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Looking for graphics cards around 130$ ~~Info Inside

M

montypythizzle

Diamond Member
Looking between these cards but the number game/model always confuses me and I haven't been up to date with video cards since the release of the 8800s. Can you help me choose?


I mostly just play WoW at 19201080 on high, but would like a little less lag than my VERY aging 7800GT (Fan makes noise(NV silencer) and has artifacts if OCd a little bit).
 
Do you know what your power supply's capacity is? CPU? Don't want to recommend something your power supply can't handle or would be hampered by a weak CPU.
 
Originally posted by: Leyawiin
Do you know what your power supply's capacity is? CPU? Don't want to recommend something your power supply can't handle or would be hampered by a weak CPU.
Click to expand...

Xclio 500W Goodpower, one of the decent (one that probably and hasn't blown up) budget PSUs, and X2 3600 at 2.5 Ghz (used to run at 2.7 but I took out my fans and can't find them anymore XD!!).
 
The GTX 260 is better than the GTS 250 is better than the 8800GT. An alternative would be to pick up a HD 4850 (about equal to GTS 250) or HD 4870 (equal to GTX 260).
 
with only 500watts for a psu, i'd recommend Not getting the gtx 260, it's likely not to be in your price range anyways.
 
In your price range and more closely matches the capability of your CPU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150356
GTS 250 1GB with free Call of Duty World at War game. 144.99 no rebate.

Or this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161275
4850 1GB with free Stalker Clear Sky game. 148.99 after rebate.

Both of these cards are more than sufficient to run WoW at 19201080 on high.

And I'm only showing 1GB models. I won't recommend 512 models anymore for the resolutions your talking about. Especially for later games. And the cost difference is minimal over 512 cards.
 
Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
with only 500watts for a psu, i'd recommend Not getting the gtx 260, it's likely not to be in your price range anyways.
Click to expand...

Funny, every test I've found of full system power draw with a 260-216 under load comes in well under 500w. In fact, under 400w. Why would you recommend against it due to 500 PSU?
 
Originally posted by: yacoub
Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
with only 500watts for a psu, i'd recommend Not getting the gtx 260, it's likely not to be in your price range anyways.
Click to expand...

Funny, every test I've found of full system power draw with a 260-216 under load comes in well under 500w. In fact, under 400w. Why would you recommend against it due to 500 PSU?
Click to expand...

a high quality 500 watt psu would be no problem with a gtx260 or gtx285 even with a quad core. Im not too sure if the OPs psu is a decent unit or not though. tbh with his cpu a gtx260 would really be a waste. a gts250 would be more inline with his system and games he is playing.
 
Well, looking at CPU charts AMD is well below Intel and compared to I guess new chips (as I said, Q6600 was like budget OCing king back when I used to keep up to date) and my CPU DOES blow comparatively speaking, but I mean it is not a flop by any means, especially overclocked. And I am pretty sure my PSU can handle the load, it has been steady as a rock for about 2 years maybe, left on 24/7.

I mean its not like me putting this into an Athlon 1500 and using a 300w Raidmax or Sunbeam power supply.


But yes, good idea mentioning 1GB, with higher reses it is actually more beneficial, even when I was "in the game".

I might pick this up: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150356 if no one gives me a better alternative.
 
A GTS 250 1GB is all you would need with your current setup. With WoW's textures a 512MB card would be fine, but the 1GB would give you a little insurance (in case you branch out to other games) for just $20.
 
What are your system specs? If all you'd play is WoW and don't mind sacrificing some gaming detail in other games, get a 9800GTX+ or a ATI 4830.
 
A lot of people recommending the GTS250 1GB, how does it fare against a 9800GT 512 @1920X1080 (Not a preference a must have, scaling down games with an LCD looks bad).

I will look up some reviews in how they stack up to others since Tom's Hardware's charts seem a little outdated (Q3/2008).

BTW system specs if not already most of them mentioned:

X2 3600 Brisbane at 2.5 currently
2GB 5-5-5-15 @ 412mhz Gskill
Gigabyte M61P-S3
eVGA 7800GT (OFC it is bad, got it for $75 a few years ago)

 
Originally posted by: montypythizzle
A lot of people recommending the GTS250 1GB, how does it fare against a 9800GT 512 @1920X1080 (Not a preference a must have, scaling down games with an LCD looks bad).

I will look up some reviews in how they stack up to others since Tom's Hardware's charts seem a little outdated (Q3/2008).

BTW system specs if not already most of them mentioned:

X2 3600 Brisbane at 2.5 currently
2GB 5-5-5-15 @ 412mhz Gskill
Gigabyte M61P-S3
eVGA 7800GT (OFC it is bad, got it for $75 a few years ago)
Click to expand...

those reviews arent going to help you 100% because they will likely all use a powerful high end quad core cpu. with your X2 at 2.5 having more than a gts250 could go to waste in some games. if you were at a lower res than even slower cards would be help back by that cpu. you could probably get by with a 9800gt for WOW if thats all you care about playing.
 
Two years of constant use means that the max output of the PSU has degraded somewhat anyway. I'd stick to the GTS250. WoW, I believe, much prefers Nvidia.

You realize, I guess, that the GTS250 is a die-shrink (with more RAM) of the 9800GTX+, which is the GT with more shaders (112 vs 128) and higher clocks.
 
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: montypythizzle
A lot of people recommending the GTS250 1GB, how does it fare against a 9800GT 512 @1920X1080 (Not a preference a must have, scaling down games with an LCD looks bad).

I will look up some reviews in how they stack up to others since Tom's Hardware's charts seem a little outdated (Q3/2008).

BTW system specs if not already most of them mentioned:

X2 3600 Brisbane at 2.5 currently
2GB 5-5-5-15 @ 412mhz Gskill
Gigabyte M61P-S3
eVGA 7800GT (OFC it is bad, got it for $75 a few years ago)
Click to expand...

those reviews arent going to help you too much because they will all use a powerful high end cpu. with your X2 at 2.5 anything more than a gts250 will go to waste. if you were at a lower res than even slower cards would be help back by that cpu. you could probably get by with a 9800gt for WOW if thats all you care about playing.
Click to expand...

I play CoD4 sometimes and the 7800GT really hurts with that at 1280X1024, haven't tried it with my new monitor. But with WoW, in one of the main cities I only sit around 20 FPS or so. I mean WoW can get pretty demanding in raids.
 
Originally posted by: s44
Two years of constant use means that the max output of the PSU has degraded somewhat anyway. I'd stick to the GTS250. WoW, I believe, much prefers Nvidia.

You realize, I guess, that the GTS250 is a die-shrink (with more RAM) of the 9800GTX+, which is the GT with more shaders (112 vs 128) and higher clocks.
Click to expand...

The GTS 250 is the same GPU used in the 9800GTX+, both are manufactured under the 55nm process, the only difference is that the PCB used in the GTS 250 is shorter and is designed to consume less power, both are pretty much equal with the same clock speeds etc, and will be competitive with the HD 4850 specially when FSAA is not used.
 
Originally posted by: evolucion8
Originally posted by: s44
Two years of constant use means that the max output of the PSU has degraded somewhat anyway. I'd stick to the GTS250. WoW, I believe, much prefers Nvidia.

You realize, I guess, that the GTS250 is a die-shrink (with more RAM) of the 9800GTX+, which is the GT with more shaders (112 vs 128) and higher clocks.
Click to expand...

The GTS 250 is the same GPU used in the 9800GTX+, both are manufactured under the 55nm process, the only difference is that the PCB used in the GTS 250 is shorter and is designed to consume less power, both are pretty much equal with the same clock speeds etc, and will be competitive with the HD 4850 specially when FSAA is not used.
Click to expand...

So how good do these GTS250s OC, stock cooling probably.
 
Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Originally posted by: evolucion8
Originally posted by: s44
Two years of constant use means that the max output of the PSU has degraded somewhat anyway. I'd stick to the GTS250. WoW, I believe, much prefers Nvidia.

You realize, I guess, that the GTS250 is a die-shrink (with more RAM) of the 9800GTX+, which is the GT with more shaders (112 vs 128) and higher clocks.
Click to expand...

The GTS 250 is the same GPU used in the 9800GTX+, both are manufactured under the 55nm process, the only difference is that the PCB used in the GTS 250 is shorter and is designed to consume less power, both are pretty much equal with the same clock speeds etc, and will be competitive with the HD 4850 specially when FSAA is not used.
Click to expand...

So how good do these GTS250s OC, stock cooling probably.
Click to expand...

with your cpu, overclocking the gts250 could have little to no impact in most games anyway. that being said they overclock to around 800 just fine but every card can vary of course.
 
Just to clarify on my post:

this is from an XFX gtx 216
Power Requirements:
Non-SLI: 630W Minimum Power Supply

something goes, wrong and you call XFX (or whoever) ... "ohh your power supply doesn't meet the requirements"
wasted time return, etc.
so basically recommending someone go against that is a bad idea.


Not to mention we don't know the dimensions of the person's case (gtx series are massive hot cards) and I for one have never heard anything great about that psu brand/model.
 
Here is another one from an evga gtx260 (non 216)

System Requirements Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 36 Amps)
 
Originally posted by: Soulkeeper
Just to clarify on my post:

this is from an XFX gtx 216
Power Requirements:
Non-SLI: 630W Minimum Power Supply

something goes, wrong and you call XFX (or whoever) ... "ohh your power supply doesn't meet the requirements"
wasted time return, etc.
so basically recommending someone go against that is a bad idea.


Not to mention we don't know the dimensions of the person's case (gtx series are massive hot cards) and I for one have never heard anything great about that psu brand/model.
Click to expand...

that psu rating is for people that dont know jack about computers and buy power supplies just based on the wattage rating. thats also assuming a loaded out high end quad core system. a basic system with a gtx260 would never run into a problem with even a decent 400 watt psu.

look at my pc with a gtx260. I typically pull around 200 watts at the wall during gaming and have never used more than 250 watts even during furmark. the most my system would ever use even while cpu and gpu are at 100% would still be less than 300watts at the wall. factor in 85% effecieny and i would never have too worry about even hitting 250 watts no matter what.
 
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Originally posted by: evolucion8
Originally posted by: s44
Two years of constant use means that the max output of the PSU has degraded somewhat anyway. I'd stick to the GTS250. WoW, I believe, much prefers Nvidia.

You realize, I guess, that the GTS250 is a die-shrink (with more RAM) of the 9800GTX+, which is the GT with more shaders (112 vs 128) and higher clocks.
Click to expand...

The GTS 250 is the same GPU used in the 9800GTX+, both are manufactured under the 55nm process, the only difference is that the PCB used in the GTS 250 is shorter and is designed to consume less power, both are pretty much equal with the same clock speeds etc, and will be competitive with the HD 4850 specially when FSAA is not used.
Click to expand...

So how good do these GTS250s OC, stock cooling probably.
Click to expand...

with your cpu, overclocking the gts250 could have little to no impact in most games anyway. that being said they overclock to around 800 just fine but every card can vary of course.
Click to expand...

1920x1080 is more GPU limited than CPU. Why do you keep insisting spreading false information? :/
 
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