Radeon HD 4250 vs. GeForce 8400 GS

Sentazacu

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Aug 24, 2011
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Hey, so I'm building an AMD computer on a low budget, and looking at a couple different options regarding video.

One would be to buy a motherboard with an onboard Radeon HD 4250 (or others with similar onboard video), and the other would be to buy a motherboard with no onboard video and get a very cheap video card - probably something with GeForce 8400 GS or similar.

The total cost of either option would be about the same. I wanted to see which option you guys think would have better performance.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
The HD4250 IGP is actually slightly faster than the 8400 GS. Neither are capable for gaming except for older games on very low settings but beyond that either should be fine. If you want to play current games then you can get something passable at low resolutions for about $50.
 

Sentazacu

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Aug 24, 2011
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Thanks all for the input.

I had looked into Llano processors, but decided against that. The FM1 seems to be a newer format, so there's not as many options for motherboards, so they're a bit more expensive, and (at least the ones I saw) didn't seem to have PATA, so I'd have to get an extra card for that too - since I've got some older drives (hard drives and optical) that I want to be able to use in there. Also, I got the impression that the CPUs themselves weren't as powerful as the Phenom II line.

I'm not much of a gamer, so a real powerful video card isn't that important for me. Just want something to get the job done. I'll mostly be watching movies and stuff with this computer. Also sometimes video editing/rendering and other graphic design type stuff, but it's my understanding that this sorta thing is more CPU intensive, and doesn't so much need a heavy duty GPU...

Anyway, I found this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131398 - and think I'm gonna end up going with that. It's $32 after rebate. Nothing too fancy, but I think it should work for what I'm doing, and it supports dual monitor too, so that's a plus :)
 

Sentazacu

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Aug 24, 2011
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also note, that only 2 ide devices can be connected to one cable at a time :)

yeah, i am a newbie, but i do know that much :)

i know about the cards and adapters too, but with that extra expense it would eat up whatever extra might be saved by going with llano and an fm1 motherboard.