Radeon 4550 upgrade...yes or no?`

[rosburn]

I am considering updating my graphics card and the store sales rep told me that the Radeon 4550 would be a good fit for my older computer. Any comments positive or negitive regarding using this graphics card for Aces High? Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Ruler2]

Could you tell us some specs of your current computer? that will tell us a lot.

[rosburn]

Roger, if you are referring to the technicals that are often printed out and posted - I will be home tonight and can do that. Could you tell me what the procedure is to generate the report that will include that information tht would be helpful in considering my graphics card question. Thanks.

[trotter]

Hi Rosburn,

I have a Radeon HD 4850, but the initial option for me to get packaged with my new computer was a Radeon HD 4550 so I did a little research on both.

If you go here:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

You can view benchmark charts for almost every video card imaginable, to see how your card will compare. As you can see, the 4550 is about an average card, and while you will not be able to run the newer ultra-graphics games, you should be able to run Aces High on high detail just fine.

With AH specifically, I can tell you from my experience that my 4850 has been perfect. 70 FPS regardless of action around me, and I play on fullest detail with the highest resolution and highres texture pack. However, my computer is only a few months old, so all my other stuff (cpu mhz, RAM, etc) probably helps with that. I agree that posting your system specs will help. The procedure is simple: go to Start/Run and type in dxdiag, or dxdiag.exe, and hit enter. A new screen will popup and the first page of it should have your specs.

I'd venture to say that unless your computer is really really old (in which case you might need a new power supply to run the 4550), Aces High will run acceptably on advanced detail on your computer with that card.

[Ruler2]

Roger, if you are referring to the technicals that are often printed out and posted - I will be home tonight and can do that. Could you tell me what the procedure is to generate the report that will include that information tht would be helpful in considering my graphics card question. Thanks.

I think you're talking about a dxdiag report, here is the link telling you how to do so, hope we can help ya out!   

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,270056.0.html

[rosburn]

Okay thanks! Here is the system informaiton. I did not include the rest of the report but if needed let me know and I'll amend the post to include the whole thing. Again I was considering a Radeon 4550. Someone said to be careful of the powersupply capability so along with looking at this card adn the 4850, how do I know if the machine powersupply capabilities are?

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/4/2009, 20:14:59
       Machine name: MIKE
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: GATEWAY                         
       System Model: T5212                           
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D  CPU 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 894MB RAM
          Page File: 625MB used, 1695MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: ATI RADEON XPRESS 200
     Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
        Chip type: ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series (0x5A61)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5A61&SUBSYS_D6018086&REV_00
   Display Memory: 128.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6599 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 1/15/2006 00:48:26, 255488 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 1/15/2006 00:48:08, 1477632 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-1921-11CF-F1FA-0BF6A1C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x5A61
        SubSys ID: 0xD6018086
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV8_B ModeWMV8_A ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
 Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Realtek HD Audio output
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0883&SUBSYS_8086D601&REV_1000
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
         Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5247 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 4/17/2006 02:31:26, 4262912 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
         HW Accel Level: Standard
              Cap Flags: 0xF5F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

[Ruler2]

Where'd ya get that video card? stones r us?      I think that video card you're lookin at will give you an IMPRESSIVE increase in frame rates, however I also recommend getting some more RAM for your PC as well, 894MB is kinda low if you wanna play games or do other demanding jobs.

[rosburn]

I just confirmed from the manufacture that the power supply is a 300 watt unit. I am trying to determine if the HD 4550, 4650, or GeForce 9500 will operate with within the capabilities of that OEM PSU. As you know researching this kind of technicals can have one pulling their hair out by the end of the day. Any help on this will greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ruler2]

I wouldn't try using anything on that stock PSU, they are cheap,low quality chinese builds, usually providing not much more power than the computer uses as it is. You can get some decent 4-650 and maybe up to 700 watt power supplies on ebay that are made by good companies like Antec,Corsair, PC Power& Cooling, Coolmax, BFG, Gigabyte, and then some for around 30-75 dollars.  There's some out there for somewhat lower prices from OK companies, but as long as you don't get a 10-15 dollar TOTAL piece of junk you should be ok.

Now, do not get overtaken by the WATT rating, what you REALLY want to pay attention to is the AMP rating, you can get a 4 or 500 watt power supply that produces more AMPS then a cheaper 600-70 watt power supply. The higher the amps you can get on the smallest amount of watts you can get means that it is more efficient than the cheap ones that cannot provide the amperage with an equal amt of power.

[Spikes]

You may want to up your power supply to at least 500W or 600W and be it a good brand, this also will leave good room for improvements later on.

[Ruler2]

Here's one I just found for 10 bucks plus shipping on ebay, it's only got half an our left on it though: http://cgi.ebay.com/COOLER-MASTER-RS-500-PCAR-eXtreme-Power-500w-ATX-PSU_W0QQitemZ150392965089QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_UPS?hash=item23041e87e1