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Looking for a budget video card...


WutangFlu

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...recommendations ? please...

 

 

 

Price range

 

respectively less than $200

 

 

 

I don't need anything special, but enough to run games like halo 1, fable, Morrowind/Oblivion and half life 2, on PC at a resolution of 1680x1050 with good performance.

 

 

 

I plan on buying from New egg, and if someone could help me find a good card I'd be much obliged. (if you can give me multiple options, and pros/cons) List a few below 200$, and a few around 200 that have a substantial performance increase over lesser priced cards..

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/

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Well for your price point, a 8600 gts would be the best thing out there. It comes in at $200 even and is the best thing you can get for your money. The next step up from that card would be a 8800 gts, but this comes in substantially over your price range at $280. Both will play those games you mentioned just fine. Note that the brand I have down there, EVGA is a very good one for graphics cards. below those you could try the 8600 gt or 8500 gt, but those don't have a price/performance ratio nearly as good as the other two. The superclocked edition of the 8600 gts is factory overclocked, so you will probably get around 15% - 20% more performance out of it then the stock card.

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Well if your not interested in dx10 you can get a x1950XT 256MB graphics card for $180 (before a $30 rebate).

 

 

 

I recently purchased this graphics card and it's a beast. It can run all my games on high detail with good fps at 1280x1024. Although with the resolution your looking to play on, the lack of 512MBs of memory could slow things down, but all the other sub $200 cards will have the same amount.

 

 

 

The only downside is a dual slot cooler which could be a problem with a small case. Although I consider it a plus because the air is exhausted directly out of the case.

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102067

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Well, I am about to leave for a while, so I might come back alter to give you exact details, but I know I have an NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GT video card, it came in around mid 100's, and I easily play oblivion. +1, That was bought at a store, and is now a bit older, so I assume it would be around 20 to 30 dollars less from newegg now.

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I was looking at the 8600gts standard($165) and superclocked($200)

 

look pretty good, 675mhz core, 2000mhz memory, 32 piplines (for the standard. for the superclocked it goes upto 720mhz/2100mhz, 32 piplines

 

 

 

i could probably overclock it myself and save the $35ish

 

 

 

any opinions?

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Well for your price point, a 8600 gts would be the best thing out there. It comes in at $200 even and is the best thing you can get for your money. The next step up from that card would be a 8800 gts, but this comes in substantially over your price range at $280. Both will play those games you mentioned just fine. Note that the brand I have down there, EVGA is a very good one for graphics cards. below those you could try the 8600 gt or 8500 gt, but those don't have a price/performance ratio nearly as good as the other two. The superclocked edition of the 8600 gts is factory overclocked, so you will probably get around 15% - 20% more performance out of it then the stock card.

 

 

 

7900 GS > 8600.

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I was looking at the 8600gts standard($165) and superclocked($200)

 

look pretty good, 675mhz core, 2000mhz memory, 32 piplines (for the standard. for the superclocked it goes upto 720mhz/2100mhz, 32 piplines

 

 

 

i could probably overclock it myself and save the $35ish

 

 

 

any opinions?

 

 

 

Overclock it yourself. Just a warning it's much harder to overclock the graphics card on Vista. If you have XP your fine. Use Rivatuner for Nvidia and ATI Tray Tools or ATItool for ATI cards.

 

 

 

Consider the x1950XT I suggested and the 7900GS Nadril suggested because they are both faster than the 8600gts.

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... %2bGS%2bKO

 

 

 

I got that with my new PC, it kicks [wagon].

 

 

 

edit: and it gives you another $100 you can always spend on more ram or something else. :)

 

 

 

edit:

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127277 looks nice as well. Don't know anything personally about it though, but it is a 512 mb.

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... %2bGS%2bKO

 

 

 

I got that with my new PC, it kicks [wagon].

 

 

 

so if i get 2 of those (combined ~$200 after rebate) and use SLI i'd have a pretty sweet setup?

 

 

 

Hell yes.

 

 

 

Make sure your motherboard supports SLI though.

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its a pretty new computer, its not custom though. is there a way i can check my motherboard without opening my PC up?

 

 

 

all i know is that its intel. (pretty sure, there is intel integrated graphics right now :\)

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Whats the PC/model number you bought?

 

 

 

It probably had something advertised such as "SLI ready". I don't think it would be SLI ready though with integrated.

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Gateway

 

Model: GT5238E

 

 

 

Processor

 

(2)Intel #6f6, 1860 MHz

 

266MHz external bus

 

 

 

BIOS

 

Intel Corp. MQ96510J.15A.0307.2006.1214.1911 12/14/2006

 

 

 

Memory

 

Upgrade

 

1024MB physical

 

90% free resources

 

4 memory slots, 2 free (512+0+512+0)

 

 

 

Video

 

Upgrade

 

Graphics Adapter: Intel® G965 Express Chipset Family

 

Screen Area/Colors: 1680x1050 pixels, 16 million colors

 

Monitor: Gateway 6443

 

Monitor: Gateway 6443

 

Monitor: Gateway 6443

 

 

 

Drives

 

Upgrade

 

C:\ (NTFS) 232966MB total, 76911MB free

 

D:\ (FAT32) 5495MB total, 3477MB free

 

E:\ CD-ROM/CD-RW or DVD Drive

 

G:\ Removable

 

H:\ Removable

 

I:\ Removable

 

J:\ CD-ROM/CD-RW or DVD Drive

 

K:\ Removable

 

 

 

Network and Modem

 

Upgrade

 

(modem) CXT PCI Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP

 

(net) Intel Intel 82562V 10/100 Network Connection

 

(net) Microsoft Direct Parallel

 

 

 

Operating System

 

Upgrade

 

Windows XP SP2 (Windows XP 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2)

 

Original setup date: 1/24/2007

 

DirectX Version: 5.03.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)

 

SWAP FILE DISABLED

 

File cache managed by Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1394

 

Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Arpc_class

 

Microsoft MS ArPolicy Driver (8/2/2005)

 

 

 

CD and DVD Drives

 

HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GSA-H11N (7/1/2001)

 

TDK CDRW5201B (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Hard Drive Controllers

 

Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (7/1/2001)

 

Primary IDE Channel (7/1/2001)

 

Secondary IDE Channel (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Hard Drives Upgrade

 

Hitachi HDT725025VLA380 (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Hidclass

 

HID-compliant device (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Input Devices Upgrade

 

Microsoft HID-compliant mouse (7/1/2001)

 

Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Media

 

SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC (6/15/2006)

 

 

 

Modem Upgrade

 

CXT PCI Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP (7/18/2006)

 

 

 

Pdiports

 

Portrait Displays PDI Kernel Ports Device Driver

 

 

 

Ports

 

Printer Port (LPT1) (7/1/2001)

 

Communications Port (COM1) (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Scsiadapter

 

Intel ICH8R/DO/DH SATA RAID Controller (7/6/2006)

 

 

 

System

 

Intel Quick Resume Technology Drivers (7/13/2006)

 

Intel 82801 PCI Bridge - 244E (7/1/2001)

 

Intel ICH8DH LPC Interface Controller - 2812 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family SMBus Controller - 283E (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 283F (5/16/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 2 - 2841 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 3 - 2843 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 4 - 2845 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 5 - 2847 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel P965/G965 Processor to I/O Controller - 29A0 (5/16/2006)

 

Intel Management Engine Interface (6/19/2006)

 

Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System (7/1/2001)

 

Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio (3/5/2004)

 

Microsoft Composite Battery (7/1/2001)

 

Extended IO Bus (7/1/2001)

 

ACPI Sleep Button (7/1/2001)

 

Microsoft System Management BIOS Driver (7/1/2001)

 

ACPI Multiprocessor PC (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Upgrade

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836 (4/10/2006)

 

Intel ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A (4/10/2006)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Root Hub (7/1/2001)

 

USB Composite Device (7/1/2001)

 

 

 

Video Upgrade

 

Intel G965 Express Chipset Family (6/23/2006)

 

Intel G965 Express Chipset Family (6/23/2006)

 

Plug and Play Monitor (6/6/2001)

 

Plug and Play Monitor (6/6/2001)

 

Plug and Play Monitor (6/6/2001)

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Yep you won't be SLI'ing with that. I fully recomend the gig of ram and card though.

 

 

 

That would be my suggestion too. Ram is the second best way to increase game performance, graphics card being the first.

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Yep you won't be SLI'ing with that. I fully recomend the gig of ram and card though.

 

 

 

Aye, i need to get a new power supply too.. lol only 300 watts :|

 

ahwell power supplies are fairly cheap

 

 

 

i guess ill get 2x512 to add on to my other 2x512

 

i found this for RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145539

 

how will that suffice?

 

 

 

*edit: picked the wrong type of memory... should be

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145526

 

 

 

 

 

*check* 1.) video card you, nadril, recommended,

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... %2bGS%2bKO

 

 

 

2.) another gig of ram

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145526

 

 

 

3.) power supply.

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Yep you won't be SLI'ing with that. I fully recomend the gig of ram and card though.

 

 

 

Aye, i need to get a new power supply too.. lol only 300 watts :|

 

ahwell power supplies are fairly cheap

 

 

 

i guess ill get 2x512 to add on to my other 2x512

 

i found this for RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145539

 

how will that suffice?

 

 

 

*check* 1.) video card you, nadril, recommended,

 

2.) another gig of ram

 

3.) power supply.

 

 

 

That rams good.

 

 

 

Get http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6817153028 for a PSU.

 

 

 

You'll end up with around $230 total probably but the PSU is well worth it, its an amazing power supply. Also helps cool your system by sucking all the hot air in and spitting it out.

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aye, i had to correct my RAM, right now i have

 

 

 

2x512 MB PC4200 533 MHz

 

 

 

the first ones i showed were not pc4200...

 

these ones: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145539 (pc5400)

 

 

 

i found some that are:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145526 (pc 4200)

 

 

 

or will the pc5400's work?

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aye, i had to correct my RAM, right now i have

 

 

 

2x512 MB PC4200 533 MHz

 

 

 

the first ones i showed were not pc4200...

 

these ones: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145539 (pc5400)

 

 

 

i found some that are:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145526 (pc 4200)

 

 

 

or will the pc5400's work?

 

 

 

Yes :). They are 240 pin.

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