Economical upgrade for a 7800gt?

[gplracer]

My son has a 7800gt in his computer. What would be a decent economical video card upgrade for him? I have a 8800gt but do not know if I really need to spend that much to get him a decent upgrade. He has a 20" monitor and an AMD 3200+ with 1gb of DDR. He plays fps games. Thanks!

 

[MarcVenice]

What kind of FPS games? At what resolution? The 7800gt might not be fast anymore, but for your son it might be fast enough, depending on the games he plays and at what resolution. You would also gain from some more RAM and cpu power.

The least I'd recommend that would be a decent stepup is a 8800gs for $80ish or a HD3870 for $100ish, but then again you might as well drop your son the 8800gt you have, and buy yourself a HD4850 or gtx260/HD4870, depending on which you prefer.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
The 7800gt might not be fast anymore, but for your son it might be fast enough, depending on the games he plays and at what resolution.

That's my thought too. If he's still stuck playing CS 1.6 or UT2004 then a better video card won't improve his gaming experience.

 

[ajaidevsingh]

Give him your 8800GT and you should upgrade to 4870/GTX260

 

[bryanW1995]

I agree that passing your 8800gt down to your son is probably the correct move. At your resolution the gtx 260/ hd 4870 is PROBABLY the right card, but you might be able to get away with a 4850. What games do you play? Are you a hard-core gamer or just casual?

 

[Keysplayr]

Agree on the son inheriting the 8800GT, and 4870 or GTX260 for your 24" monitor (usually defaults to 1920x1200). But then again, it depends on the games you play.

But your key word was economical. Is there a particular intended budget you were considering?

 

[natty1]

8800GT's are only $110 now at newegg, the 512meg version

 

[gplracer]

Yeah the best thing would be another 8800gt or upgrade mine and give him the 8800gt. He has played COD4, HL2, Oblivion, BFF2142 and others.