My Friend Is A Cheap Bastard - Help With A Video Card Pick

[nuschu]

A friend of mine wants to be able to run NWN2 when it hits. He running a computer with a 3GHz P4, 1.5 GIGs of RAM, and a POS video card (I think it's an eMachine - he didn't take my recommendation to use it as a boat anchor and buy something else). He wants to stick around the $60 mark so here is what I came up with:

CLICK


My current recommendation was to go with a 6600 since it has twice as many pipelines as the x1300. If he can deal with the rebate he can even get one with DDR2 memory. Anyway, does that sound about right or is there something better in that price range? Keep in mind that getting him to budge to $60 was difficult in and of itself. The only other problem I see is that his PC has a 300 watt power supply, but I noticed that Newegg says the 6600 should be ok with that.

 

[Kyanzes]

Don't know man, the 6600 minus "GT" sucks greately right along with the 1300 even though that would be still better. You should convince your friend (who's a real cheapo as you have described him) to buy a used 6600GT or a 7600GS. I mean come on...

 

[BassBomb]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052

please make him spend 6$ more, it will destroy the other 3 cards you linked

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052

please make him spend 6$ more, it will destroy the other 3 cards you linked

And this one would destroy all of the above. I mean it's just $79. Ofc we could go higher and higher but come on... $19 plus and it makes a world of difference.

Or this one for $75

I wouldn't care much about the 128MB memory cause you wouldn't be able to play games at very high res with this card anyway.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052

please make him spend 6$ more, it will destroy the other 3 cards you linked

Destroy ? http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=353&card2=431

 

[BassBomb]

i did exxaggerate, but use a online review to see... not specs review

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

Are you sure he has PCIe?

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: unfalliblekrutch
Are you sure he has PCIe?

Good point ... Many E-Machine's lack either PCI-E or AGP making for a very short PCI slot upgrade path.

I suggest cracking the case to make sure of what you need before buying anything & if its PCI only, don't waste your time.

 

[nuschu]

According to his system specs, he has PCIE, but I'll double check. He lives in St Louis and I'm in Chicago, so I can't just run over there and verify it first hand... I'm trying to get him to save $20, wait until NWN2 ships, and then buy the 7600GS... It sounded as if the 7300GS was outpaced by the 6600 so I didn't nudge him that direction.

Thanks for all the help.

The only thing that concerns me is his 300w power supply, and since it's an EMachine it's bound to be a POS.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

FYI a 7300gt beats a 660ogt

 

[Zap]

Er, that's the 7300GT with GDDR3, a special case.