[*ka24e*]

I want to upgrade my graphic card and wanted to get some opinions on what to get. I'll admit, I'm a noob when it comes to GPU's, lol.

I'm looking for a cheap-ish card for my older system. I do game occasionally also.

Specs:

Mother Board: Ambermine M
CPU:Athlon 64 3200+ running @ 2.3ghz 939 Socket Venice core
Ram: 2gb ram @ 416mhz
Video: Onboard ati x200m
PSU: 300 Watts, but I'm running the two HDD's, CD's and fans off another 250w PSU.

Available slots: PCI and PCI-E, no AGP.

Thanks,

 

[dragosmp]

Within 50$ you can find second hand 4850s, I see no reason to pay more for a graphics card as it would be held back by the processor. Other options that are as fast and should be about the same price are GTS 250, 9800GT, Radeon 4870 and 4770. As for new cards... unfortunately cards like the 5750 or the 550Ti are about as fast as a 4850 while costing double the price (~100$); if you really want a new one the 5750 is a good option, or the 5650 if you wanna go for cheaper, albeit slower.

 

[adizz]

You could get a GPU but I'm afraid you'll have to buy a PSU along with it.

You should look at cards on sale and get 9800/8800 for real cheap.

 

[ban916]

8800 gt.

 

[*ka24e*]

Thanks for the reply's. I've been searching around on ebay and came up with a few.
What do you think about these?

- Radeon X1300 Pro PCI-e 256mb / 128 bit

- Radeon HD3450 PCI-e 512mb / 64 bit

I used to have a AH3450 AGP in the past and it was okay for gaming. It was on a P4 3.0E @ 3.5ghz and it would game with decent frame rates. I'm thinking the x1300 would be better being how its 128 bit but I'm not sure.

 

[trulsrohk]

Grab a used 4830

 

[*ka24e*]

I'd love a 4830, but i don't think my PSU would handle it...

 

[amstech]

Hmmm.......300W you say?
What resolution are you planning to play at?

Would you consider a PSU upgrade as well? (not that expensive for a decent 500W these days actually). What are you looking to spend?

 

[BinaryDemon]

If your not gonna upgrade PSU, then get something like a GT240.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130619

 

[*ka24e*]

1024 X 768 for resolution. I'm not really a die hard gamer, I just want a cheap card that can actually run a game with decent frames. I'd be happy with 25-30 fps.

This PC is pretty old, upgrading would net very little results. I'm just looking for something to get by until I can build a "real" computer, lol.

 

[amstech]

GeForce 8800GT 512MB maybe....

http://cgi.ebay.com/PNY-NVIDIA-GeForce-8800-GT-512MB-PCI-E-2-0-16x-used-/170622456883?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27b9e41433#ht_500wt_1156

 

[*ka24e*]

So I think I might have found a good GPU. I found a good Radeon EAH5450 and the specs look pretty good.

- 20w max power draw
- DX11
- 1GB DDR3 @ 800MHz (1600MHz total)
- And its looks like its quicker than some of the other radeons, but its only 64 bit.

What do you guys think? Good card or a waste of time/money?

 

[trulsrohk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by *ka24e*;13015311
I'd love a 4830, but i don't think my PSU would handle it...

you would be golden unless your psu is absolute junk

http://techreport.com/articles.x/15752/8

Under load a measly 208 watts (at the wall!) for the whole system with a core2quad extreme processor

 

[*ka24e*]

Really ^?

Specs for PSU:
Max Output: 300W

+12 V: 19A
-12 V: 0.8A
5 V: 25A
3.3V: 18A
+5 VSB: 2A

What do you think? Good enough for a 4830?

 

[rip10793]

Quote:

Originally Posted by *ka24e*;13020111
Really ^?

Specs for PSU:
Max Output: 300W

+12 V: 19A
-12 V: 0.8A
5 V: 25A
3.3V: 18A
+5 VSB: 2A

What do you think? Good enough for a 4830?

What brand is it? It could work

 

[*ka24e*]

Stock HP PSU. Its from an HP Media Center a1243w. If it helps any, I plan on running the HDD's, all the fans except the CPU fan and the DVD drive off another PSU.

That would leave the 300W to power the Athlon 64, 2gb DDR400 (2x 1gb) and GPU.

 

[trulsrohk]

I wouldn't pretend to be able to look at those numbers and give you a definitive answer, have not spent that much time studying the electrical ratings of psu's and what that translates out to.

However if you are only running the mobo, cpu, and GPU off a 300w max psu, and the power draw at the wall from a system with need for more power is barely over 200., I would feel pretty darn safe saying that it will be ok.

200 at the wall is only 160 watts at 80% efficiency, so you will probably be only at about half the max rated power for the unit

 

[*ka24e*]

I might be able to get a hold of a 400W PSU from a friends old computer, but I have no clue what the specs are.

 

[renaldy]

what does your motherboard support NVIDIA OR ATI graphic card???

 

[edalbkrad]

Get a low power HD4650 512mb, its good enough to run most games at medium-high settings on 1024x768. Any card more powerful than the 4650 will be bottlenecked by the cpu.

My HD3650 512mb and sempron 2.0 ghz which is slower than your cpu ran Call of duty MW2 at medium settings 1024x768.

Dont get an 8800GT, the PSU might not handle it. Also my sempron bottlenecked my 9800GT before.
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