most powerful/best PCI-E card for P4 S478?

[VirtualLarry]

I have a friend with a system that I replaced for him, that has a P4 S478 CPU and DDR2/PCI-E. It's overclocked to 3.2Ghz, I think it has HT. What would be a good gaming card for that kind of rig? Would want something not too bottlenecked, and of course, it should run on a 350W PSU that does NOT have a 6-pin PCI-E plug. Then again, I could always upgrade the PSU if necessary, but I would have to charge him for it.

Would a 4670 run on 350W?

I do have a 6600 PCI-E 512MB DDR2 (not the GT with DDR3) that I could slap in there, I think that would probably work, but is there something slightly better? Does a 7600GT require a seperate power connector? Would a 7600GT run on a 350W PSU?

Should I investigate other upgrades, or just put in the 6600 and call it a day?

He doesn't really currently play any 3D games, although he used to play UT before his old system bit the dust, on a GF2 AGP card. He's currently on Via onboard graphics.

 

[rudder]

The 4670 does not require the 6 pin connector so that would be a good option.

 

[F1shF4t]

Both the 6600, 7600gt and 4670 would work fine on a 350 watt psu. If the psu is good quality then you can get away with running a much more powerful card. (I had a 4870 running on a an earthwatts 380)

I recon you should just put in the 6600 in there. If he was content with using a GF2 card then the 6600 will be an amazing upgrade for him. Also anything faster than a 4670 or 9600gt will be severely limited by his processor.

 

[VirtualLarry]

yeah, it's the 350W that came with the Dynex mid-tower ATX case from BestBuy for $25. Perhaps someone remembers that "hot deal".

 

[rogue1979]

If he doesn't game much I would just put in the 6600. If he is an Unreal fan that's still fast enough to play UT2004 easily, not sure about UT3 though.

In my opinion UT3 ruined the game anyway, you can't even double dodge anymore.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
I recon you should just put in the 6600 in there. If he was content with using a GF2 card then the 6600 will be an amazing upgrade for him. Also anything faster than a 4670 or 9600gt will be severely limited by his processor.

+1

Even 4670 will be somewhat limited, especially if he's running at lower resolutions (likely if he's on that old of a system). 6600 would be a nice upgrade and should handle his needs fine.