currently running an eVGA 7900 GT KO

robphelan

Diamond Member
Aug 28, 2003
4,085
17
81
I have an AMD dual core 3800+ (upgrading to a 5000+ this week) on an MSI K9N Plat mobo
2GB RAM (upgrading to 4GB within 2 weeks)
a few HDDs here and there + 2 external USB HDDs to store movies/TV shows
Dell 2405fpw LCD

I mainly use this as my HTPC + some gaming - mostly BF2142 still, until I find something else that'll grab my interest.

I know it may sound like overkill for an HTPC, but I frequently will have Live TV (via Beyond TV) playing in a window (like a football/basketball game), Media Player Classic playing a movie in another, and be browsing the web at the same time.

I'm looking to see if my vid card needs to be replaced to help handle some of the load better.

Suggestions on if I should upgrade my vid card? If so, what's out there <150 or so?
 

vj8usa

Senior member
Dec 19, 2005
975
0
0
Originally posted by: robphelan
I know it may sound like overkill for an HTPC, but I frequently will have Live TV (via Beyond TV) playing in a window (like a football/basketball game), Media Player Classic playing a movie in another, and be browsing the web at the same time.

I'm looking to see if my vid card needs to be replaced to help handle some of the load better.

I'm pretty sure none of that will really benefit from a new video card, unless you're talking about watching HD movies. In that case, a card that can offload decoding from the CPU could make a noticeable improvement. For other video, a 5000+ is easily enough.

I wouldn't spend 150 on a 9800GTX or 4850 if you don't really plan on gaming - it'd be overkill. Even for 1080p, there are cheaper cards that'll do fine.
 

faxon

Platinum Member
May 23, 2008
2,109
1
81
at 1920x1200 a new video card will probably help the performance of BF2142 somewhat, though the game is a bit older so it probably wont matter much anyway lol. if you're upgrading everything else you might as well just get an HD4850 and call it a day lol