GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4650

your card is DDR2 & your friends is DDR3, he's getting more bandwidth throughput = higher FPS.


in regards to the PCIE slot, the ''PCIE 2.0'' is theoretically supposed to double the x16 lanes bandwidth over ''PCIE 1.1'', but in reality this is only being utilized with high end cards & boards....it wont affect you with a 4650 (i dont even think PCIE 1.1 is fully utilized yet)

if you want a card to max CSS, then look at a 4870, 4890, GTX260, GTX275... even a GTS250 will perform well....

   Note

if using any of the suggested cards above please check you have sufficent power to run them before you buy.

:)SK

treachery said:

i would love to have one of those cards you listed lol but saddly kinda out side my budget. as far as the 4650 will my x16 slot be able to use the full 1GB of the card or would it decrease because its not be a 2.0 slot? sorry i just dont understand it that well atm, and want to make sure it will work if i buy it.

As far as CSS goes im not really looking for a card to max all settings and have 500+fps just a card that will play the game with recommended settings and get 90-100+fps.

Like with my 512 MB 8600GT right now im using a FPS config that lowers every to lowest settings except for textures and im only getting 30-40 in non-combat hard to compete with other players with that lol

your V-RAM (RAM on board the card) will be directly related to the 128bit bus on the 4650, whether it will be able to use the full 1gb is doubtful, but not b/c of the x16 slot..... (i wouldn't worry about the PCIE 2.0 or 1.1), your limiting factors are a 128bit bus & GDDR2

for example......if you had GDDR5 a 128bit bus wouldn't matter so much as the RAM frequency is a lot higher, but with a low frequency & a limited bus, there's nothing you can do but grin & bear it im afraid....

your friend has a 128bit bus but he has GDDR3, so he's able to put more rubber on the tarmac (so to speak.....)

you need to save up some pennies & grab another GPU if you want better performance..... you could try & OC it but the increase would be minimal & card temps would go through the roof.....IMO



:)SK

treachery said:

sorry for the double post but,

i think i understand about the pcie 2.0, one last question would this card (link below) work in my x16 slot at full speed? from review it says it can play games like CS:S and Cod:WaW and Max settings

Newegg.com - MSI R4670-2D1G/D3 Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

YES..... that card will work @ full speed, if i were you though mate i'd hang on to what you have for a few more weeks & see if you can grab a better card.... you'll thank me later on........




:)SK