Graphics card compatibility

JustLacksZazz

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Aug 2, 2010
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Hey there, I currently have an ATI Radeon 4650 1024 MB graphics card running in my Gateway DX4820 desktop computer and was thinking of upgrading to the Radeon 5770. I'm running 8GB of DDR3 ram with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor.

I noticed that this card runs on GDDR5 memory technology. Since I'm a horrible graphics card noob, I was wondering if my desktop running on DDR3 ram will be compatible with the 5770? Also will this be a worthwhile upgrade to make? I noticed it's about 10 slots up in the graphics card heirarchy... P.s: thanks for making that - your site is by far the most informative when it comes to graphics cards. Thanks very much!

-Dan.
 
In a computer with a dedicated video card the video RAM and system RAM work independent of each other so there's nothing to worry about.

Yes, you will notice a difference in performance. The HD 5770 is basically the equivalent of the older HD 4870, but uses about 50% less power and supports DirectX 11. The HD 4870/5770 is currently considered "upper mainstream", but when the HD 4870 was release not that long ago it was considered an enthusiast level video card.

The HD 4650 was considered "entry level mainstream" when it was first introduced. It is now considered as below entry level or a "value" video card mostly for video playback with very lite gaming. I think it is the equivalent to the HD 5450.