[cherryghost]

Originally Posted by Ramza

Ok. I thought the 5670 would be more of a hog than the 4870 and not vice versa, based on their model numbers?

its confusing, i know most of it is down to the companies reducing power usage to make them more green. the 5670 is also slightly slower than the 4870.

ok bed! night! lol

[Ramza]

Just checked out the PSU requirement on a 5670 and it's 400 watts

Or, like you said is it just totally random?

[Solitaire]

Originally Posted by Ramza

Ok. I thought the 5670 would be more of a hog than the 4870 and not vice versa, based on their model numbers?

Ugh! Don't fall for that old chestnut Bigger != better!

The first digit of a graphics card usually depicts generation. Newer generations are incrementally more powerful than predecessors, more feature-rich (e.g. DX11, HD decoding...) and more power-efficient relative to raw processing power (due to manufacturing process - we're currently on 40nm, 55nm was the last one, and yes, those are nanometres ). So a HD5670 is newer and better than a HD4670.

Second digit depicts family and to a degree usage. So a HD*2*0 is a basic GPU usually integrated in a mobo chipset, a HD*4*0 is oriented to multimedia and sucks at gaming, a HD*6*0 has a full multimedia featureset and is good at low-res gaming, a HD*7*0 is a mid-range card for general gaming and a HD*8*0 is a fairly high-end gaming GPU for high resolutions. Similar-ish system for 4-digit nVidia cards, the 3-digit ones out now mix it up a bit

Third digit represents tilt or position/hierachy within the family. For example a HD5850 is a badass gaming card. A HD5870 is an extremely badass gaming card and a HD5830 is still a fairly badass gaming card.

So, overall a HD5670 is the current low-end gaming card. By comparison a HD4870 is the last generation's badass gaming card. Being older and less efficient and having twice the firpower under the hood relative to the little HD5670 can you even begin to guess at the difference in power consumption?

And those PSU guidelines are there to protect those out there who a) have some insane OCd i7-975 rig with half a dozen HDDs from pushing their PSU a bridge too far or b) those loveable rogues who have no idea about PCs and have bought a replacement PSU from eBay for a tenner and think its a 500W PSU when in actual fact its an old P4 PSU that's not designed for crazy 12V loads and demanding more than 150W actual 12V power will cause the rig to melt

I'm guessing you have the original PSU from the PC which are always "real" PSUs and are fairly solid to avoid giving users any excuse for demanding repairs/refund at any point during the extended warranty. I somehow doubt your Socket 939 rig is using buttloads of power and the HD5670 will realistically stay south of 30W for anything bar FurMark or its alter-ego, Crysis Off the top of my head a 6600GT uses ~40W and I've used one on decent OEM 240-250W PSUs that came with my old Athlon rigs back in the day so I'm pretty sure the HD5670 won't cause any crash-n-burn. Even if it did, the PC would simply shut down and restart if its not one of those junk PCs off eBay. And those always come with a "600W" (yeah, right!) PSU rather than an honest-to-God 250-300W FSP/Enhance/HiPro/Delta

For SnG look at this when you have a minute and see what the Delta does compared to the eBay fodder...

[Ramza]

Thanks, great info! So I'll try and lay it out now before I decide on a card

- Basically I want a card which will run Street Fighter IV (which is a game which has been released about a year ago so it's fairly modern) on mid-high settings at a good resolution

- My budget is somwhere around 50-60 (excluiding shipping)

- Just want it to fit and not **** up my PSU etc but judging from the posts in this thread it wont happen

I'm not into PC gaming and this is the only game I plan on running tbh. Although I plan on playing Devil May Cry 4, and maybe that new Heavy Rain game, if it comes to PC

So a card that will run games like that on mid to high settings on a decent res

[Solitaire]

Talk about demanding the moon! The only saving grace is that monitor technology has completely passed you by

As for DMC4 and SF4 they're not exactly demanding - DMC4 is worse and a HD5770 can keep it at 72fps with 8xAA at 1080p so I don't see even a HD4670 or similar breaking a sweat at 1024*768

Oh, and you do know that Quantum Dicks (or whatever they're called) scrapped Heavy Rain for PC because "ur all made of fail u still use ATi which are for noobs!!1! well only make it 4 PS3 cos its nvidia so its win lulz". Or words to that effect. nVidia And Friends' quest to royally **** off every PC user continues apace...

And to add insult to injury one of the links in Google was a rogue and tried to 'jack my PC

[Ramza]

Originally Posted by Solitaire

Talk about demanding the moon! The only saving grace is that monitor technology has completely passed you by

As for DMC4 and SF4 they're not exactly demanding - DMC4 is worse and a HD5770 can keep it at 72fps with 8xAA at 1080p so I don't see even a HD4670 or similar breaking a sweat at 1024*768

Oh, and you do know that Quantum Dicks (or whatever they're called) scrapped Heavy Rain for PC because "ur all made of fail u still use ATi which are for noobs!!1! well only make it 4 PS3 cos its nvidia so its win lulz". Or words to that effect. nVidia And Friends' quest to royally **** off every PC user continues apace...

And to add insult to injury one of the links in Google was a rogue and tried to 'jack my PC

Cool. Thanks for the info. Raging about that was looking forward to that game =[

How would this do?

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/3857024...12-mb-ddr.html

Been looking at this too

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4642692...12-mb-gdd.html

Oh and I plan to maybe upgrade my monitor in the future, if it's important. Sorry be to dragging this out but just want to make sure all is in order before I purchase

[Solitaire]

The HD4650 should be grand for 1024*768, but I recommend the HD4670 or HD5670 if you're planning on a monitor upgrade. What resolution would you be gunning for? 1080p would pretty much end up being the catalyst that forced you into a new build from scratch

[Ramza]

I plan on upgrading my monitor in the future, but wouldn't know anything about them at all. I'm on a 17 inch atmoo maybe would like a nice 25 inch HD one? not like the highest 1080 but maybe 720? (if its possible, I know jack about high def so bear with me xD)

[Solitaire]

720p = 1280*720, although most 720p+ panels are actually 1366*768. In either case the HD4670 can hold its own and the HD5670 will be grand, but the limited DDR2 memory on the HD4650 will give it issues at times. The HD4770 will also start to make more sense. Past 17" only cheaper HDTVs are this size anymore.

Most cheap 19" monitors are 1280*1024 or 1440*900 (widescreen). A HD4670 will start to struggle a bit in more demanding games. A HD5670 will be fine most of the time and the HD4770 starts to hit its stride; even a HD5750 isn't considered too overpowered at this point so long as you're looking at intense gaming with titles like Crysis and ArmA2.

Pricier 19" and cheapo 20-22" monitors are typically 1680*1050 (widescreen) or the slightly more demanding 1600*1200. The HD4670 is now under serious pressure, the HD5670 is starting to show the strain and the HD4770 is starting to top out; the HD5750 (and old HD4850/HD4870/GTS250/GTX260) is now in its element. So long as you avoid titles like Crysis even the HD5670 can still shine.

Pricier 22" units and a few cheapo 24"ers run at the infamous Full HD: 1920*1080 or 1200 (depending on 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio). Called 1080p by media enthusiasts, graphics cards really start to come under fire from here on up. The HD5670 starts to unravel fast, the HD4770 is only good for less stressful titles (i.e. not Crysis!) and 512MB cards start to have issues as you need a bigger framebuffer and higher memory bandwidth to run smoothly at this resolution. The 1GB versions of the HD4870/5770 and (preferably mildly OCd) HD5750 and GTX260+ are now in their prime, and for some high-maintenance games the GTX275, HD4890 and even the HD5850 start to make sense.

Better 24" and most 26-30" models are 2560*1600. They're also staggeringly expensive. If you have the money for one you'll have the money for a kick-ass gaming rig too. If you intend on running 3D application you'll need one - the usual HD4870 and HD5770 are relegated to less intensive settings. Even the HD4890 and GTX275 start to come under pressure up here; here the GTX285 and HD5850/5870 are king.

As for HDTVs? Let max resolution, not the number of inches, be your guide; bear in mind that most models are 720p but anything that has 1080p on is going to require hefty enough GPU muscle regardless of price. You may be able to get more screen for your money but as they're designed to be tellies they can cause eye-strain if you intend on browsing the web's teeny writing on them

[Ramza]

Think I'm going to go with the HD4670 but for a tenner more I can get the HD5670 so I think it would be more sensible to go for the 5670 as I do plan on a monitor upgrade and until then the 5670 should be fine

Also is pixmania the best place to go for shipping etc. Know any places in Dublin I could pick one up handy? I know of Maplin but haven't been there in a while, wouldn't mind picking it up in person to save on shipping

[Solitaire]

Maplin are horrendously expensive. Peats are a bit variable, but can be cheap enough sometimes; I just don't see any sign of any HD5670s for sale there at the moment Pix are cheap for shipping some items and not so cheap for others, they now have a cheapie fortnight rate but that's a pretty long time to wait! And IIRC Komplett now have free shipping so long as you can make it as far as the pickup in Blanchardstown and collect your shipment yourself ...but they're expensive for graphics cards right now.

If its free to collect it might still be cheaper to cough up the €77.50-odd Komplett demand for a HD5670 if you know you're picking up a 720p HDTV or low-res monitor. If not I'd suggest getting the cheapest HD4650 you can find and waiting until you can upgrade to a better card, PSU and CPU (probably whole build really ) before you upgrade to a 1080p jobbie; a HD5670 doesn't really have the grunt to push 3D on one of those

[Ramza]

Well I only plan on geting a 720P so say 19 or 20". So a HD5670 should be good. I was made clear it would work on a 250W(yeah?) on my current rig so I think I should go for that.