Budget Team Fortress 2 graphics card

[imported_TheBob]

My girlfriend has a SFF computer with a 3.2Ghz Pentium D, 2GB DDR2 667 and a 7600gs. She plays Sims 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. The 7600gs is on its last leg.
I want to get her a better card but I don't wanna spend a whole lot.

I'll I need from the card is to play Team Fortress at high settings at 1280x1024 maybe 4x AA and AF and be single slot cooled.

I've been reading reviews but all the budget cards are paired against 8800gtx or 9800s and the tests they run are at like 1650x1080 res. and they say the cards aren't for gaming.

I don't need it to set performance records I just need something better than a 2 year old budget card.

Can you guys point me in the right direction.

 

[Aberforth]

Geforce 9600 GT ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150307 )

 

[manimal]

8800GS would do well at that res as well.

 

[imported_TheBob]

I was thinking more along the $100 line.
Do I need a $150 card to run those games?

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: TheBob
I was thinking more along the $100 line.
Do I need a $150 card to run those games?

nope just get a 8800gt 512 for 120, dunno why someone posted an overpriced 9600gt

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=839946

 

[DSF]

An 8800GS for $90 would be just fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150275

There's another 8800GS on Newegg that includes COD4 for $10 more, if that interests you.

 

[postmortemIA]

come on, to play TF2 and specified res it is enough to have 8600GTS.

 

[stepone]

You could get away with a 8600gt or 3650 playing those games @1280*1024 but if you can get a 8800gs for $90 then that's a far better card & more future proof.

Only thing is you will need a decent 400+ watt psu, so if this SFF PC has a weak psu (like most sff's) under say 300 watts then i'd go with:

SAPPHIRE 100237L Radeon HD 3650 512MB GDDR3 - $60 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102725

What PSU does your girlfriends SFF pc have?

 

[imported_TheBob]

A thermaltake 480watt

 

[Jakeisbest]

My sisters comp runs TF2 at 1650x1080 with an 8600gt. It is smooth and good looking to!

 

[rudder]

Smooth as silk on a 7900GT OC. Probaby find a used one for around $75 or less now that Geforce 8800GT's are hovering around $130.

 

[jesterb84]

Hang on a second - what FPS and what details are you guys using? I'm running TF2 on an E2160@3.0GHz with a Geforce 9600GT and in crowded levels/intense firefights I get 25fps or so (should be 4xAA+4xAF) and this is at 1280x1024 (best my old CRT can do). For this fact I find it hard to recommend anything lower than a 8800GS/9600GT, unless you turn down the detail levels to basic.

Personally I'd go with the above 8800GS/8800GT recommendations.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-...ideo-Card-p-16284.html

How about picking up a 8800GTS 640MB for $100 After rebate. I bought my card from these people. You can read other threads containing only great things from them.

This card is a bit better than the 8800gs, especially in terms of memory and memory bandwidth. 384mb at 192-bit versus 640mb at 320-bit. Thats 38.4GBps versus 126.8GBps. With an EASY 120mhz overclock on the core will make this one on the fastest GPU's out there. It is the best value at the moment.

 

[DarkRogue]

Are you running Firefox or something in the background?
Reason I ask it because I sometimes get VERY heavy dips in FPS due to Firefox's memory leaks getting out of control - either shutting it down to play or restarting it fixes it for a while.

For the record, I also play at 1280x1024 since it's my LCD's native resolution, and I have TF2 cranked up to 16xAA/AF high quality everything, HDR, etc (no vsync) and no matter what happens I manage to stay above 110fps. The only exception is when Firefox's memory leak starts to go out of control, in which case my FPS drops to around 40. I doubt a 9600GT is THAT much worse than my 8800GT especially at such a low resolution.

As for the OP - a low-end 8800GT or 9600GT is a very viable purchase if you're planning on keeping that card for a while, otherwise get the cheapest 8-series nvidia card or something. I've forgotten about ATI's offerings so I can't help out there.

Edit:
Isn't the 8800GTS 640MB paired with a dual slot cooler? The OP requested a single slot cooling solution due to the SFF case.

 

[SorryImLate]

My EVGA 8800GS runs TF2 in 1680X1050 and gets between 90-150Fps. 550mhz clocked version

 

[jesterb84]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
Are you running Firefox or something in the background?
Reason I ask it because I sometimes get VERY heavy dips in FPS due to Firefox's memory leaks getting out of control - either shutting it down to play or restarting it fixes it for a while.

For the record, I also play at 1280x1024 since it's my LCD's native resolution, and I have TF2 cranked up to 16xAA/AF high quality everything, HDR, etc (no vsync) and no matter what happens I manage to stay above 110fps. The only exception is when Firefox's memory leak starts to go out of control, in which case my FPS drops to around 40. I doubt a 9600GT is THAT much worse than my 8800GT especially at such a low resolution.

As for the OP - a low-end 8800GT or 9600GT is a very viable purchase if you're planning on keeping that card for a while, otherwise get the cheapest 8-series nvidia card or something. I've forgotten about ATI's offerings so I can't help out there.

Edit:
Isn't the 8800GTS 640MB paired with a dual slot cooler? The OP requested a single slot cooling solution due to the SFF case.

DarkRogue, thanks for the tip but I don't have Firefox running in the background but thanks for the numbers though, at least I have empirical evidence. The 9600GT should be ~10% performance difference from the 8800GT anyways from what I read.

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
As for the OP - a low-end 8800GT or 9600GT is a very viable purchase if you're planning on keeping that card for a while, otherwise get the cheapest 8-series nvidia card or something. I've forgotten about ATI's offerings so I can't help out there.

+1. The 8800GT/9600GT should be good for another couple of years, especially given the recent low prices.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

hd 3850 is about equal to the old 8800GTS, while HD 3870 is a bit better than the 9600GT.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: SorryImLate
My EVGA 8800GS runs TF2 in 1680X1050 and gets between 90-150Fps. 550mhz clocked version

Seriously? Is this with *everything* maxed out, including using HDR, full AA and full AF? I usually dip to around 30 in huge firefights in open areas with my rig listed below.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
hd 3850 is about equal to the old 8800GTS, while HD 3870 is a bit better than the 9600GT.

is this 'I wish'? I mean if 8800GT > 3870 and 8800GT ~ 8800GTS, then something doesn't add up.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
hd 3850 is about equal to the old 8800GTS, while HD 3870 is a bit better than the 9600GT.

is this 'I wish'? I mean if 8800GT > 3870 and 8800GT ~ 8800GTS, then something doesn't add up.

I'd put the 3850 on par with the 8800GS and the 320mb (G80) 8800GTS, and it may very well be even slower than the two. The 3870 should be faster than both -- on par with the 9600GT and 640mb 8800GTS. The 8800GT is a step up from those, and the 8800GTS (512) is a short step up from the 8800GT.

 

[imported_TheBob]

I have a 8800GTS 320mb and run TF2 at 1680x1050 high settings 8x AA/AF without any slowdowns at all. I just don't see her needing such a powerful card.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I play TF2 with my card, and really, its nothing close to a bottleneck. My cpu still is with mat_queue_mode 2 enabled.

I have the same FPS with my settings at 1280x1024 completly maxed minus HDR (too bright) as i do with 800x600 all on low.

 

[imported_TheBob]

Her cpu is my old one. I got it when the Pentium D first came out. I ran it at 4.0GHz everyday but her case is small so I worry about the heat. Do you think the cpu is a bottleneck?

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Type in mat_queue_mode 2 in console while you are playing. if you get alot more fps, the processor is the bottleneck. if you get not alot more and that equals out to a GPU bottleneck.

 

[jesterb84]

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
Type in mat_queue_mode 2 in console while you are playing. if you get alot more fps, the processor is the bottleneck. if you get not alot more and that equals out to a GPU bottleneck.

I was made aware of mat_queue_mode 2 yesterday and it gave me a massive performance boost by enabling dual-core support. The minimum FPS increased from ~25fps (2xAA, 2xAF) to ~40fps (16xAA, 16xAF) so that was pretty incredible.

mat_queue_mode "2"
r_threaded_renderables "1"
r_threaded_particles "1"
r_threaded_client_shadow_manager "1"
cl_threaded_bone_setup "1"
cl_threaded_client_leaf_system "1"

However, I read that this (at least in the past) did not work with anything other than C2D processors.

Originally posted by: TheBob
Her cpu is my old one. I got it when the Pentium D first came out. I ran it at 4.0GHz everyday but her case is small so I worry about the heat. Do you think the cpu is a bottleneck?

Based on the results above, if mat_queue_mode "2" works on a Pentium D, then probably not really but otherwise, if a single C2D 3GHz core is bottlenecking the game then probably a single 3-4GHz Pentium D core will also.