Upgrading on-board video

[snake8]

I have been doing a ton of reading but have been away from the vid card scene for awhile. Right now I am using the on-board video on my mobo, its a Radeon 4200 with 128mb (which I'm sure it's sharing from RAM). I would like to upgrade to a discrete vid card. I have been looking at charts on this website, but I am confused. How can a Radeon 4870 be better than the Radeon 5670 (doesn't the higher number mean a better performing vid card)? My budget is like less than $100 but I would like the most bang for my buck. Right now just playing Lord of the Rings Online (with my nephew, he got my hooked). But I am getting terrible lags, stutters, etc. I am running on High settings, so its not even on Very High at all. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[rolli59]

There are 4xxx series there are 5xxx series and now 6xxx series.
High end 48xx, 58xx and will be 69xx
Mid range 46xx and 47xx, 56xx and 57xx and 68xx.
List your full system specs inclusive of PSU which is going to decide how powerful a card you can run.

 

[snake8]

Ok, my build is fairly new too:

AMD Phenom II X2 (but am running it with all 4 cores unlocked)
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard
Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
Antec BP430 power supply
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB hd

Thanks again.

 

[rolli59]

$100 GTS450 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133343 little less, older tech same performance GTS250 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261057

 

[snake8]

I didn't really look at the GTS series at all. How does the GTS450 compare with the Radeon 4870 and 5670? Thanks.

 

[rolli59]

GTS450 is in the same performance group as HD4850 in between the two you mentioned, You would be pushing it running a HD4870 on your PSU.

 

[snake8]

So what kind of difference can I expect going from my onboard radeon 4200 to either the GTS450 or GTS250?

 

[rolli59]

A massive upgrade both cards have great performance up to 1680x1050 resolution and handle most things well at 1920 x 1080. your current card would be lower than the lowest card on this list http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTS_450_Amp_Edition/28.html

 

[snake8]

Since it is integrated video, and I went to a discrete card would I gain some RAM back? Also do u think its worth waiting for Black Friday to buy?

 

[rolli59]

Yes you will get the amount back that the IGP is using. Maybe worth the wait for BF but they have good deals every day until then so check.

 

[snake8]

So u think that my limiting factor is my power supply? If not are there any other cards i should keep my eye on in case their price falls?

 

[snake8]

Ok, quick question about Radeon cards. Is this method of thinking right, that any 5xxx series Radeon HD card is better than any 4xxx series Radeon HD card? If not, can someone please explain. Thanks.

 

[rolli59]

That method is wrong they are only newer! HD4850 and HD5750 are equal in performance, HD4870 equal to HD5770, HD5670 is even less powerful than HD4770 and so on.
You could say that the second number is the one that puts it into performance group.

 

[snake8]

So let me get this straight:

HD4870/HD5770 > HD4850/HD5750/GTS450 > HD4770 > HD5670

Does that look about right?

 

[rolli59]

Yes that is about it!