low end video card - need advice
 

I'm asking advice because I don't usually shop for lower end stuff :haha:

I want to upgrade my parents to a dedicated video card. They play online flash type games, and simple games (like angry birds), and have just told me that they've been having problems with the games freezing or jumping (lag). The computer is about 3 years old. They have onboard intel video, older intel quad core processor (can't remember which), and a free pci-ex16 slot. I just recently replaced their psu as it had blown, and put in Cooler Master extreme power plus 500w because they didn't do much with their computer (or so I thought) and they didn't want to spend a lot of money.

So I'm thinking I'd get something better than a 64bit memory interface, maybe have 128, and was thinking about this card as it's on special: Gigabyte GeForce GT 630 810MHZ 2GB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 DVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card - I know 2g is waaaayyyy overkill, but at $49.99 its the same price as a lot of 1g 128bit cards

It says 350w power supply needed.
Would a 64bit card be okay, or that much of an improvement over onboard?
Thoughts?

Thanks :thumb:

I'm sure that the 630gt would be a decent improvement over integrated graphics, but I don't know how much of an improvement they would actually see in flash games. I would have thought that integrated would would have been good enough for those games.

Integrated today, sure. Integrated from three years ago, probably not -- though it depends upon which chip they're running.

Given what it will be used for I vote for the cheapest newish gen graphics card you can find. An hd 6450 would fit the bill fine...

Example:

Gigabyte Radeon HD 6450 625MHZ 1GB 1.1GHZ DDR3 Low Profile DVI HDMI HDCP PCI-E DX 11 Video Card

$40 with $20 MIR.

OR

or $30 with $10 MIR

XFX Radeon HD 6450 625MHZ 1GB 1066MHZ GDDR3 Low Profile DVI VGA HDMI PCI-E Video Card

As mentioned above newer integrated would be fine, but older stuff is quite slow.

Obviously you could go to a faster GPU if you want, but for flash and internet based items more isn't required IMO. By the time more is required they will need a new CPU that will have faster integrated graphics.

Do the right thing, get them 7750.

So do you think 64bit should be fine?

I was also looking at this:

Gigabyte GeForce GT 430 730MHZ 1GB 1.8GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E DVI VGA HDMI Video Card

$50 with $15 MIR - so $35 after rebate. 128bit bus.

I reckon if a game is lagging (flash game that is) then there is more likely to be a problem rather than the graphics card needs updating..

Though $20 on a graphics card.. not exactly hard to swallow.

A 430 would be faster, so with that price difference I would go for it.

Possibly true. Out of curiosity before you get a new graphics card you should take a look at CPU and ram usage when using the game or flash item that is causing the problem to see if one of them may be maxed out. Given that you said its an older quad core I would lean toward it being either a graphics problem, or the ram is maxed out. Also make sure the drivers are all up to date.

Probably in the northbridge like on the M4a89gtd I owned

What's the integrated graphics platform, I/O, and CPU on the computer?

The GPU "acceleration" in Flash games is so dodgey (especially now that Adobe doesn't care about it anymore) that you're more likely getting hit by a CPU or even I/O bottleneck. Any DX10 capable graphics platform can acccelerate flash, whether it be a GeForce 8400GS or a GTX 690. (See: GPUs supporting Adobe Flash 10.1) Something I learned recently from switch from an SSD back to a HDD was that the hard disk can cause what looks like frame skipping in a browser on Flash-heavy sites :blarg: (I soo hope my new SSD will arrive tomorrow!)

Do they happen to have 10 tabs (or malware toolbars) open when they play? Is the computer running a hard drive that's never been defragged in the 3 years you've owned the computer? If so, "there's yer problem!"