~$100 video card for backup gaming pc?

[balane]

I have a computer in the garage that I sometimes use to play games on. Mostly it's used for web surfing. It's connected to a 1920x1200 24" LCD monitor. I play a lot of different kinds of games and would like the ability to continue that. I'm playing LOTRO currently and also play WoW. Playing upcoming games like Fallout Vegas, even on lower settings, at the native resolution would be great.

If this gives you any idea, I'm doing a ram/vid/mobo platform upgrade on it. Currently it has a 512mb AGP HD 3850 with a 2.0 GHz C2D processor and 2GB of RAM. The motherboard is capped at 2GB and I want 4GB which is the main reason for the platform upgrade. But I'm very pleased with the performance of the AGP HD 3850.

Direct X 11 would be nice but I'd rather have a higher performing DX10 card than a slower DX11 card if that makes any sense.

I was looking at this one. The price seems right and it looks like it fits my needs. FYI, I have no preference of nVidia or ATI, just want the best bang for the buck.

What do you think of this card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150436

XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$100 after MIR

 

[happy medium]

XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$100 after MIR

If your psu can handle it, thats the best choice.

 

[DaveSimmons]

My 4870-512 MB works great with games like Fallout 3, Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, I'd say go for it.

 

[jackstar7]

I had some luck, but YMMV, picking up a used 5770 1GB under $100.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the 4870 as it is a strong performer, but I like the 5XXX series for the cool running when not gaming.

 

[balane]

Forgot about the power supply. It has a 500 watt xClio Goodpower.

 

[happy medium]

Forgot about the power supply. It has a 500 watt xClio Goodpower.

You should get by on that psu. It has 2 12v rails at 14 and 15 amps.
I would think about replacing that soon though.

 

[Leyawiin]

nvm

 

[bryanW1995]

what cpu are you going to? do you plan to oc?

 

[happy medium]

what cpu are you going to? do you plan to oc?

Yea dont overclock with that psu. And dont worry any i7 will max a 4870's capabilities at stock.

 

[tweakboy]

Simple 9800GT or 9800GTX+ gl

 

[Lavans]

The 4870 is probably going to be your best choice. It should handle most games just fine as long as you don't mind not cranking up the AA .

 

[balane]

I'm using a E2160 Conroe 1.8GHz with a BSEL mod to 2.0GHz. If I run into any power issues I'll remove the pin mod and run at stock speeds. Before I upgraded my main gaming desktop I was using this PSU to power an overclocked Q6600 and GTX 260, also overclocked, and never ran into any problems. I've been a big fan of xClio power supplies but I'll see how it goes.

 

[happy medium]

I'm using a E2160 Conroe 1.8GHz with a BSEL mod to 2.0GHz.

Thats way too slow for a 4870, save your money for a better cpu. Mabe a Intel q8400 and overclock? That e2160 is even slow for a backup system.

If your gonna keep that cpu, grab a used 4770 or at most a used 9800gtx vanilla for under 75$

 

[balane]

I will upgrade the CPU in due time. Baby steps for this machine. I want to get the best video card available for my budget and still be able to upgrade the processor down the road.

There are parts of WoW which are miserable with 2GB of RAM. (Dalaran and Raids for instance.) I have a laptop which I upgraded from 2GB to 4GB and warcraft got much more playable. If I could stick 4GB of memory in this motherboard I would have left it at that and been very happy with its performance. Currently it plays LOTRO, Fallout 3 and Warcraft (With the limitations mentioned.) to my liking, settings turned down to about medium. A better PSU will be next on my list and then the processor.

 

[Termie]

I will upgrade the CPU in due time. Baby steps for this machine. I want to get the best video card available for my budget and still be able to upgrade the processor down the road.

There are parts of WoW which are miserable with 2GB of RAM. (Dalaran and Raids for instance.) I have a laptop which I upgraded from 2GB to 4GB and warcraft got much more playable. If I could stick 4GB of memory in this motherboard I would have left it at that and been very happy with its performance. Currently it plays LOTRO, Fallout 3 and Warcraft (With the limitations mentioned.) to my liking, settings turned down to about medium. A better PSU will be next on my list and then the processor.

Honestly, the problem with upgrading to a new socket 775 motherboard is that you won't have really good CPU options in the future. If I were you, I would do it all at once. You're not going to get a great value by upgrading to a newer 775 motherboard and 4GB ram (DDR3, I assume, for future-proofing, except that the DDR3 boards will cost more and you'll need to toss your existing DDR2 sticks).

I understand your plight (just need more ram but can't install it), but you'll probably regret shelling out the dough on this build when you aren't actually going to get much more performance out of it except for WoW. Have you considered getting an inexpensive AMD board and lower-end quad-core CPU? Combo deals for these are usually quite cheap.

Example: Athlon II X4 440 and motherboard for $130 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.510580

By the way, back to your original question: the 4870 1GB card is an excellent choice. Far and away your best bang for the buck right now, faster than any card up to $150.

 

[Lavans]

The Intel quad core series on the LGA775 socket is a pretty good competitor. From my understanding, a Q9450 is only a smidgen or two slower than the i7 920, meaning that it should last for a mid range gaming machine for at least two years from today. By that time, even if he went with a new socket now, he would still need to replace the mobo when he felt the need to upgrade.

 

[Termie]

The Intel quad core series on the LGA775 socket is a pretty good competitor. From my understanding, a Q9450 is only a smidgen or two slower than the i7 920, meaning that it should last for a mid range gaming machine for at least two years from today. By that time, even if he went with a new socket now, he would still need to replace the mobo when he felt the need to upgrade.

The Q9450 is EOL, and comparable socket 775 CPUs are over $200. Terrible investment. There are cheaper Intel options, such as the relatively slow q8200 at $150, but he'd be much, much better off with an AMD Athlon quad-core and MB for $130. It will offer almost exactly the same performance for just a bit more cash than a new socket 775 motherboard, and much less than a q8300/mb combo, which all run over $200.

 

[Lavans]

The Q9450 is EOL, and comparable socket 775 CPUs are over $200. Terrible investment. There are cheaper Intel options, such as the relatively slow q8200 at $150, but he'd be much, much better off with an AMD Athlon quad-core and MB for $130. It will offer almost exactly the same performance for just a bit more cash than a new socket 775 motherboard, and much less than a q8300/mb combo, which all run over $200.

Truth, an AM3 + AMD quad core would indeed be cheaper. It didn't quite click with me that his computer's mobo is probably too old to accept a C2Q.

Either way, for gaming, getting a new video card would definitely help more than a new processor, even with the bottleneck.

 

[balane]

Quick update. Found this card;

Edit: Wrong link 5770 is the card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4150462&cm_re=xfx_5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product

on craigslist for $80 and grabbed it. Seems to be in great shape.

Is it too much for my 500 watt xClio PSU?

Will start looking for a motherboard/cpu/ram combo now.

 

[Termie]

Quick update. Found this card;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xfx%205750

on craigslist for $80 and grabbed it. Seems to be in great shape.

Is it too much for my 500 watt xClio PSU?

Will start looking for a motherboard/cpu/ram combo now.

For $80 it's a pretty good deal. Not as fast as the 4870 you were looking at, but much cooler and quieter, and incredibly efficient. You won't have any trouble at all with your PSU.

Good luck with the motherboard/CPU/ram search. I think you'll find a full upgrade to be a good investment - you'll be able to feel a difference from your current system.

 

[balane]

Just to post a final follow up since all is done now. A stroke of good fortune came my way that brought this upgrade to a quick and inexpensive solution. About six months ago I helped a co-worker put a timing belt in his Honda. I didn't ask anything in return, just a friend helping a friend. We used my garage, tools and experience but he did a lot of the wrench turning with my supervision and occasional assistance. Well, I was playing poker with him a few nights ago and I mentioned my upgrade plans. He's into computers as well and told me he had 2 x 2GB sticks of DDR2 6400 and gave them to me. Ran home, grabbed them and handed them over to me. He was going to buy me a bottle of bourbon but never got around to it. He assured me they were getting no use and for me to please accept them. So I did.

This story is getting long so I'll cut to the chase. I was able to grab a decent Asus micro-ATX motherboard for $40 ( P5G41-M LE ) and that was all I needed. Stuck my old C2D in, OC it to 2.2GHz easily and the new 5770. My speeds are up very nicely across the board. It plays games fine, LOTRO is maxed out now and running DX11.

I know it's still seriously outdated but I got what I wanted; 4GB of RAM and a half-way decent video card. So, for me, it's a happy ending. The free memory was the cart tipper for my final decision on which way to go. I'm more than pleased with it as an alternate, back-up computer.

Thanks for all the help here.

 

[Termie]

Just to post a final follow up since all is done now. A stroke of good fortune came my way that brought this upgrade to a quick and inexpensive solution. About six months ago I helped a co-worker put a timing belt in his Honda. I didn't ask anything in return, just a friend helping a friend. We used my garage, tools and experience but he did a lot of the wrench turning with my supervision and occasional assistance. Well, I was playing poker with him a few nights ago and I mentioned my upgrade plans. He's into computers as well and told me he had 2 x 2GB sticks of DDR2 6400 and gave them to me. Ran home, grabbed them and handed them over to me. He was going to buy me a bottle of bourbon but never got around to it. He assured me they were getting no use and for me to please accept them. So I did.

This story is getting long so I'll cut to the chase. I was able to grab a decent Asus micro-ATX motherboard for $40 ( P5G41-M LE ) and that was all I needed. Stuck my old C2D in, OC it to 2.2GHz easily and the new 5770. My speeds are up very nicely across the board. It plays games fine, LOTRO is maxed out now and running DX11.

I know it's still seriously outdated but I got what I wanted; 4GB of RAM and a half-way decent video card. So, for me, it's a happy ending. The free memory was the cart tipper for my final decision on which way to go. I'm more than pleased with it as an alternate, back-up computer.

Thanks for all the help here.

Good to hear. You can't beat free stuff. For your investment of $120, you have a big upgrade. Congrats! It's definitely a fine backup system.

 

[happy medium]

Quick update. Found this card;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xfx%205750

on craigslist for $80 and grabbed it. Seems to be in great shape.

Is it too much for my 500 watt xClio PSU?

Will start looking for a motherboard/cpu/ram combo now.

hey , thats the same card I have, now overclock that sucker.

 

[balane]

hey , thats the same card I have, now overclock that sucker.

On stock cooling what do you recommend? I was thinking about flashing the BIOS. It's in a micro case so I want it to stay nice and cool. I already replaced the OEM compound with Shin Etsu in anticipation of a small bump in speed. Right now it's loading at 63C which is pretty nice considering that it doesn't have a lot of breathing room.

 

[happy medium]

On stock cooling what do you recommend? I was thinking about flashing the BIOS. It's in a micro case so I want it to stay nice and cool. I already replaced the OEM compound with Shin Etsu in anticipation of a small bump in speed. Right now it's loading at 63C which is pretty nice considering that it doesn't have a lot of breathing room.

I only have a stock cooler and with my current overclock it hovers around 72c at load. You must take into account my case is huge and like a wind tunnel.

Flashing the bios is not nessasary. Just bump it up to 800 core 1300 memory, it should do that with ease. My card will do 915 core 1375 memory max.
In your small case just make sure you don't let the card go over 80c.
it seems you have plenty of headroom seeing your temps are only 63c at load.

Overdrive in CCC only lets me do 870 core, to get more I use MSI Afterburner.