Curse

dont feel no pain · Nov 14, 2007, 03:38 PM // 15:38

the best low priced one i know is the ATI Radeon X1650 ($80)

its very cheap for its performance and qaulity =]

Quaker · Nov 14, 2007, 04:24 PM // 16:24

I'd have to say that, since you've been using integrated graphics, almost any modern PCIe card would be a great improvement. You're biggest concern is probably the power supply. It, no doubt, had some headroom in it for upgrades, but you've used up some of that with the extra RAM.
As a general rule-of-thumb, you might want to look only at cards that don't require an separate power plug. Even then, some of the higher end models might overload you PS.

Edit - after looking it up, the Sony specs for the computer say 305 watts minimum power. That may be the actual power consumption of the stock computer. You should open it up and see if the power supply has a label on it stating the maximum power available.
(The power supplies maximum rating is not the same as it's power consumption - if you put a 750 watt PS in that computer, as it is now, it would still only consume 305 watts (plus a bit for the extra 1gig RAM))

LuckyStripe · Nov 14, 2007, 09:37 PM // 21:37

Correct me if I am wrong but... Most/General ATI cards use more power to do anything compared to NVIDA card right? We are working with a 300 wat PSU.

Most NVIDA cards have beaten ATI card on the benchmarks (Keep in mind ATI will most likley beat nvida in steam games by a little because of driver support) but in 'general' gaming, evga uses less power and stays cooler.

sagilltwins · Nov 14, 2007, 11:35 PM // 23:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

I'd have to say that, since you've been using integrated graphics, almost any modern PCIe card would be a great improvement. You're biggest concern is probably the power supply. It, no doubt, had some headroom in it for upgrades, but you've used up some of that with the extra RAM.
As a general rule-of-thumb, you might want to look only at cards that don't require an separate power plug. Even then, some of the higher end models might overload you PS.

Edit - after looking it up, the Sony specs for the computer say 305 watts minimum power. That may be the actual power consumption of the stock computer. You should open it up and see if the power supply has a label on it stating the maximum power available.
(The power supplies maximum rating is not the same as it's power consumption - if you put a 750 watt PS in that computer, as it is now, it would still only consume 305 watts (plus a bit for the extra 1gig RAM))

i'll try to open up my pc to look at the psu later today...

Tachyon · Nov 15, 2007, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyStripe

Correct me if I am wrong but... Most/General ATI cards use more power to do anything compared to NVIDA card right? We are working with a 300 wat PSU.

Most NVIDA cards have beaten ATI card on the benchmarks (Keep in mind ATI will most likley beat nvida in steam games by a little because of driver support) but in 'general' gaming, evga uses less power and stays cooler.

Ok, you're wrong!

LuckyStripe · Nov 15, 2007, 03:24 AM // 03:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azagoth

Ok, you're wrong!

Just somethign ive seen on a lot of tech forums. Even on toms hardware.

azizul1975 · Nov 15, 2007, 04:09 AM // 04:09

i use the 7600GT and got average 60+ FPS on average high graphic setting (no AA)

GW is not so heavy in terms of graphic like Oblivion. Oblivion makes me scream when it jerks.

but if you can afford it, get 7950GT (errr..is there such thing?)

KZaske · Nov 15, 2007, 06:28 AM // 06:28

If it were me, I would hold off for now. Check out the power supply, if the max rating on the psu is less then 550 replace it. Then a month or so later get an 8800GT.
As for other cards, stay away from the GS series of cards. No, there is nothing wrong with them, my 7900GS (a two hundred dollar plus card) performes at lower fps than azizul11975 7600GT. If I could have found one, I would have gotten a GT for a few dollars more.

QoH · Nov 16, 2007, 10:59 AM // 10:59

8800GT is the best buy atm if you also want to play with recent games, but consider that next month(dec 3.) the new GTS will be launched than probably the GTX.

Quaker · Nov 16, 2007, 05:17 PM // 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyStripe

Correct me if I am wrong but... Most/General ATI cards use more power to do anything compared to NVIDA card right?

I think that's only a recent thing with some of the new 2xxx series of cards. I was very surprised/disappointed to find that my new 2900XT had all the performance of an nVidia 8600 with all the power consumption of an 8800!

The Way Out · Nov 16, 2007, 06:10 PM // 18:10

Entry level medium card... what kind of bus... PCI-E or AGP?

If PCI-Express, go with a

Nvidia GeForce 7300GT (PNY)

40$ after rebate from tigerdirect.com

Best bargain card I've seen out as of yet.

Let me know if you have an AGP slot... those tend to run a bit more for a lesser performing card. I will do a quick check for best pricing.

Liberations · Nov 17, 2007, 11:29 PM // 23:29

I have an ATI Radeon 2600 XT 2400 HD card, i dont think its very expensive and it runs great. Its at 256 dedicated graphics memory and 1000+ overall memory.

I think Nvidia Cards are better, so you might wanna check them out. The 8600 GT isn't that expensive and the 7900 series is good too but doesnt support DX 10 to my knowlege.

deluxe · Nov 18, 2007, 02:13 AM // 02:13

Get a 2nd hand geforce 7x00 range card.
Getting a 8800GT is the best performance/price you can get at the moment.
But! Your pc is not very up to date, someone mentioned it has a 300 watt psu, so it must be a quite low end pc, if you want to put a high end card in that, you would need a new psu, and you wont even get the max performance out of that card.

I say: Spend a little money on a 2nd hand card, then start saving for a new pc.
A pc with integrated video was never meant for highend gaming, and never will be. (unless you spend loads)

TheTrueThrill · Nov 18, 2007, 05:14 AM // 05:14

You should look into the new ATi cards. the 3850 are great budget cards.

sagilltwins · Nov 20, 2007, 01:26 AM // 01:26

VisionTek - ATI RADEON HD2600 Pro Edition Graphics Card
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....D1188558584689

does that card look any good? I might pick it up this week.

lordpwn · Nov 20, 2007, 03:54 AM // 03:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagilltwins

VisionTek - ATI RADEON HD2600 Pro Edition Graphics Card
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....D1188558584689

does that card look any good? I might pick it up this week.

Way overpriced at $199.99, I wouldn't pay more than $120 for the Radeon HD2600's level of performance. DX10 support doesn't really matter right now, and even the higher-clocked Radeon HD2600 XT variant is slower than a GeForce 7600GT in everything except the most shader-heavy games.

If you're willing to spend as much as $199 I'd recommend you rethink your budget a little and pay about $250 for a GeForce 8800GT instead, it's more than twice as fast as most of the current midrange shit that sells for about $200 right now, and will probably deliver three times the framerate compared to the $200 stuff once you kick up the resolution, antialiasing and anisotropic filtering settings.

Or, if you'd rather spend less than $200 go look for a GeForce 7900 GS/GT or a Radeon X1950 Pro, both are easily faster than a Radeon 2600, which is already decent for GW, and can be found pretty cheap at the right places.

See the VGA charts at Tom's Hardware to compare the performance of different cards (and notice how badly the current-gen "midrange" cards perform).

The Way Out · Nov 20, 2007, 04:55 PM // 16:55

Paying 200$ for that card is insane. Especially when you could pick up that card and memory for that price from either tigerdirect or newegg. Bestbuy is a ripoff, especially when it comes to pc components. I will never buy anything from them again, unless it is an extreme emergency and I need the part(s) now.

sagilltwins · Nov 21, 2007, 02:11 AM // 02:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordpwn

Way overpriced at $199.99, I wouldn't pay more than $120 for the Radeon HD2600's level of performance. DX10 support doesn't really matter right now, and even the higher-clocked Radeon HD2600 XT variant is slower than a GeForce 7600GT in everything except the most shader-heavy games.

If you're willing to spend as much as $199 I'd recommend you rethink your budget a little and pay about $250 for a GeForce 8800GT instead, it's more than twice as fast as most of the current midrange shit that sells for about $200 right now, and will probably deliver three times the framerate compared to the $200 stuff once you kick up the resolution, antialiasing and anisotropic filtering settings.

Or, if you'd rather spend less than $200 go look for a GeForce 7900 GS/GT or a Radeon X1950 Pro, both are easily faster than a Radeon 2600, which is already decent for GW, and can be found pretty cheap at the right places.

See the VGA charts at Tom's Hardware to compare the performance of different cards (and notice how badly the current-gen "midrange" cards perform).

i'm planning on buying it on black friday for 100 ^^