM, while most of them use GDDR2: unfortunately it is out of stock right now, but their HD4670 is $63: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141114 .

 

[CloudAndSky]

Hmm, alright. Well thanks so much for the help and suggestions. I think I can still return it, so I'll what I can do. Thanks again!