Decent low cost upgrade from 6800GT on a Pent. 3.2

[alkemyst]

My dad's video card is dying, he runs 1280x1024...likes Far Cry type games. He has a Pentium 3.2GHz (Prescott 540).

He has my old 6800GT right now. this is the list I was looking at for him from 'best' to worst. All should absolutely smoke the 6800GT...I just don't know how much power he really needs. He doesn't want to spend a lot.

5770 1GB $139.99 after $20 rebate (free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-363-_-Product

4850 1GB $109.99 ($1.99 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-482-_-Product

9800GTX+ 512MB 104.99 after $30 rebate ($1.99 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-339-_-Product

9800GT 512MB $74.99 after 25 rebate ($6.98 shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-288-_-Product

let me know.
Å

 

[happy medium]

If it's a Agp card. look for a 7800gs.

If it's a pci-e card a 7900gt is about as fast as your cpu can push. You can get one of these used for 30$


The cards you listed are better for dual core cpu's.
You have a slower single core pent 4.

 

[alkemyst]

Ahh it's PCI-E x16. He may upgrade his motherboard/cpu later this year though...

If anyone knows a route with onboard video that would be better and support 1280x1024 gaming he'd be interested in that. He needs to replace his hard drive at the same time as it's about 5.5 years old now.

 

[happy medium]

Any on board video at this time is slower then a 6800gt.
I would not go that route.

Don't forget with today's cards you need a decent power supply.
What he got under the hood?

edit: He needs a whole system upgrade ,a new video card will do nothing for him ,sorry.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Are the Pentium 540's socket 775? Maybe look at a cheap C2D upgrade if it is.

If you're keeping that CPU I really doubt it'd be worth going past Radeon 4670 level performance. To tell you the truth that might even be a bit GPU heavy for that CPU. But, they are cheap, are a solid upgrade over a GeForce 6800, and are pretty power efficient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on%20HD%204670

 

[alkemyst]

He has a 430W psu. Single HD, 2 opticals.

 

[alkemyst]

Are the Pentium 540's socket 775? Maybe look at a cheap C2D upgrade if it is.

If you're keeping that CPU I really doubt it'd be worth going past Radeon 4670 level performance. To tell you the truth that might even be a bit GPU heavy for that CPU. But, they are cheap, are a solid upgrade over a GeForce 6800, and are pretty power efficient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on%20HD%204670

His motherboard is a 925XE chipset (ASUS P5AD2-E Premium) think it only supports single cores.

 

[happy medium]

Are the Pentium 540's socket 775? Maybe look at a cheap C2D upgrade if it is.

If you're keeping that CPU I really doubt it'd be worth going past Radeon 4670 level performance. To tell you the truth that might even be a bit GPU heavy for that CPU. But, they are cheap, are a solid upgrade over a GeForce 6800, and are pretty power efficient.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on%20HD%204670

Yea it's possible your motherboard supports core 2 cpu's. Highly unlikley but possible.
Good catch Slowspider.

 

[toyota]

OP none of those gpus you listed would be appropriate. none of those cards would even be utilized enough to be worth the cost. if you are sticking with that cpu then Im with SlowSpyder on this one. there is zero point in getting anything faster than a 4670 and even that would not come close to being fully pushed with that single core P4.

 

[happy medium]

His motherboard is a 925XE chipset (ASUS P5AD2-E Premium) think it only supports single cores.

Well that sucks...it does only support single core cpu's.

A video card will not give your system a boost, your cpu is too slow.
I had the same speed cpu and it bottlenecked my 7800gs which is 15% faster then a 6800gt.

It's just not worth it.

 

[alkemyst]

he will be upgrading his system though (motherboard/cpu/memory) later this year. Since his card is dead he has to pick up something. He'd rather get something that will run on the next machine. He doesn't plan on going much beyond 1280x1024....he's in his 60's.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I would recommend a Core i3 then, you can give it a nice little OC if you want and pair it with a 5770.

 

[toyota]

he will be upgrading his system though (motherboard/cpu/memory) later this year. Since his card is dead he has to pick up something. He'd rather get something that will run on the next machine. He doesn't plan on going much beyond 1280x1024....he's in his 60's.

by the time he decides to actually upgrade that pc there will be better video cards for the same prices as those you listed. unless he has concrete plans to upgrade soon then theres no point in buying anything more than a $50-$60 card.

 

[tweakboy]

You can try these 88xx series or 9800 gt ...

or 7800GS if your using AGP ....


gl

 

[happy medium]

he will be upgrading his system though (motherboard/cpu/memory) later this year. Since his card is dead he has to pick up something. He'd rather get something that will run on the next machine. He doesn't plan on going much beyond 1280x1024....he's in his 60's.

get a 5750 in that case. he will be good for a while.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131354

 

[0roo0roo]

his cpu is so obsolete that it probably would choke on portal. anything he buys now will be choked to death by the cpu, at this point you are far beyond such an upgrade making sense, wait till you can get the cpu along with the gpu, otherwise its just tossing money down the drain

 

[alkemyst]

by the time he decides to actually upgrade that pc there will be better video cards for the same prices as those you listed. unless he has concrete plans to upgrade soon then theres no point in buying anything more than a $50-$60 card.

He was going to upgrade in a couple months. He is taking a couple classes now and it preoccupied with that. Now that his video card died he needs to buy something.

 

[alkemyst]

get a 5750 in that case. he will be good for a while.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131354

$18 difference though to the 5770.

 

[happy medium]

$18 difference though to the 5770.

If you dont mind rebates, get the 5770.

What brand psu? Just in case.

 

[alkemyst]

It was well-rated here in an Inwin X710 case.

 

[happy medium]

It was well-rated here in an Inwin X710 case.

ok, get the 5770 then, just make sure you upgrade the cpu and board soon.

 

[alkemyst]

I was thinking if we went with this:

GIGABYTE GA-MA78LM-S2H $49.99 +2.99 ship ($10 rebate)
AMD Athlon II X2 255 $67.99 free ship
Ram 4gb 95.99 free ship
4850 109.99 1.99 or the 5770 for $30 more
Caviar Blue 1TB $69.99

under $400...don't know if their is a better bang for buck motherboard/cpu/ram combo...

He's not a hardcore gamer and at 1280x1024 (and 1680x1024 if he upgrades that one day) is not much pixel pushing.

Don't know if this is all in his budget right now. He needs at least the drive and video card so he's halfway there.

 

[Paratus]

I recently had a 3.2 P4 and AGP X1950 PRO 512 and it could play most games at 12x10 and medium to high settings. Crysis ran mid 20s at medium settings @10x7. I played L4D, Oblivion, Crysis, Warhead, ME1 and had fun doing it.

 

[alkemyst]

He is going to upgrade to the build above, he's going to go tri-core (x3 440) and maybe the 5770 vs the 4850. I just don't know if that's overkill at even 1680x1024.

I don't think quad will be worthwhile for him. i am also debating picking up USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 for $40 more...USB 3.0 I can see taking off. SATA 6.0 only for solid state stuff.

 

[happy medium]

5770 is perfect for 1680x 1024.

Any new Far cry type game will utilize 4 cores. At this time it's a must.
Here is one for 95$,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103706

Usb 3.0 & Sata 6.0? You can buy add on cards later if you need it.