Anyone willing to help me pick a better card for an older system?

[sonambulo]

So I've got a pretty old box but I got a 27" monitor and upped my resolution accordingly. As a result video, especially HD, is pretty sluggish to say the least.

So. I have thisthis ASRock mobo with this clunker of a video card popped in there right now. I'm just looking to pick up something that will let me run in 1920 x 1200 without hiccups for regular use. For me this is basically browsing, office suite and screwing around with Game Maker. The only gaming I do on my PC is with emulators (of the 8 and 16 bit varieties) and some Game Maker stuff but that's not really that taxing.

It would be awesome if there was something out there I could pop in my system that let me run L4D on low settings but I've only got a 450W power supply and an old A64 X2 with 3 gigs of ram. However, I'm looking to spend less than 50 bucks so I'm not holding out hope.

edit: LOTS of great advice in this thread. A big thank you to everyone who helped me out.

 

[alyarb]

you should get a radeon 4670 or radeon 4830 for 20 bucks more. don't go any lower than that. maybe you can find a used G92 somewhere.

 

[Qbah]

You can pop in either a HD 4670 - like this one, 60$ AMIR or a HD 3850 - like this one, should be a bit faster (if at all), is a bit cheaper (52$ AMIR) and your PSU should still be able to handle it.

If you want nVidia try to look for a 9600GT. Though I don't think you can get them that cheap.

 

[sonambulo]

I think ahhhhh actually my mobo only has PCI 1.0 slots. Are the 2.0 cards compatible? I read otherwise...

I was looking at this model but I don't know if it's decent.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
I think ahhhhh actually my mobo only has PCI 1.0 slots. Are the 2.0 cards compatible? I read otherwise...

I was looking at this model but I don't know if it's decent.

They are backwards compatible. The 8600 will handle HD video, but it'll be a lot worse in gaming than Qbah's recommendations. What're the specs of your PSU?

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: vj8usa

Originally posted by: sonambulo
I think ahhhhh actually my mobo only has PCI 1.0 slots. Are the 2.0 cards compatible? I read otherwise...

I was looking at this model but I don't know if it's decent.

They are backwards compatible. The 8600 will handle HD video, but it'll be a lot worse in gaming than Qbah's recommendations. What're the specs of your PSU?

Topic Summary: Not for gaming

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: OCguy
Topic Summary: Not for gaming

Originally posted by: sonambulo
It would be awesome if there was something out there I could pop in my system that let me run L4D

L4D is a game, which is why I mentioned gaming.



sonambulo, if 3D gaming is a very low priority for you and you'd rather get something that consumes less power but can't really handle modern games, you could get a low end card simply to help decode HD video. You might also consider the coreAVC codec, which would probably let you handle 1080p content without GPU acceleration.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
I think ahhhhh actually my mobo only has PCI 1.0 slots. Are the 2.0 cards compatible? I read otherwise...

I was looking at this model but I don't know if it's decent.

For the same price you'd be better off with a Radeon 4650. The 4670 is better for gaming but it's a little more expensive. A 4650 can be had for $55 w/ a $10 mail-in rebate.

The 4650 isn't a gaming-oriented card but it should still be able to tackle the occasional game of L4D without trouble. Low power requirements too. It'll easily outperform the 8600GT and it'll probably do better for general use and video decoding as well since it's newer.

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: vj8usa
They are backwards compatible. The 8600 will handle HD video, but it'll be a lot worse in gaming than Qbah's recommendations. What're the specs of your PSU?

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Njg=

Originally posted by: vj8usa
sonambulo, if 3D gaming is a very low priority for you and you'd rather get something that consumes less power but can't really handle modern games, you could get a low end card simply to help decode HD video. You might also consider the coreAVC codec, which would probably let you handle 1080p content without GPU acceleration.

vj8, I'm sorry I wasn't more clear. 3D gaming is at the absolute bottom of the barrel for priorities. HD video is what I'm really after. I'm basically looking for something to hold me over until a fresh build some time next year. What should I be looking for in a low end card?

Originally posted by: OCguy
Topic Summary: Not for gaming

To be fair to vj8usa, I did mention L4D specifically in the last part of my OP. From what I can tell he has the best of intentions.

 

[s44]

4650

 

[Face2Face]

Look on Craigslist in your area, I am sure you can find a good used card for cheap.

I had a system very much the same as yours, I had two 7800 Gt's in SLI and then purchased a 8800 GT 256 thats smoked the 7800 GT's. If you want new I would recommend 9600 GSO or 4670.

 

[way2fast91]

You should buy my old (works like new, never oc'ed) eVGA 7600 GT KO PCI-e for $20. I am not using it after upgrading to a 4830. I actually had auctioned it on eBay, but the buyer emailed me and had changed their mind, for that little money I said ok not worth the trouble.

 

[edplayer]

Originally posted by: Qbah

If you want nVidia try to look for a 9600GT. Though I don't think you can get them that cheap.

http://shop1.frys.com/product/...sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

$50 after rebate

PNY Verto GeForce 9600GT

 

[edplayer]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121259

$20 after a $10 MIR : ASUS EAH3450/DI/256M Radeon HD 3450 256MB 64-bit GDDR2



http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125253

$45 after a $15 MIR : GIGABYTE GV-R465OC-1GI Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2

 

[wlee15]

If gaming is really not important than get the HD 4350 which are better than the nvidia equivalents because the ATI card have a better HDMI audio implementation. You can also consider the HD 4550 which add support for decoding of the PIP video stream on some blu-ray movies.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I'd settle on the 4650. As its 7-10x faster then the 4350, it'll decode HD video beyond 1080P for a very long time. It also can handle game like no lower-range card has before.

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
I'd settle on the 4650. As its 7-10x faster then the 4350, it'll decode HD video beyond 1080P for a very long time. It also can handle game like no lower-range card has before.

Can my junky little 350W psu handle it?

 

[vj8usa]

I'd advise giving CoreAVC a try, just to see if it's good enough for what you need. No need to buy a new GPU at all if that ends up sufficing. As a reference point, my last CPU (single core A64 3700+ which I ran at 2.4GHz, I think) could just about handle 1080p content with coreavc. Your dual core CPU should be more than enough.
http://www.coreavc.com/index.p...k=view&id=41&Itemid=59
(14 day free trial)

If you do end up going for a 4650, though, I'm pretty sure it'd work with your PSU. You've got dual 12V rails that give a total of 23A, and I seem to remember reading that the 4650 consumes no more than 30W (which is 2.5A).

edit: this is where I got the 30W value from:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...on-hd4650_4.html#sect0

 

[sonambulo]

Excellent. Thanks for taking the time to type all that up, vj8. You've been a huge help.

Everyone thank you for responding. I've narrowed the search down to a few products now and will decide shortly. Thanks again!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: sonambulo

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
I'd settle on the 4650. As its 7-10x faster then the 4350, it'll decode HD video beyond 1080P for a very long time. It also can handle game like no lower-range card has before.

Can my junky little 350W psu handle it?

Most likely. I have the same CPU running with a x1650pro 512mb on a 300w power supply.

 

[Dark Penguin]

So did you pick up a card? I've an almost identical system and am looking to upgrade the video so I can add blu-ray to it. (It is a machine wedged behind the TV. So it is basically a HTPC.)

 

[chuckm]

Deleted

 

[Dark Penguin]

So far so good with the HD 4550 I bought. Took a bit to get it and the TV to play nice but now they do. Still haven't bought a blu-ray so I don't know how well that will work. But the card DOES work in the PC. I should think the 4650 would work in your machine.