looking for a cheap gaming card

[dpopiz]

I just bought a 400SC second hand that included a 128MB GeForceFX 5200. No matter what, I want to swap it for SOMETHING else because the fan is noisy.

The question is what. Unfortunately, I can't be at all specific about what I want really. See the thing is, I haven't played a single computer game for 3 years. I was thinking I should start again though.

All I want is a card with no fan that will run all sorts of games DECENTLY for the next few years. My budget is $70.


edit: all of you are misinterpreting what I mean by "decent" by decent I mean something that will give me about 30fps at 640x480 no AA for new games in 2006. However, I also want a card that will have the "features" to make new games in 2006 look their prettiest.

 

[Relion]

I know of a card called "Wonderland 3000" that can run Doom 3 at 2048*1600*32 with 16X AA and 20X AF
it has no fan and stays at 25C degrees at full load....is $15

 

[dpopiz]

Originally posted by: Relion
I know of a card called "Wonderland 3000" that can run Doom 3 at 2048*1600*32 with 16X AA and 20X AF
it has no fan and stays at 25C degrees at full load....is $15

umm ok....

so back to my question

 

[fstime]

The cheapest cards right now for gamming are the 6600GT or 9800Pro which go for around 200. The 6600GT is better. Anything cheaper than 200 is gonna get you a card that's garbage.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Relion
I know of a card called "Wonderland 3000" that can run Doom 3 at 2048*1600*32 with 16X AA and 20X AF
it has no fan and stays at 25C degrees at full load....is $15

LMFAO.

Seriously, for $70, sorry, but it aint gonna happen.

 

[ts3433]

Most cards that are acceptable performers at gaming will be outside your $70 range and will have fans. For $70 and fanless, the best you'll probably get is a vanilla Radeon 9600. In a few years, it'll probably be about as good as a GF2 or GF3 is today.

 

[Appledrop]

best bet would be a ti4200 off fs/t forums or ebay... but that would not show the new games in all their glory, however should provide acceptable framerates at 1024 no aa af maybe........ but $70 is not gonna get u a card that will run newer games decently for 2-3 years :/

o0 edit: no fan? ooook good luck dude. only decent fanless card i know of is the gigabyte fanless 6800 card.. but thats about 3 times your budget.... so ignore me k thanks soz.

 

[Todd33]

9600 non-pro. They are fanless and respectable at lower resolutions in newer games.

 

[iamtrout]

Noise reduction:
Oil the bearing in your current video card fan and see if it runs quieter.
If not, disconnect the video card fan and remove it if you can. Then strap an 80mm or two to the video card HS and run those fans on low from a fan controller. This is what I did with my Ti4400. Superglued two 80mm's to the HSF after taking out the two small noisy stock fans.

 

[Relion]

Originally posted by: dpopiz

Originally posted by: Relion
I know of a card called "Wonderland 3000" that can run Doom 3 at 2048*1600*32 with 16X AA and 20X AF
it has no fan and stays at 25C degrees at full load....is $15

umm ok....

so back to my question

Ok...back to your question...theres no card without fan that would run current games decently for the next few years and costs 70 bucks....its just another way to say it...

 

[TStep]

Running games decently for the next few years and fanless is a tough combination for $70. I would think the bottom end card would be a used 9700 plus a Zalman solution.

 

[Lanyap]

The 128MB GeForceFX 5200 is not much less than $70. You might want to sell the 5200 and add the proceeds (~$50?) to your budget of $70 to get a $120 card.

 

[dpopiz]

all of you are misinterpreting what I mean by "decent" by decent I mean something that will give me about 30fps at 640x480 no AA for new games in 2006. However, I also want a card that will have the "features" to make new games in 2006 look their prettiest.

 

[ts3433]

Then a 9600 is fine (many of us usually interpret "decent" as 10x7 with pretty good details). It'll be impossible to have all the details, though, because no one knows what kind of DirectX version will be out then, and a card from this generation won't have hardware support for the new instructions. You'll probably get most of them, though.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: dpopiz
all of you are misinterpreting what I mean by "decent" by decent I mean something that will give me about 30fps at 640x480 no AA for new games in 2006. However, I also want a card that will have the "features" to make new games in 2006 look their prettiest.

Well, that hasn't been "decent" performance for a video card for a long time; that's verging on "barely able to run the game" performance.

The best you're going to do around that budget is probably a RADEON 9600 (not the 9600SE; the regular 9600). It's a good bit faster than the FX5200, and it has DirectX9 (FWIW; it's not going to be fast enough to run anything coming out a year or two from now with all the details turned up). This is also the fastest stock fanless card out there (other than the Sapphire 'Ultimate' line of 9600/9800s, and the Gigabyte fanless GeForce6800, both of which are significantly more expensive options).

 

[dpopiz]

9600 huh...
what's the difference between 9600 and 9600xt

 

[gamerj]

Is this another joke thread? diamond member, should have at least some knowledge lol,
This is just like the thread "is 800 watts enough"...

 

[Rubicante]

get a fanless 5200 or 9600, and they should be decent enough. im not sure of the exact pricing, though... CBA to look it up.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

I'm not sure about running all the new games in there glory in 2006 because isn't DX10 coming out this year. The next gen cards are supposed to support it so it should be here soon