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Graphics card buying advice

C

chakraps

Member
My 2yr old EVGA 7600GT died recently with 5 of 10 popped capacitors. I'm looking for a new card under $110.

Please suggest a card considering the below factors:
- Abit IP35-E, 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2-800, Antec Earthwatts 380w, Intel E2160, Win XP Pro sp3
- desired resolution 1600x900. 1920x1080 would be a plus.
- I understand the psu maybe bit under powered but want to stick with it as much as possible.
- open to both nvidia and ati. looking for good card with good after sales support.
- usage is for general home computing, browsing, lotsa movies and HD videos, gaming (not a hard core gamer).
 
ubayogi said:
my 2yr old evga 7600gt died recently with 5 of 10 popped capacitors. I'm looking for a new card under $110.

Please suggest a card considering the below factors:
- abit ip35-e, 2x1gb g.skill ddr2-800, antec earthwatts 380w, intel e2160, win xp pro sp3
- desired resolution 1600x900. 1920x1080 would be a plus.
- i understand the psu maybe bit under powered but want to stick with it as much as possible.
- open to both nvidia and ati. Looking for good card with good after sales support.
- usage is for general home computing, browsing, lotsa movies and hd videos, gaming (not a hard core gamer).
Click to expand...
ati 5750/5770

gts 250
 
badb0y said:
ati 5750/5770

gts 250
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. Personally I would look for a deal for the 5770. I've seen a few deals where you could snag it for about $100 after rebates or cashback. Of course you have to pay a tad more upfront for those deals, so only do them if you don't mind the wait to get your money back.

Another alternative is for a 4850/4870 card which I would still prefer personally over a GT250. The 4850 can go for as little as $80 after deals and is faster than the GT250.
 
ubayogi said:
My 2yr old EVGA 7600GT died recently with 5 of 10 popped capacitors. I'm looking for a new card under $110.

Please suggest a card considering the below factors:
- Abit IP35-E, 2x1GB G.Skill DDR2-800, Antec Earthwatts 380w, Intel E2160, Win XP Pro sp3
- desired resolution 1600x900. 1920x1080 would be a plus.
- I understand the psu maybe bit under powered but want to stick with it as much as possible.
- open to both nvidia and ati. looking for good card with good after sales support.
- usage is for general home computing, browsing, lotsa movies and HD videos, gaming (not a hard core gamer).
Click to expand...

Doesn't EVGA offer a lifetime warranty on their video cards?
 
SRoode said:
Doesn't EVGA offer a lifetime warranty on their video cards?
Click to expand...
If am not wrong, it covers only when the product is registered within 30 days of purchase. Mine is a used one purchased locally from craigslist. Back then I didn't pay attention to getting the original box and receipt along with it. So I also don't have any product or serial #s to claim warranty.

BIG EDIT: Thanks to all the above recommendations.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ubayogi said:
If am not wrong, it covers only when the product is registered within 30 days of purchase. Mine is a used one purchased locally from craigslist. Back then I didn't pay attention to getting the original box and receipt along with it. So I also don't have any product or serial #s to claim warranty.

BIG EDIT: Thanks to all the above recommendations.
Click to expand...

Serial # should be on a sticker attached to the back of the card. Not sure how it'll go claiming the warranty on it though, but might be worth a shot.
As everyone said 5770 is best bang for the buck now unless you get lucky finding a cheap old 48xx card or something. I personally don't buy used unless there's some kind of warranty left though.
 
Another vote for 5770. FYI I think XFX have a double lifetime warranty that covers 2nd hand purchases- might be worth considering next time.
 
If $110 is your budget then honestly I think your limited to like the EVGA 9800GT.

You could possibly get a GTS 250 or a AMD Radeon HD 4850 after rebates.

With your setup (power supply, mobo and RAM) I would recommend the 9800GT series.

It will be familiar from where your coming from.
 
Hello folks, am back with a selection and wanted a final word before purchase. As mentioned earlier, budget is strictly $110. Can't do mail-in rebates. I just looked for straight up best price and warranty. I have a $10 personal promo code for Newegg, so that was my first destination. HD 5770, recommended by most, was out of my budget. I found few HD 4850 and GTS 250 but the below card impressed me the most.

XFX Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5
It seems a very good fit at $94.99 shipped (w/ $10 coupon) for 1600x900 gaming. I might use Bing if it allows a cashback.

If I can do better, please let me know. Please post a direct link if you can. I need to make the purchase in the next 24hrs.

Thanks a lot for all your help.
 
ubayogi said:
Hello folks, am back with a selection and wanted a final word before purchase. As mentioned earlier, budget is strictly $110. Can't do mail-in rebates. I just looked for straight up best price and warranty. I have a $10 personal promo code for Newegg, so that was my first destination. HD 5770, recommended by most, was out of my budget. I found few HD 4850 and GTS 250 but the below card impressed me the most.

XFX Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5
It seems a very good fit at $94.99 shipped (w/ $10 coupon) for 1600x900 gaming. I might use Bing if it allows a cashback.

If I can do better, please let me know. Please post a direct link if you can. I need to make the purchase in the next 24hrs.

Thanks a lot for all your help.
Click to expand...

If the 4850 or gts 250 are in your budget ,get one of them. They are just a s fast as a 5750 but cheaper. The 4770 is slower.
 
After an eternity of juggling with choices, I finally settled on this one;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131163

Purchased through a friend of mine for $100. Had to skip on equally good cards from XFX, VisionTek and HIS. XFX, coz of the distributor's bad reputation in India and the rest due to their absence in India. Being a weekend, the order hasn't gone through yet. If you think there is a way better choice on Newegg, please let me know ASAP by posting here. Now just have to sit tight and wait for it to get to me first week of June.
 
chakraps said:
After an eternity of juggling with choices, I finally settled on this one;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131163
Click to expand...
Sorry to bump this thread up. I just received this card and will be doing a fresh install tomorrow. I was wondering what are the recommended/trouble-free versions of ATI driver for HD 4850 for the following OS;
- windows xp pro sp3 32-bit
- windows vista business 32-bit
- windows vista business 64-bit

I can look it up in the manufacturer's page, but I'm here looking for user recommendations.
 
Last edited:
chakraps said:
Sorry to bump this thread up. I just received this card and will be doing a fresh install tomorrow. I was wondering what are the recommended/trouble-free versions of ATI driver for HD 4850 for the following OS;
- windows xp pro sp3 32-bit
- windows vista business 32-bit
- windows vista business 64-bit

I can look it up in the manufacturer's page, but I'm here looking for user recommendations.
Click to expand...

The latest drivers should work fine, are triple booting or something? Why do you have vista 32bit and 64bit?
 
The HD 4770 is fractionally slower than an HD 4850 and a good deal thriftier on power. For your machine it would be a good have been a good choice. The 380W power supply might have issues with the HD 4850 - especially if its a few years old. Guess the dye is cast though.
 
Skurge said:
The latest drivers should work fine, are triple booting or something? Why do you have vista 32bit and 64bit?
Click to expand...
I intend dual booting 32-bit and 64-bit OS, mostly xp and vista 64. The vista 32 is just in case.
Leyawiin said:
The HD 4770 is fractionally slower than an HD 4850 and a good deal thriftier on power. For your machine it would be a good have been a good choice. The 380W power supply might have issues with the HD 4850 - especially if its a few years old. Guess the dye is cast though.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the advice, but it's water under the bridge now. However, will keep an eye out for any possible power issues.
 
chakraps said:
I intend dual booting 32-bit and 64-bit OS, mostly xp and vista 64. The vista 32 is just in case.

I appreciate the advice, but it's water under the bridge now. However, will keep an eye out for any possible power issues.
Click to expand...

I've got an HD4850 on a 400w PSU (with HD2400 secondary card) and more "other stuff" than you seem to have (e.g. 4 HDDs, CPU is overclocked), and haven't had any issues power wise.
My Kill-A-Watt indicates sub 250w loads under gaming for my system.
I wouldn't worry.
 
Lonyo said:
I've got an HD4850 on a 400w PSU (with HD2400 secondary card) and more "other stuff" than you seem to have (e.g. 4 HDDs, CPU is overclocked), and haven't had any issues power wise.
My Kill-A-Watt indicates sub 250w loads under gaming for my system.
I wouldn't worry.
Click to expand...
Good to know that. Thanks.
 
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