ATI Hybrid Graphics vs Discrete Graphics

[ebolamonkey3]

Hi guys, I'm building a budget gaming pc using an AMD 780G mobo and I'm wondering if it'd be better to use a Radeon HD 3450 GPU (since according to my understanding, Hybrid Graphics will only work with HD 3400 series cards) to take advantage of the Hybrid Graphics functionality of the 780G mobo and its integrated HD 3200 chipset or if I should just buy a better card. Since I'm on a budget, a better card would probably end up being a 9600GT (when it goes on sale for $60 ish).

If the hybrid graphics worked with better ATI cards like a HD 3850 or something, I probably would've gone with it, but since the HD 3450 isn't that great performance wise, I'm wondering if it'll be better to just forget about hybrid graphics and go with a 9600GT, even though the 9600GT will cost about twice as much as a HD 3450. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The 9600GT will be a far better choice. The HD 3450 in Hybrid Crossfire will give you a 50% performance boost at maximum, which is still not near the performance of a 9600GT, whose performance is more or less close to that of the 8800GT. Also, try the HD 4670 as an excellent in-between option at $80-ish.