Introduction

What do you do when your two year old computer system just doesn’t seem to have the hoot spa it did when you purchased it? There are a few options, some can be expensive and some may be cost effective. Many of us may reformat the computer to get rid of corrupt files or even defragment our drives. Sometimes this just doesn’t seem to work, so the addition of more memory (RAM) usually comes next. Most everyday users don’t think about a video card, because their system is IGP (Integrated Graphics), and the video is on the motherboard. IGP shares system memory and can slow down your system, depending on the demands of what you may need it for (Video Editing or Gaming).

In the past, I have recommended an upgrade to a discrete video card (stand alone) and, 7 out of 10 times, it was all that was needed to make that person's computing experience acceptable again. In the past, an upgrade to a discrete video card was an expense and most would cringe at the thought of having to upgrade. This is no longer the case and there are quite a few affordable upgrades available, the Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 being one of them.

Prices for the Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 start sub $100.00 USD and take advantage of new technologies such as DirectX 11, which contains DirectCompute for better utilization of the compute power of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). You will also be able to use HDMI straight from the Sapphire HD 5670 without a conversion dongle. If you prefer 1GB of onboard GDDR5 memory, the option is there also. The Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 is an entry level video card that contains many of the perks you would expect to receive with a more expensive video card.