Casual Gamer - These cards any good? Low budget

[MrMartyn1984]

Hi all,

thinking of getting a cheap graphics card to hopefully run a couple of games on my pc. Are any of these 2 any good as they are cheap? Only want it to play the odd game of Call of Duty MW2 and anything else I fancy.

ATI Asus HD 4350 1GB DDR2 (£32.37)

ATI Asus HD 4550 512MB DDR3 (29.61)

Would either of these actually be able to play any decent game or is it just a waste of money?

PC Spec

Asus M4a78 Pro
Phenom II 550
4gb Kingston HyperX
550w PSU

Cheers

 

[reflux]

Depends on the resolution and quality settings you'll be using. Tbh you'd be best off going for one of these if you can scrape together the extra wonga...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-132-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1274

 

[WoZZeR]

Sorry to hijack the thread.

I was just looking at those, my other half has an old C2D PC with an old X1900 in it which now sounds terrible, the fan has had it.

The PC is just used for the internet and I've just put Windows 7 on it.

Would a 4650 be an OK replacement?

 

[Owenb]

Sorry to hijack the thread.

I was just looking at those, my other half has an old C2D PC with an old X1900 in it which now sounds terrible, the fan has had it.

The PC is just used for the internet and I've just put Windows 7 on it.

Would a 4650 be an OK replacement?

Have you tried to oil the fan? Take off the sticker, and just add a few drops of 3to1 oil, might help. If not the 4650 will be more than enough for windows7(it's a better card than anything in the 1900 series#).

OP: If you can afford the extra £12 then reflux's suggestion is a far better card. However you should be able to play MW2 on a 4550, but at low settings.

 

[MrMartyn1984]

Hi. I can get the 4650 as I've spotted it on a competitor site for 32.78 as it's on offer

I'll be happy if this runs the odd game that I'll play on.

Will this card require any additional power or will it run just from the pcie slot on my motherboard? Long time since I bought a graphics card LOL

Cheers.

 

[Dan.m]

4650 is a much better choice, although check if they have a 4670 instead for a few quid more as its a big improvement over a 4650. You havnt said what resolution you will be playing at. Playing at 1280x1024 should be fine, but 1920x1200 and your framerates will be terrible.

 

[CBJ]

The 4650 is the first proper gaming card in the range, albeit a very low end one. The main advantage to getting something like a 4550 is that there are passively-cooled versions at a similar price to the normal ones that give you a nice quiet machine.

 

[Owenb]

Hi. I can get the 4650 as I've spotted it on a competitor site for 32.78 as it's on offer

I'll be happy if this runs the odd game that I'll play on.

Will this card require any additional power or will it run just from the pcie slot on my motherboard? Long time since I bought a graphics card LOL

Cheers.

The pcie slot will provide all the power it needs.

 

[MrMartyn1984]

My current resolution for my desktop is 1920 x 1080 if I play at a lower rate than this will the graphics be terrible?

Sorry for the dumb question, I'm used to just putting a disc in an xbox 360!

Cheers.

 

[killerxx7]

My current resolution for my desktop is 1920 x 1080 if I play at a lower rate than this will the graphics be terrible?

Sorry for the dumb question, I'm used to just putting a disc in an xbox 360!

Cheers.

All of these cards will FAIL at that res if you drop down the res yes it will look much worse.
For that res the minimum i would recommend would be a 4850/4870.