Best card for my setup

[joeyRoo]

I'm looking for the best video card that will fit with my system. My system is not top of the line so I don't want to spend extra money on a video card that will be held back by my system.

Here's my setup:

asus p5n-e sli
intel core 2 duo e4300 stock speed
2 gigs of ddr2

Want system to be able to play the following games smoothly: left 4 dead, street fighter 4 and starcraft 2. I'm doing research on my end while i write this but a nudge in the right direction would help

Budget wise I'm looking to spend around $100

Thanks!

Follow-up question: Would there be any advantage of getting two lower end cards that support sli?

 

[happy medium]

4850 for 99$ shipped and a free game....


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...a&ref=dynamitedata.com

Mabe look into the 5750 for 129$ if you have the extra 30$.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102859

 

[joeyRoo]

So my system should have no problem using the card to the fullest?

 

[happy medium]

What resolution you play at? What is your monitor size?
1280x1080 19 inch monitor?
1650x1050 21 inch monitor?
24 inch monitor
1900x1080?

 

[joeyRoo]

1280x1024 19 inches. As I am in the process of updating my setup I plan on getting a 22w or 24w LCD.

 

[happy medium]

Then yes those cards are perfect for your system.

edit : just play with high settings and you should be fine.

If you plan on getting a 24 inch monitor go with the 1gb 5750 for the extra 30 bucks.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: joeyRoo
I'm looking for the best video card that will fit with my system. My system is not top of the line so I don't want to spend extra money on a video card that will be held back by my system.

Here's my setup:

<asus p5n-e sli
intel core 2 duo e4300 stock speed
2 gigs of ddr2

Want system to be able to play the following games smoothly: left 4 dead, street fighter 4 and starcraft 2. I'm doing research on my end while i write this but a nudge in the right direction would help

Budget wise I'm looking to spend around $100

Thanks!

Follow-up question: Would there be any advantage of getting two lower end cards that support sli?

Ya know with that motherboard cpu combo you should easily get 2.4 ghz with a overclock.

Look in to getting 2gigs more ram also

 

[joeyRoo]

Yeah, I originally got the motherboard/cpu combo for overclocking purposes but never got around to doing it since i didn't see the need for it. With more free time on my hands now I'd like get in some good gaming time and I'll probably overclock my cpu if it helps.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

4850 is your best bet, and you should see some gains if you overclock that processor to 2.5 GHz or higher.

 

[MrK6]

4850 is pretty good up until 1920x1200, where it'll struggle a bit with games like Crysis. And yah, definitely overclock your CPU. That E4300 is a great little chip; I had mine at 3.0GHz with no voltage added.

 

[joeyRoo]

The reviews say the 4850 runs pretty hot do i need to worry about adding more fans to my system? I currently have two fans one on the back and one on the cpu.

 

[bamacre]

What kind of power supply do you have?

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: joeyRoo
The reviews say the 4850 runs pretty hot do i need to worry about adding more fans to my system? I currently have two fans one on the back and one on the cpu.

the cards are designed to run hot. most people have a serious issue with running their gpu at 85c, but amd designed them that way and they don't have an abnormal failure rate due to the increased temp. Basically, the card doesn't generate any more heat that similarly performing cards, it just doesn't ramp the fan up as high when it does it. My 4850 worked just fine, even when I turned all my case fans on low. However, keep in mind that the reference cooler was pretty shitty for the 4850, most of the newer ones cool it much better, are quieter, and run it at quite a bit lower temp. In fact, that HIS unit at newegg should have no problems at all.

From looking at the stats, I would do some searching for a 512mb 5750. They are supposed to be $109, so it would only be $10 more than the 4850 listed. a 1gb 5750 is ~ 5% faster than a 4850, so a 512mb version would be neck and neck. However, you will save a whole lot more than $10 over the lifetime of that card because of the much improved idle power characteristics, plus you'll get all the benefits of dx 11/eyefinity/etc. Only problem is FINDING the 512mb version, it's been released but I haven't seen any yet.

 

[lifeblood]

I have a 4830 which runs everything at high settings at 1440x900 resolution. That would work fine for you. If you do plan on stepping up to a larger monitor than definitely look at the 4850 or nVidia equivilent. The 4830 won't be able to deliver the same quality at the higher resolutions.

Also, ddr2 is starting to go up in price as ddr3 becomes the mainstream. Depending on the game/app, your going to be bottlenecked by your RAM more than your video card. You need to double that to 4gb before prices get to high..

 

[joeyRoo]

Originally posted by: bamacre
What kind of power supply do you have?

I believe it's 500W

 

[joeyRoo]

@bryanw19995:
you make a good point. Maybe I should wait till the 512mb 5750 come out. The extra 10 dollars looks to be worth it in the long run.

 

[joeyRoo]

After some research I have decided to go with the 512mb 5750, thx for all the advice guys! Now the only problem is finding one...have they not been released yet?

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: joeyRoo
@bryanw19995:
you make a good point. Maybe I should wait till the 512mb 5750 come out. The extra 10 dollars looks to be worth it in the long run.

Those 5750 512MB cards are supposed to be $109, but nobody has them yet.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Just learning

Originally posted by: joeyRoo
@bryanw19995:
you make a good point. Maybe I should wait till the 512mb 5750 come out. The extra 10 dollars looks to be worth it in the long run.

Those 5750 512MB cards are supposed to be $109, but nobody has them yet.

the first batches will be snatched up almost immediately when they do get them. its a nice low power card that can still game decently especially at around 1280 and even 1680 for those that dont have to max every setting.