Is this a good cheap graphics card replacement?

[Rossini87]

I had a 6800GS that died and am currently using my onboard graphics which is terrible.
My system is old 3000+ AMD64, 1 gig ram, etc. But I don't really play games all that much mostly Tribes 2, Age of Mythology, and Fallen Empire Legions. Would like something that is comparable if not better than the 6800GS because I do want to play Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 when they come out.

Here is what I am looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814140095

What do you guys think?

 

[boonality]

Well it only as 256MB of video memory, you'll want at least 512 for 1440x900 res or lower. If you have high res such as 1920x1200 then you will want 1GB of video memory. Also your system sounds like it's an AGP bus and not PCIe X16. Have you confirmed your video bus type?

 

[Rossini87]

My last card was PCI express. It is a little strange because I am looking at other sites saying this card is 512mb, while newegg is saying it is 256mb. 256-512 range is fine, especially since I want the card to be cheaper.

 

[Rossini87]

The main thing I am worried about is the 6800GS had 256mb 256 bit memory while this card just has 128 bit. I would certainly think this new card is faster though.

 

[jennyh]

The 4670 is much faster than the 6800gs under all circumstances so no worries about 128 bit etc.

You probably have a problem with your cpu however. The 4670 will be better and you will notice it, but you will be holding it back with the rest of your system. I'd say go for it though if you aren't prepared to buy a whole new system.

 

[edeawillrule]

A 4650 might be more suitable for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102838

Although if you really want to get the 4670: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820

 

[photonboy]

I'd get the HD4770. It will max out your CPU but that's fine. It's the new 40nm so has excellent power consumption and the price is very reasonable.

Since Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are so well coded you should be able to get a good experience with this setup.

Your CPU can decode some but not all video. Using this new card with K-Lite codec pack (with MPC-HC) will allow hardware video decoding. Under XP, a 1080p Bluray rip video would drop from about roughly 100% CPU usage to 10%. (you need to configure DXVA etc.)

This card is a newer one that does MPEG as well as AVC and VC-1 hardware decoding. It may even be worth getting the slightly better HD4770 for hardware video transcoding (though this app needs more work).

 

[edeawillrule]

I'd get the HD4770. It will max out your CPU but that's fine. It's the new 40nm so has excellent power consumption and the price is very reasonable.

Since Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 are so well coded you should be able to get a good experience with this setup.

Your CPU can decode some but not all video. Using this new card with K-Lite codec pack (with MPC-HC) will allow hardware video decoding. Under XP, a 1080p Bluray rip video would drop from about roughly 100% CPU usage to 10%. (you need to configure DXVA etc.)

This card is a newer one that does MPEG as well as AVC and VC-1 hardware decoding. It may even be worth getting the slightly better HD4770 for hardware video transcoding (though this app needs more work).

An HD 4770 would be a waste on a pc with a single core cpu and 1gb of ram

 

[AKM880]

The 4650 would be a suitable choice, and it'll give you better performance than the 6800GS I'm pretty sure.

 

[jyjjy]

4650 rapes the 6800gs.
It's a good choice. If you go for the 4670 instead obviously simply don't the 256mb version. It's DDR4 instead of 3 but unless you are using a really low resolution I'd go for the 512mb.