Is this graphics card suitable for W7 and MSTS?

I am considering the following graphics card, which is available at Amazon for £43.98 (within my £50 maximum limit):-

"VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 6670 Graphics Card (2GB, DDR3, PCI Express 2.1, HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, AMD CrossFireX, AMD HD3D Technology)"

I am using a W7 32bit OS with an ASUS motherboard, and I am only interested as to whether this will be suitable to run MSTS?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Hi Alec,

I would say that it could, mainly because you are a using fairly tame version of W7. I think that the problem areas are to do with WIn 8 and the newer Intel graphics technologies.

However, the card has 2GB of VIdeo Memory, and a minimum of 400W PSU is recommended. Without knowing which processor you are going to run with, it's difficult to say what sort of performance to expect.

All together, quite a nice card, but it's up to you to decided on your priorities. I swear by these cards because thay will run older games, and I have seen some of my really old games in a way that I have not previously seen tham. If you are going to run older games only, it would be worth considering a 1Gb card, because the video memory does take up a bit of speed. In other words, the delay incurred by a 1Gb card may well be less than
the delay caused by a 2Gb card. However, if you are going to be running top end games, it may well be worth considering a 64 bit OS. It's a matter of common sense.
If your car is a mini, you are not going to need a V8 engine!

Regards,

Steve

Thanks for the reply Steve. For information I have the following:-

W7 Home Premium 32 bit SP1
Intel Pentium CPU G850 @ 2.90GHz
4.0GB RAM
Intel HD Graphics

The only games I currently use are both old, namely MSTS of course and "Age of Empires"!

Hi Alec,
Being from a Hardware background, as long as everything matches one another such as memory Speed. Graphics Card, Processor speed, then you should be fine with the 2GB Card. I can't foresee any issues with the card personally, but you always have the built in Graphics card if it doesn't work as expected. You do have the option in the Microsoft Train Simulator Troubleshooter to choose the Graphics Card/Video Driver.
Going back when I was using a Tower PC, my last Graphics card was a 1GB Card and that ran MSTS fine.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Andy (The pearls of wisdom!)   

Thanks for the reply Andy, and I will now scratch my head prior to actually deciding.

Hi Alec,
Hope you don't mind me giving my two pen'orth!!

Whereas almost any separate graphics card will be better than your on-board Intel version, I notice that when comparing 6670 cards from different manufacturers, the "standard" has 1GB of DDR5 memory, but the VTX 3D one has DDR3 memory - in the great scheme of things, this is slower. As Andy has said, 1GB memory is ample for old programs like MSTS (I won't call it a game!), and if you can find a 1GB model, it may be better - they are available for between £50 and £60.

This card needs at least a 400W Power Supply Unit - it'd be worth checking with the chap who built your PC, or he may have included details of all components in your documentation.

Before you can use any separate graphics card, you need to "switch off" the on-board system - this is usually done through the BIOS. Sorry if it's getting a bit technical  

Cheers,
Ged

Ged
All "two pen'orths" are welcome, as I need to know what's best before committing myself. You have given me the right questions to ask my niece's partner.
The whole system is what it is for £200 - not including the monitor, which I acquired for £20 (4:3 screen)!
I shall have another look for a 1GB card and then check in again.
Thank you,

Hi Alec,
Please accept my apologies - I got you confused with another member who recently had a PC built for them   Blame it on age!!

An important thing, for your PC, is to ensure it has the correct socket for the graphics card. All modern cards use the PCIe socket with either 8 or 16 "lanes" (data channels). From what you've said, your niece's partner should be able to determine all this for you.

Cheers,
Ged

Ged
No apologies required as my set-up was built for me by my niece's partner. I have to make sure that he knows exactly what I want as he has a tendency to rush ahead.

....tell me about it    You have to rein these "youngsters" in, otherwise you can't follow what they're doing  

Cheers,
Ged

OK my head is now hurting and I feel like I have taken a few steps forward and a multitude of steps back. I am just totally confused as to which graphics card to go for.
On Amazon there appear to be 100s ranging from low to high prices.
All I want is a graphics card that will work with my system and will give half decent results when running MSTS?
I appreciate the efforts to explain things to me but all I want is for someone to say that they would recommend XYZ for my current system.
My poor eyesight and the size of the haystack is hampering my search for the needle!!!!!!!

Hi Alec,
The first, and most important, thing is to ensure that the Power Supply Unit within your PC is able to supply sufficient wattage for whichever graphic card you choose.  As your PC only has an on-board graphics system, it's quite likely that the PSU will need replacing (if possible).   Although the VTX HD 6670 specifies it needs a 400W PSU, the important figure is the wattage it can supply at 12V; the card requirements are very often printed on its packaging, but that's not much use if you're not buying personally, over the counter  

Cheers,
Ged

EDIT : Having just checked out a review of this card, it should be noted that, although it only uses one PCIe socket, it is quite bulky and needs plenty of room on its right hand side, looking at the back of the PC.

Hi,

My PC which is now 4 years old; currently has an AMD Radeon 4550 installed and works fine with MSTS (and to a certain extent Railworks with TSX off); F1 2012 and F1 Racestars. Therefore I would suggest that any card that is equal to this or greater should be fine (for what it is worth; the rest of the PC is an AMD Phenom 9950 Quad-core 2.6 Ghz machine with 8G RAM and runs W7 Home Premium 64bit).

I would suggest looking at a more specialist site than Amazon - such as ebuyer or dabs - as these will only list items that they sell & will have more consistent product specifications listed.

Once again thanks for the suggestions, and I will continue to look at the various sites.

Update @ 1410 hours
OK I have looked at DABS and wondered about this as it is only £19.99 -

VTX3D ATI Radeon 5450 HD 1GB PCI-Express HDMI Low Profile, with a required power supply of 350W. I need to check whether my computer can cope with that?

Hi Alec,
I have a low profile 5450, which I got for emergency use only.

I have no wish to guide you in any particular way, but in my opinion, this card is absolutely not suitable for MSTS. It all depends what you're comparing it with - I suspect it won't be any worse than on-board graphics! It's a great card for watching videos and all the run-of-the-mill computer usage.

The way ATI / AMD number their cards, the second digit indicates the level of the card, with 4 being the lowest budget level. The previous card you mentioned, the 6670, is at the top budget, or even low mid-range, level. Obviously, the higher the level, the more expensive the card!

Cheers,
Ged

To quote a well known hymn - "Guide me O thou great redeemer"!

Right back to google, dabs, etc.

Now thinking about this one

AMD Radeon 6670 HD 2GB PCI-Express HDMI

and waiting on confirmation that it will fit, etc.

Alec,
Not sure if you have heard of Scan.co.uk and not sure if what you are paying, but you may find the card cheaper as shown on this link; http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-xfx-hd-6670-1300mhz-gddr3-gpu-800mhz-480-cores-2560x1600-d-sub-hdmi-dual-link-dvi-d?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping&gclid=CLX7yN7gr7gCFXIQtAod02wASg
Cheers.
Andy