need a pci-e 16x gfx card; on a small budget

T

thereckerdbraikr

Member
hello,

i currently have a gefroce 6600 card, however recently the fan on the card has started to fail ,and the gpu overheats and crashes my computer :(

so....
i need a new graphics card, and my budget is 100 dollars or so, but i can go up to 150 if its something that is really worth it

i use my computer for gaming a bit, with games such as cs:s and CoH, and video editing, but mostly just for mozilla and ms office

i dont really need too much power, as these games run fine on the rig i have below, but i would like to get the best bang for my buck, and try to stay somewhat current with technology. You guys probably know lots more about this than i do, could you please direct me in the right direction

p.s. i have a 350W power supply and enough room in my case should the gfx card require 2 slots

and i dont have a preference between nvidia and ati as i know both make good gpu's whatever is better for the price is for me though :)

thanks in advance
 
when im looking at these cards should i look more for a faster clock speed or for 512 instead of 256 mb gddr3?

i can also narrow the choice by saying that i want directx10

looking at the power supply recommendations, i have to assume that the only card of those three that i can get is the 8600gts
 
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ok new question should i go for an 8600 gt with 512mb gddr3 or an 8600gts with 256mb gddr3 or should i just pay the 160usd and get the gts with 512mb

basically, is the extra 256mb of gddr3 worth it or not?
 
The best bang/buck card for you would be a 3850. Almost twice as powerful as the GTS and just a couple bucks more, it makes the GTS look like crap in comparison (here). However it needs more power and your current system would bottleneck the card. Besides you said you don't game much, right?

Per your memory question, the GTS is better than the GT, memory doesn't count for performance. An extra 256mb on the gts can help to boost performance in certain games though, allowing for higher texture settings or resolutions.. I wouldn't make the jump unless it's less than a 20-30 dollar difference though.
 
the 3850 needs a 450w, 26 amperage +12v rail (this spec is just as important as wattage, just to let you know) power supply. While you might be able to get away with a lax wattage spec, unless the amperage is close to 26, it will run poorly or not at all. (find the amperage spec on the sticker on the side of the PSU).

Concerning your system bottleneck, you could easily add another gig, cheaply too, and if that board is a 939, It will accept same socketed dual cores. These things can be done at intervals, if money pertains.. The PSU upgrade would be required to run the 3850 though, 40-50 dollars can get you a pretty good unit. Need any advise, don't hesitate to ask. :)
 
i plan to upgrade my rig graudally, and ill probably begin with the motherboard and cpu after this so i can get intel core 2 quad going (forget amd lol), but i think i want to go through with this gfx card and PSU change ill check the sticker on my PSU though

as for my mobo, i do have socket 939, and i dont think i could justify buying another one of those processors or ram becuase i think its obsolete (am i correct about the ram part?)

oh and thanks so much for the help guys!

p.s. i cant seem to find the 3850 on newegg, am i just "special"?

nvm i found them lol
 
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Yeah, you're special. ;)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=3850&x=0&y=0

For the brand of GPU above, cheaper isn't always better, but it isn't always bad either. Sapphire, Asus, Gigabyte, all good brands.

Sounds like a good plan, Intel is currently top of the heap. 939 proc's are no different than am2 ones though, just less variety. You could get an opteron 185 and OC it, it would be on par with an e6x00 or something.. But the DDR1 would be a bottleneck. DDR2 isn't actually that much better than DDR1, despite having twice the bandwidth/speed.. But DDR2 is unquestionable superior, let alone your choice on an LGA775/AM2 motherboard.
 
alright i looked at my psu the brand is liteon
heres what the sticker read
"DC OUTPUT 400W"
"+12VA == / 17A max"
"+12VB == / 10A max"
"Combined power on +12AV, +12VB ,and +5V rails not to exceed 365W MAX"

based on the above the amperage is 17 i believe (correct me if im misinterpreting something) and the psu is 400W not 350W (don't know where i got the 350W value from, but i do realize the irrelevance in this)


and i think i would go with either of these 2 cards, its a >30 dollar change to go for 512mb gddr3

Gigabyte
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125084

or

Sapphire
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

so ive narrowed it down to 2, i think it just comes down to what brand i trust now

and ill be on the lookout for a psu as well
 
What you have is dual +12v rails. You do not simply add both of these up to get the rated amperage however, rather take the stated current draw on the specific rail (in this case 265w) and divide by 12. You get around 38a. So it looks like the amperage is good, even if this number is alittle off, and even though the spec is 50w below recommended wattage, you might actually be able to run the card on your current. To top it off, Lite-on is alright brand, unlike many stock case PSU's.

The $30 premium on the 512mb variant is money well spent.

[/thumbs up]
 
I actually don't know if an ATI card will function with Nvidia drivers installed. It could just load the generic drivers when Nvidia's refuse to load up..

There's a way around this anyway, pop it the ATI card, and boot into safe mode. From there: my computer < properties < hardware < device manager. Expand display adapters, right click your nvidia card, uninstall.
 
alright sounds good, and after i do that the generic drivers should get me far enough into windows xp to allow me to install the radeon drivers correct?

also, ive heard that asus drivers aren't great and to try to get drivers from ati themselves, is this true?

and one more question lol, what is a good program to monitor fan speed and temperature on the card and adjust the fan speed if neccessary

and finally, thank you all very much for all the help, i reallay would be in a not-so-good position without you guys on this one, so my sincere thanks that you guys take time out of your days to help the needy like me :D
 
Yes

Yes, straight from AMD/ATI FTW.

Both overclocking utilities Atitool and rivatuner feature some sort of dynamic fan control and temperature monitor.

No problem man! We like helping people, we're weird like that. :D
 
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