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Best cheap gaming card for a secondary computer?

C

CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
I have a secondary computer that I used to use for work when I was at the office. Now that I'm working from home, it's a test bed / last resort, but mostly collects dust. The (small) company that I work for is looking to schedule a LAN party some time soon, and we're probably going to settle for Left 4 Dead, with a few other titles up in the air.

Right now the specs are:

Intel E6600 (stock, 2.4 GHz)
Gigabyte G31 (mATX, single PCI-E x16)
2 GB Corsair DDR2 800
EVGA 7900 GS
Western Digital 640 GB Black
Corsair HX520
NZXT Rogue (plenty of air flow, and still portable... barely)
Windows XP Pro (32 bit)

The graphics card is obviously the weak link right now. I could be playing on anything from a 20" 1650x1080 to a 24" 1920x1200 monitor, and I'd prefer to turn up the eye candy a little bit.

What's my best bet? I'd love to spend under $100, but I'd be willing to go up to $150ish for a far superior card.
 
At Newegg, 4870 prices start at $126.99 or $116.99 after rebate. A 4850 is $89.99 and up. Either one is definitely worth the price.
 
I don't know how much you're into Left 4 Dead, but if it is one of the priority games, it does tend to run faster and is certainly more stable on ATI hardware/drivers. That being said, a 4850 would certainly do the trick, although a 1GB 4870 would have more staying power.
 
Well, the memory is all kinds of different, so that's not quite true. But yeah, without a doubt the 4850 is the fastest $100 or less card.
 
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