Looking for a new video card

**Sephirdorf** · 07-31-2010, 11:32 AM

I currently have a ATI Radeon X1200 which uses pixel and vertex shader 2.0, however alot of games now require 3.0 or higher. On several "can you run it" sites i'm always informed that my video card is the only thing stopping me from playing the more graphically stronger games such as mass effect and starcraft 2.
Can anyone recommend any affordable 3.0/higher cards, i've never purchased a video card before so I am currently unsure on which one would be right for my computer.
My operating system is Windows Vista 32 bit

**Yuhaney** · 07-31-2010, 02:45 PM

Do you have laptop?
If so, is the graphics card integrated to your motherboard?

**Sephirdorf** · 07-31-2010, 08:11 PM

No I don't have a laptop, I have a desktop instead.

**Yuhaney** · 08-01-2010, 12:47 AM

Hmm... Strange, I thought X1200 was laptop's graphics card. Oh well...
What about your other specs? Just asking, so that I know what card to look.

**Sephirdorf** · 08-01-2010, 11:50 AM

Manufacturer: Advent
Processor: AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor 2.20 GHz

Is this what you need to know? Smile

**Yuhaney** · 08-01-2010, 02:32 PM

I have almost the same processor. Tongue

But yeah, since you have power on the rig, I'd recommend you to get some of the newer graphic cards.

If you want some super power, get this.

**Sephirdorf** · 08-01-2010, 03:43 PM

Wow, over £500 for that on Amazon, sadly that's too steep.
I've been looking at the Radeon HD range and they require a HD capable monitor and a blu-ray drive. Is there any way to check to see if my computer has these features?

edit:

I've been looking around. What do you think this card. The ATI Radeon HD 4770, around £80 on amazon:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/component...on-hd-4770

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/g...-4770.aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radeon-Hd4770-Pc...934&sr=8-1

I've also been looking at the ATI Radeon HD 4670. Here is a review of it on PCPro
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/graphics-...on-hd-4670

It is £65 on amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-4670...079&sr=8-1

On the amd website it says they require a HD monitor and blu-ray drives. Is there any card suitable for playing a game such as Starcraft 2 on recommended settings that doesn't require blu-ray?

**Yuhaney** · 08-01-2010, 10:07 PM

That was one of the best on today's market what I just showed. Tongue

Well, I have ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 and it doesn't require Blu-Ray drive to work. (I have some old DVD drive, which I have had as long as I can remember...)
I think what they mean by that, is that if you want to get everything out from your card you'd need HD monitor and Blu-Ray drive (Blu-Ray movies = Full HD [1920x1080] resolution and HD monitor to see the HD quality), but it's not really needed to get the card to work (lower resolutions work as well Wink

).

Just Google your monitor name and see if it supports HD resolutions (1280x720 / 1920x1080).
But if you don't have HD capable of graphics card, even if you're monitor is, you can't use these resolutions (I believe...).
And what comes to your CD/DVD-drive, just check the front panel to see if it says: CD, DVD or Blu-ray.

You gave link to HD 4770, I have just newer version of it with 2GB memory and it works fine for me, so I suggest you to get either that or put little bit more money into the card and buy a newer model with higher memory.
Here's one card with 1GB of memory. (Price: £118)

But remember, I'm not a pro, so you should give a try on some of the other forums as well and see what other people suggest. Smile

Also, one thing you can do is go to YouTube and search for the graphics card you're interested and the game you want to see to be played on that card. Also, set the words "maxed out" or "maximum graphics" / "settings" to see how the game works with full graphics on the card you're looking for.