Graphic Card decision help Please!

[Desperado]

Hello, I am going to get my Mother an "All-in-one" HP and have the choice of 5 graphics cards:
1GB ATI Radeon HD 5570
1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M
1GB AMD Radeon HD 6450A
2GB Radeon HD 6550A
2GB ATI Radeon HD 5570

I have tried to educate myself but my head is swimming.

Could someone recommend which card is the best and if the 2GB is needed?

Thank you so very much.

 

[Fallengod]

2GB is definitely not needed unless your mother is a hardcore gamer(unlikely). As far as I can tell, the 2GB thing is a marketing gimmick. I am a gamer and fairly certain I dont need a video card with 2GB of memory..... I fail to see even 1GB be helpful for lower end cards but meh.

Just going by numbers, id guess the 5570 and 425M perform similarly. I dont know if you can really go wrong with either for a PC for a mom. It would kind of depend on what they wanted to do with graphic intensive stuff.

Judging by this benchmark alone with little research, it shows the 5570 to be slightly faster. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?cpu=GeForce+GT+425M

The 6450 is the slowest out of those.

 

[Desperado]

Thanks so much for the quick reply Fallengod.

So you are suggesting the 1 GB ATI Radeon HD 5570.

Will this handle blu-ray playback?

 

[AnandThenMan]

Will this handle blu-ray playback?

Yes.

 

[bryanW1995]

From looking at the tom's hardware chart, I'd say that the 5570 is the way to go. Most of those others aren't listed, however. Also, is that just a plain 5570 or is there a mobility 5570 version? Be careful, there is typically a pretty sizeable difference between discreet/mobility with amd cards.

2gb means nothing with any of those cards, just get the 1gb card even if price is identical because you'll get slightly lower power usage with the same performance.

 

[Desperado]

Thank you AnandThenMan and bryanW1995.

bryanW1995 - I have no idea if it is a "plain" 5570 or a mobility 5570.

How do you tell (HP site doesn't say squat)?

I can't tell from this site either:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...hd-5000/hd-5570/Pages/hd-5570-overview.aspx#2

The 2GB Radeon HD 6550A looks interesting:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...00a/hd-6550a/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6550a.aspx#2

Is it worst, better, or just different than the HD 5570?

 

[-Slacker-]

Cards like these won't even make use of 1 gb of memory. Maybe not even 512 mb. The 2gb is most definitely a gimmick (ram speed >>>>>> ram quantity).

The 5570 is the fastest of that bunch, but get the 1gb one.

 

[AnandThenMan]

The 6550A should be the faster card, and has a few more modern features like HDMI 1.4a support.

 

[bryanW1995]

I'd either chat with hp support or actually get somebody on the phone. From looking at the amd website, it doesn't like they ever built a mobility 5570 so you should be gtg. I never asked, but I just assumed that you were looking at laptops b/c you listed the 425m.

The 6550A should be the faster card, and has a few more modern features like HDMI 1.4a support.

From reading that amd site, it does appear that 6550a is a bit faster than 5570, though it was a real PITA to find the info. However, they're close enough that you probably don't want to get, say, a 6550a ddr3 instead of a 5570 gddr5.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...hd-5000/hd-5570/Pages/hd-5570-overview.aspx#2
http://www.amd.com/US/PRODUCTS/DESK...00A/HD-6550A/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6550a.aspx#2

 

[Desperado]

I want to thank each of you: bryanW1995, AnandThenMan, Slacker, and Fallengod.

I decided to go with the 6550a after talking with an HP representative who said that that card had DDR5 memory whereas the 5570 had DDR3.

And the fact that it has a few more modern features which should help extend its life cycle.

Again I appreciate all the insite you gave me and all the knowledge I've gain from each of you!

Thank you.