I just installed an Asus Radeon 6450 (stolen from my kids gaming computer when I upgraded it). I was surprised at the difference it made - this is not a high end card, and there is a lot to be said for letting the on-chip GPU do the work, except that it appears, on my machine, with my software, it isn't as good an idea as it first appear.
For the curious the specs are:
- GPU Model: Radeon HD 6450
- Memory: 1024MB
- Bus Type: PCIe x16 Gen 2.1
- Passive Cooling
It is not an expensive card - I paid less than $50 for it, and it has made a difference. Since it probably matters, some other system specs:
- CPU: Intel i7-4790
- Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme4
- RAM: 32GB - Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9
- Power supply: Corsair CX600M 600 Watt ATX Modular
- Operating system: Windows 10
So as of now I'm on the bandwagon (appropriate?) that says a video card can help. It doesn't have to be a big gun, and in fact a big gun might cause other problems.