Two new budget graphics cards came into play recently. These are the GeForce 9400 GT from Nvidia, and the Radeon HD 4550 from ATI. Their specs are as follows:
GeForce 9400 GT (US$59):
- G96 Core Code
- 314 million Transistor Count
- 55nm Manufacturing Process
- 550MHz Core Clock
- 16 Stream processors
- 1400MHz Stream Processor Clock
- 16 Texture Mapping Units (TMU) or Texture Filtering (TF) units
- 8 Raster Operator units (ROP)
- 800MHz GDDR2 Memory Clock
- 128-bit DDR Memory Bus
- 12.8GB/s Memory Bandwidth
- PCIe ver 2.0 x16 interface
- no Multi GPU Technology support
- HDCP Output Support
Radeon HD 4550 ($45-55):
- RV710 Core Code
- 242 million Transistor Count
- 55nm Manufacturing Process
- 600MHz Core Clock
- 80 Stream processors
- 600MHz Stream Processor Clock
- 8 Texture Mapping Units (TMU) or Texture Filtering (TF) units
- 4 Raster Operator units (ROP)
- 1600MHz GDDR3 Memory Clock
- 64-bit DDR Memory Bus
- 12.8GB/s Memory Bandwidth
- PCIe ver 2.0 x16 interface
- CrossfireX Multi GPU Technology support
- HDCP Output Support
AnandTech compared the HD 4550 with HD 3650, GF 9500 GT, and HD 4670 cards:
"Anyway, the point is that with cards in this class, you can't expect gaming performance. And even still we have cards that absolutely blow away integrated graphics. This really does highlight just how how horrible the performance of integrated solutions really is in comparison to any modern add-in graphics part. But that doesn't mean these cards don't have some value. Not everyone needs 3D, and these cards are priced very well. And more importantly, these cards offer a real solution to a problem HTPC builders have been faced with for a long time. The Radeon 4350 and 4550 offer quiet or silent video acceleration for full resolution blu-ray playback with the option of enabling 8 channel LPCM audio playback over HDMI. If you want to build an HTPC, one of these cards would be a very good fit." [AnandTech | ATI Radeon HD 4350 and 4550: Great HTPC Solutions]
HardwareZone gave the GeForce 9400 GT a 3.5 stars rating, and gave the Radeon HD 4550 a 4 stars rating:
"... the GeForce 9400 GT needs some improvements to match the Radeon HD 4550. In terms of performance, the 4550 was always faster than the 9400 GT, though this margin varied from game to game. When it came to power consumption, the Radeon again had the advantage, albeit a rather slight one. Finally, if you're battling for the hearts and minds of HTPC enthusiasts, ATI has a rather significant advantage in being able to offer 7.1 channel HD audio through its DVI/HDMI outputs, something that NVIDIA cannot do, even with a S/PDIF cable. Then, there's the matter of VC-1 hardware acceleration, which ATI just does better (though the market does seem to be favoring H.264 in Blu-ray nowadays)." [HardwareZone | When Budget Graphics Clash: GeForce 9400 GT Meets Radeon HD 4550 ]
I agree with HardwareZone's suggestion of taking a good look at the older mainstream graphic cards such as the GeForce 8600 GT and Radeon HD 3650, before committing to buy a 9400 GT or HD 4550.
The HD 4550 seemed to perform better than the 9400 GT, despite the Radeon's 64-bit DDR Memory Bus. And if you need 7.1 channel HD audio, the HD 4550 card is the one to get, and a nice one if you are thinking of building and HTPC.
