Should I switch to a 3450 from a 7600GT? Mainly for 1080p MKV and HL2 gaming

[tracerit]

It seems that newegg has the 3450 from ASUS for $25AR and I could sell my 7600GT for somewhere around that price. I mainly watch 1080p and 720p MKV files and play TF2 (HL2 basically). I'll be looking forward to playing some of the new games like Starcraft 2 later on and will upgrade then.

Basically the 7600GT doesn't cut it for HD content. I don't want to switch to something expensive now because I don't game too much and I believe ATI and Nvidia are coming out with their next gen cards.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

The 3450 could play HL2 on low just fine. HD content loves the 3xxx line of cards.

Starcraft 2? not so much. I can guarantee that one.

 

[ther00kie16]

HL2 isn't too intensive as I can even play it on the x700 based 690g integrated graphics and even played it on laptop integrated graphics without any problems before. So the 3450 would be fine. However, if you don't mind a rebate, try this similarly priced 2600xt with gaming performance on par or better than the 3650. And don't forget cashback and googlecheckout/this 5% off coupon.
I do wonder why you can't watch those MKV files though since I can watch HD MKV files on my 9800pro, which is even older than your 7600gt.

 

[BassBomb]

Nothing accelerates x264 MKV files properly right out of the box (CPU normally handles this).

You need to have PDVD7 h264 codec, use it within Media Player Classic HC as external filter (disabling internal filter)

and have a MKV splitter (Makostra splitter) to demux the file and then it will accelerate with PDVD.

It is very complicated but that is the way it will work. At least this is how it works for nVidia.

The other way it works is via WMV9 or h264 through MPC-HC or WMP

If you have the right player/codec's 7600GT should help depending on your cpu. 7900GS works pretty well with my P4 3.0



I don't think the 3450 will be better than 7600GT for HL series, but as stated HD will be good once you have the codecs down.

 

[magreen]

The 7600gt creams the 3450 in gaming. Not sure about hd.

 

[evolucion8]

Well, since you have plans to do an upgrade and don't care for gaming performance with high quality settings, the Radeon HD 3450 will do just fine for Source Engine based games, in High Definition content, the HD 3450 will cream even the GeForce 8 series of cards thanks to it's more advanced video processor more suitable for HD acceleration.