So is there any hope of any video card getting AH3 to run game-able on my PC? My current framerate is in single digits.
Windows 10 Home, version 1511
Processor Intel Core i7 CPI 920@2.67 Ghz
16.0GB of RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series
Hi GFShill,
Your computer platform is more than enough as you have an Intel X58 platform w\ a Nehalem CPU and if wanted that I7 920 is a well known OC'er capable of hitting 4.0GHz so that part is good.
You should be good to go w\ a video card upgrade.....as long as the PSU you're using in your box is sufficient to handle the upsized card's power requirements.
Since I don't see ati/amd cards mentioned much, I will throw in.......but with a greatly condensed version since this is the 3rd time I am typing it.
Shill's ati4500 will max out at 12 to 15fps when in the tower of a carrier far from land or cons and get worse with more activity/land/objects/cons.
Your processor is fine.
For comparison purposes, a GTX 970 is relatively close to an ati/amd R9 370.
An R7 370 is close to the GTX 960.
If you have more than one core above 2.0 ghz and at least pci-e 2.0, you should have no issues with a later pci-e 3.0 card.
$150.00 will likely get you into ah3 if you search and compare gpu performance.
Pretty much what Icepac said w\ the following addition.................
If looking to go w\ AMD you will need to pay particular attention to the vid card's GPU type then check on the AMD web site for feature specs and the foot notes at the bottom of the specs on the particular AMD vid card you're interested in as w\ the new AMD Crimson drivers they are written to activate a lot of graphical features but will activate them only IF the GPU has the feature capabilities built in at the hardware level so depending on what features you want to have according to the supporting equipment that you have\gonna get (monitor res and type...FreeSynch or not, monitor connection....DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, use EyeFinity or not, AMD FRTC or not, VSR or not, etc......just to name a few) check to make sure that the vid card has the capabilities desired before you buy it.
For this reason I would recommend (if cost will allow) going to the AMD R9 series vid cards and up if upgrading vid cards and wanting to use an AMD vid card buying new and if buying new the R9 300 series and up as all R9 300 series and up cards support all features at the GPU level except the features specific to the new Polaris GPU's (RX series) so you get it all when you buy 1. Some R9 200 series and R7 300 series will also support some\all features but are GPU type dependent thus read the specs\footnotes to find out which ones do\do not before you buy. If you're gonna spend more than $200.00 you may as well go for the new AMD Polaris RX series vid cards and skip the R9 series completely.
1 caveat I will offer:
If at all possible either go w\ DVI or DisplayPort monitor connection if your existing monitor will allow. AMD HDMI connection (all except the new RX series) is 1.4 spec or lower....which CAN work w\ LCD monitors but is better suited for TV's instead and you can run into resolution issues on LCD monitors, especially w\ BIOS\UEFI GUI's over AMD HDMI connections. Been there, done that.
There should be some good deals out there on used cards, especially on the upper tier R9 200 series vid cards that can run AHIII very well @ 60 FPS.
Hope this helps.............