Graphics card for older DX9 games

[imported_Graphite]

G'Day Brawleyman,

No offence intended, but man, you're nearly as fussy as me! Thank goodness you're not looking for low profile...

Compare 2600 to 7600? Okay...

I 'upgraded' from an X1600 Pro to the HD 2600XT - The 7600 GS outdoes the X1600 Pro every time by a small amount - and must say that, although some games there was a noticeable difference (without AA), it was barely enough for the money at any price.
I play NFS Most Wanted, and this was one where the difference was enough to notice, but... It's still not maxed on the 2600XT at 1280 x 1024! :disgust: And on Carbon it will probably have lower settings again...

The 7600 GS outdid the X1600 every time by a small amount, and having seen average difference between X1600 and HD2600 for me, you don't want the 2600/8600/9500 series. It would just be a waste of time for you - please trust me on that.

Based on that experience, I'm with Arkaign - anything from Radeon HD3800 series, HD4600 series, GeForce 8800 series or 9600 series will flatten your 7600 GS, not to mention the HD2600XT.

Right now, I am just looking for something that will get me better framerates and allow me to keep the resolution and eye candy turned all the way up for those older games.

The difference to your 7600 GS will be big with the 4650, and even bigger with the 4670. I still recommend the HD4670 if you can get it (the speed is worth it), or the 9600 GT if it's on special, but the 4650 is probably just powerful enough . Your PSU should be able to handle the 9600 GT with an adapter (see this link). My only problem with the 4650 is it uses DDR2, which is noticeably slower for GPU's, but it shouldn't be too big a difference for you.

Hope that helps/wasn't too confusing...

Graphite

By the way... NFS Carbon indeed did have a bias towards ATi cards (the HD3800 architecture in particular), but can't remember the charts in question... Anyway, it was the only one, and with the GeForce 9600/Radeon HD4600 the big difference was no longer there (as far as I remember).

 

[AstroManLuca]

You should probably get either the 4650 or the 4670 depending on whether you are willing to spend the $30 extra for the 4670 or not. Either one would be a good choice. The RAM is twice as fast on the 4670, so it'll definitely be a noticeable difference.

Also, neither one requires much power, and neither one requires an extra power connector. Definitely get one of those two - the GeForce 9600GSO costs the same as the 4670 and provides similar performance but it also requires extra power and is larger. All of nVidia's lower end options are pretty bad, so don't get them.

In general, avoid any card that is two or more generations old (meaning the Radeon 2xxx or GeForce 7xxx series), and avoid any card whose second number is a 5 or lower (Radeon 4350, GeForce 9500, etc.).

 

[TurtleCrusher]

This shouldn't even be a long thread. 4650 or 4670. Anything below that and you are getting meager performance while making your wallet much lighter then it needs to be. Remember that the 4650 and 4670 compete with the 9600GT, which is as fast as the old 8800GTS 320mb, and you are comparing it to the 2600's and the 8600's?

The 8800GTS 320 is over 3 times as fast as the 8600GT. Does one third of the performance at 90% of the cost sound like a good deal to you? Choose the 4650 at least.

 

[Wartzay]

If you don't mind taking a small risk, newegg has an Open Box HD 4670 for $53.32
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16814102792R
wisth shipping it would come to a little over $60

 

[brawleyman]

Thank you so much everyone for your feedback! I decided to get the HIS 4650 at Newegg, and it seems I did just in time because now the card is $59.99 not including shipping! I got a heck of a deal and just the right time. It is scheduled to be here Friday, 30th, so I am super anxious to get it in and try it out, especially after hearing about how much faster it will be than my 7600GS.

I found DIRT a few weeks ago, brand new, for $10 at a Gamestop and tried it on my 7600GS...not so good. Resolution at 800x600 and details all the way down, still choppy and hard to control. I am looking forward to actually being able to play it. When the price of NFS Undercover and GRID comes down, I would love to get them.

I am a racing game guy on the PC, but still prefer the "D" pad to steer on a typical controller. I was an avid Mario player from the SNES days and N64.

 

[brawleyman]

Oh Yeah! I got my HD 4650 and it is amazing!

I can turn up the graphics all the way with the highest resolution in NFS Most Wanted and Carbon. Also, in DIRT, I can keep the graphics at Ultra quality with medium resolution and have no problems with it lagging. Star Wars Battlefronts looks awesome too with everything turned up.

The only problem I have had with it is that I do some 3D in Sketchup and it runs worse than my old 7600GS for some reason. Any suggestions as to why that is?

I installed the latest drivers (9.1) and used the ATI Catalyst Overdrive to overclock mine from 600core/500memory to 750core/540memory, that is a pretty big jump in clocks! And it never went over 60 degrees celsius!

Sorry I do not have FRAPS or anything to give number comparisons, but it was a huge upgrade for my games. I am very satisfied with the HD 4650.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: brawleyman
Oh Yeah! I got my HD 4650 and it is amazing!

I can turn up the graphics all the way with the highest resolution in NFS Most Wanted and Carbon. Also, in DIRT, I can keep the graphics at Ultra quality with medium resolution and have no problems with it lagging. Star Wars Battlefronts looks awesome too with everything turned up.

The only problem I have had with it is that I do some 3D in Sketchup and it runs worse than my old 7600GS for some reason. Any suggestions as to why that is?

I installed the latest drivers (9.1) and used the ATI Catalyst Overdrive to overclock mine from 600core/500memory to 750core/540memory, that is a pretty big jump in clocks! And it never went over 60 degrees celsius!

Sorry I do not have FRAPS or anything to give number comparisons, but it was a huge upgrade for my games. I am very satisfied with the HD 4650.

:thumbsup:

Always happy to see someone get a good deal.

 

[brawleyman]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: brawleyman
Oh Yeah! I got my HD 4650 and it is amazing!

I can turn up the graphics all the way with the highest resolution in NFS Most Wanted and Carbon. Also, in DIRT, I can keep the graphics at Ultra quality with medium resolution and have no problems with it lagging. Star Wars Battlefronts looks awesome too with everything turned up.

The only problem I have had with it is that I do some 3D in Sketchup and it runs worse than my old 7600GS for some reason. Any suggestions as to why that is?

I installed the latest drivers (9.1) and used the ATI Catalyst Overdrive to overclock mine from 600core/500memory to 750core/540memory, that is a pretty big jump in clocks! And it never went over 60 degrees celsius!

Sorry I do not have FRAPS or anything to give number comparisons, but it was a huge upgrade for my games. I am very satisfied with the HD 4650.

:thumbsup:

Always happy to see someone get a good deal.

Thanks Arkaign! I am always looking for a good deal. Now, I just need to get a faster AMD X2 processor and my computer will be set for a while. Looking at the 5400+ 2.8Ghz Black Edition or 6000+. Amazing that the 6000+ 3.1ghz has the same TDP as my old 2.4ghz.

 

[edplayer]

Nice to see that you got a good deal and are happy with your purchase

I suggest you make a new post for your possible cpu upgrade. I don't think you would notice a large increase in games (nothing at all like your gpu upgrade). Make a new post in the cpu forum and get some feedback.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: brawleyman

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: brawleyman
Oh Yeah! I got my HD 4650 and it is amazing!

I can turn up the graphics all the way with the highest resolution in NFS Most Wanted and Carbon. Also, in DIRT, I can keep the graphics at Ultra quality with medium resolution and have no problems with it lagging. Star Wars Battlefronts looks awesome too with everything turned up.

The only problem I have had with it is that I do some 3D in Sketchup and it runs worse than my old 7600GS for some reason. Any suggestions as to why that is?

I installed the latest drivers (9.1) and used the ATI Catalyst Overdrive to overclock mine from 600core/500memory to 750core/540memory, that is a pretty big jump in clocks! And it never went over 60 degrees celsius!

Sorry I do not have FRAPS or anything to give number comparisons, but it was a huge upgrade for my games. I am very satisfied with the HD 4650.

:thumbsup:

Always happy to see someone get a good deal.

Thanks Arkaign! I am always looking for a good deal. Now, I just need to get a faster AMD X2 processor and my computer will be set for a while. Looking at the 5400+ 2.8Ghz Black Edition or 6000+. Amazing that the 6000+ 3.1ghz has the same TDP as my old 2.4ghz.

Good point.

On that topic (cpu upgrade), I recently moved from :

Asus K8N-E (Socket 939 NF4 Ultra DDR1)
4GB PC3200 CL 2.5 DDR1 (4x1GB)
AMD X2-4200+ Socket 939

to

Asus P5KPL-CM
4GB PC6400 4-4-4-12 (OCZ 2x2GB) DDR2
Intel E5200 (2.5Ghz, 2MB L2)

And it was an incredible upgrade. You could do the same by switching just mobo/cpu, and keeping your memory. The board was $56, the processor $69. I did use an aftermarket cooler to move to 4ghz, but even at stock speeds, I think the E5200 is beyond AM2 X2 6400+ speeds.

So, outlay of a bit over $120, and you could probably easily sell your existing combo for $60 or more, making it a $60 upgrade for a massive performance upgrade (as well as the capacity to run QXX00/Q9XX0/etc sometime down the line.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Probably not worth upgrading your CPU. In fact, you'd probably be better off getting a different motherboard to replace the Dell one, which would allow overclocking, which would in turn allow you to bump your CPU up several hundred MHz. My 2.5 GHz X2 is running at 3.0 GHz with stock cooling.

Alternatively you could use the money to buy a better power supply, which would give you more future upgrade potential as well.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Probably not worth upgrading your CPU. In fact, you'd probably be better off getting a different motherboard to replace the Dell one, which would allow overclocking, which would in turn allow you to bump your CPU up several hundred MHz. My 2.5 GHz X2 is running at 3.0 GHz with stock cooling.

Alternatively you could use the money to buy a better power supply, which would give you more future upgrade potential as well.

Ah good point, forgot the OP was in a Dell.

 

[edplayer]

when I posted the cpu upgrade was not worth it, I forgot to say an X2 upgrade would not be worth it

The E5200 is the best bang 4 the buck cpu out. You don't even need an aftermarket hsf as the stock one should allow you to get at least 3.2GHz unless you are in a VERY hot environment.

 

[brawleyman]

Thanks guys! I have been looking at cyberpowerpc.com and newegg for a new, decent performing computer with an Intel E7400 2.8 for under $400 without graphics card. I think newegg parts would be about $350.

Anywho, I will post something in the CPU forum and start getting feedback. My next PC will probably be Intel.