Recently I got kicked off my fathers laptop, saying that "oblivion game" is slowing down his computer , so I'm thinking about buying a graphics card for my Hp Tower (a6620f), because It has the **** Intel graphics that don't even run oblivion at its lowest setting. I'm thinking of buying the ATI Radeon 4670, along with a 500w power supply for my tower. Is that Graphics Card compatible with my computer, (it does have a PCI Express spot but I'm just double checking)? And is that the best card I can get in that price range? I'm spending about $95 on the card and the supply. Also will this card run TES 5 or other new games on at least medium settings?
Computer Specs
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01570949&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=tr&cc=tr&lang=tr&product=3816196
Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Radeon-HD4670-PCI-Express-GV-R467ZL-1GI/dp/tech-data/B0029MJKYO/ref=de_a_smtd
Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P92AA8/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Graphics Specs
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/hd-4600/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-4600-specifications.aspx


Thanks In Advance

Ick. I would avoid "500w" power supplies like that one, if I were you. It's actually closer to what might properly be termed a 300 watt PSU. In real terms, rather than "marketing-speak"... to put it nicely.

The 4670 isn't much of a gaming card either.

If you can save a few more pennies, I strongly suggest buying a decent power supply, even if it has a stated rating of 400w, or even less! Like, for instance, a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151075. Also, perhaps a nice HD5670 in place of that other card? At least it would provide a bit of graphics muscle.

Mind you, it always does depend on the resolution you'll be gaming at - if that's 1024x768, say, and at not-the-highest settings, then the 4670 might well be OK. I suppose... :shrug:


edit: And, when (or if) TES 5 ever happens, I would not rely on something like the HD4670 to carry you there, no.

Would this work?
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100287L/dp/B0033WSDNS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1281020411&sr=1-3

If money is really tight and you are just looking for something that will let you game at meium-highish setting then there is a Shell shocker sale today at Newegg on a 9600GSO with a ThermalTake 430W PSU (not the newest and\or greatest but for the price a good deal and would play the game) for $95 including shipping and then with $50 in MIR that you can get back you only invest $45 for the pair !!) --- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.466617

And it would be a good match for your E5200 CPU and the rest of your system, that will last you a little while until you can save up for a new system.

Fairly cheap for the both, I guess. But that PSU is in fact barely what might be called a 250w power supply, in reality. Considerably less than that on the 12v rails. Also, doubt it's solid or reliable. So yeah... wouldn't recommend it.

If you honestly don't need a half decent graphics card, and you're only going to be playing at other-than-high settings, and not at a high resolution, or with a lot of graphics-intensive mod stuff going on, you could be fine with the 4670 or whatever other cheap thing is around. But in that instance, I would still strongly urge any buyer to get *at least* something like that Seasonic. A bit more money, but peace of mind (and a bit more "future-proofing") can be worth that. A good power supply will stay with you for quite some time, and potentially power a whole series of graphics cards you might in turn own. Along with CPUs, and the rest. The PSU I'm using has been in an entirely different box before the current one, let alone system config. Because it's extremely solid (Corsair HX) it should continue on to perhaps the next box, whenever that might be... Value for money, it turns out. Like decent shoes; stuff like that.

The 4000 series is only DirectX 10 compatible and the newer games that will be coming out soon will be using DirectX 11. So if you want to future proof yourself, you'd be better off going for something in ATI's 5000 series, or Nvidia's 400 line.

If I got the 5670, how long would I be able to use it for new games?

It depends on what games, and what their minimum requirements are. Example: You would be able to run the next WoW expansion fine, but its not going to max Crysis or games like that.

The Radeon 4670 or 5670 would max this game out up to a 1680x1050 resolution, so they're pretty decent cards.

That Thermaltake power supply is based on a very old model and I wouldn't invest any money into it.

These two options would be decent value...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855&cm_re=radeon_4670_1gb-_-14-102-855-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-008-_-Product

And just so you know, the Radeon 4670 is a very low power consumption card that it would probably be fine with your stock power supply. Certainly gives more safety room upgrading it though.

It comes pretty damn close to maxing Crysis. The 5670 is a VERY underrated card. I throw tons of stuff at it with little/no slowdown. I run Crysis on high with 4xAA or Max without 0xAA. And the 4670 is still a very capable card. My sister has one and she has Oblivion running with QTP3R, RAEVWD, tons of other mods, 4xAA and 8xAF at 1366x768 with really decent framerates.

If I did buy the 5670 how long until I'd have to buy a new graphics card?

It depends on what games you want to play and what you consider playable. But it should give most games good enough FPS for atleast 2 years. Of course lower resolutions would help if you encounter stuttering FPS.

According to Moore's Law, computer processors double in power every 18 months. That applies to video cards as well, so a brand new card now will be obsolete after 18 months. That doesn't mean you won't get more life out of it than that though since the software industry tends to fall behind the hardware available, in order to ensure the most compatibility. So a new card would be good for at least 2 years, probably 3. Depending on what you like to play and what compromises you're willing to make for performance, you could probably stretch it out for 5 years, though that would be pushing it.

I just bought the Sapphire 5670 which has PCI Express 2.1, and the a6620f only has PCI Express 1.0 will I be ok, I've heard alot about changing the bios, also will the 430w PS I boufth work with my mid-size ATX case. Lastly will the 5670 even work with my processor that well. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01570949&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg

You should be fine since any variants of PCI-E x16 should be backward compatible with older slot versions.

Standard mid-tower that should take ATX power supplies, so the PSU you got should be fine.

And of course the processor will work with the card.