Need a good nvidia card to replace 8800GTS

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steddora

Junior Member
Sep 28, 2012
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Title says it all. A friend machine dropped the gpu a couple weeks ago. Being on a low budget as is, he can't afford much. Main game he'd be playing would be Diablo 3 and he would like to run it at 1920x1080 with decent settings. Anything out there that could achieve this in the $100 budget he said he has?

I've pretty much laid my eyes on a refurbished 550ti from evga, but I'm extremely open to options. Just remember the budget.
 
The Alias

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
646
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steddora said:
Title says it all. A friend machine dropped the gpu a couple weeks ago. Being on a low budget as is, he can't afford much. Main game he'd be playing would be Diablo 3 and he would like to run it at 1920x1080 with decent settings. Anything out there that could achieve this in the $100 budget he said he has?

I've pretty much laid my eyes on a refurbished 550ti from evga, but I'm extremely open to options. Just remember the budget.
Click to expand...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
1920.png
 
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Yuriman

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
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If you don't want to get a used last-gen card (which might well be a better option), AMD is the way to go in that price range. Alias's recommendation is great, though you could opt for something like a used GTX460 for around that price too.
 
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The Alias

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
646
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Yuriman said:
If you don't want to get a used last-gen card (which might well be a better option), AMD is the way to go in that price range.
Click to expand...

it's not for his intended game as the 7750 is better than the 550ti at d3
 
Yuriman

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
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There's a GTX460 in our classifieds right now for $80, it's definitely faster than the 7750 in all scenarios. It does draw 3x the power under load, but the 460 has relatively good idle power consumption so it's less of a concern. I wish I had seen that when I was shopping for a video card for my wife's PC, it ended up with a 6770 (though frankly, I'm quite happy with).
 
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steddora

Junior Member
Sep 28, 2012
15
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Well, like i said, his budget cannot exceed $100. He's disabled and can't work and i helped him with the rest of the machine. I'm tapped out on finds for it but managed to get a p67 board with a c2d 3.0ghz wolfdale and 4gb off ddr2 800 ram. Now we need a decent video card and he's pushing the bill. Remember Diablo 3 and he'd like to run acceptable at 1920x1080. Off we have to drop the settings some, oh well.

He'd prefer a nVidia card but I may be able to talk him into an amd based card. He's just always been behind nvidia. I know the 550ti single will run it acceptable at that resolution as I've tried it with one of my Asus models, but that's just out of his budget. The lower we go, the better. Just remember, he simply can't afford much. I've already pressed four hundred into it for him a that ram was expensive.

What do you all think? Just for an idea, he's coming from a laptop with a 4500hd in itlol

Sorry about spelling... Phone keyboard sucks lol
 
blastingcap

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
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You need to give more specs like PSU amps on the 12v rail and what the rest of the system is--to know if there would be a CPU bottleneck or for power consumption. Hopefully he's not on a 250 Watt PSU or something.
 
F

futurefields

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2012
6,470
32
91
steddora said:
Well, like i said, his budget cannot exceed $100. He's disabled and can't work and i helped him with the rest of the machine. I'm tapped out on finds for it but managed to get a p67 board with a c2d 3.0ghz wolfdale and 4gb off ddr2 800 ram. Now we need a decent video card and he's pushing the bill. Remember Diablo 3 and he'd like to run acceptable at 1920x1080. Off we have to drop the settings some, oh well.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. I am of the opinion there is something wrong with Blizzard's engine. Not sure if it is server lag or what but I constantly get framerate dips on my 2500k/6850 from 100fps to 10-15fps, and not in a predictable way (ie. often the game runs smoother with a lot going on, and then lags when i simply go to pick up the gold after killing monsters)

Diablo 3 has some strange things going on performance wise.
 
NickelPlate

NickelPlate

Senior member
Nov 9, 2006
652
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81
$100 isn't alot to work with but I've seen some 550ti cards at that price which will play D3 more than fine. Heck my old 8800GT on a C2Q played D3 with everything cranked to the max just fine.
 
AnonymouseUser

AnonymouseUser

Diamond Member
May 14, 2003
9,943
107
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Your best bet then is a 7750. It outperforms the 550 TI in D3 and is cheaper. Here is a 7750 for $95, free shipping, and $10 rebate ($85 final price).

EDIT>> Yeah, the same card recommended by The Alias earlier...
 
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NickelPlate

NickelPlate

Senior member
Nov 9, 2006
652
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Not to nitpick on the AMD suggestions but OP did say an nvidia card. That said, if he's open to AMD they have some solid offerings in his price range.
 
AnonymouseUser

AnonymouseUser

Diamond Member
May 14, 2003
9,943
107
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NickelPlate said:
Not to nitpick on the AMD suggestions but OP did say an nvidia card. That said, if he's open to AMD they have some solid offerings in his price range.
Click to expand...

He's already selected the best Nvidia card for the budget (refurb 550 TI), and he said he was "open to options". AMD is really the only option we can give.
 
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steddora

Junior Member
Sep 28, 2012
15
0
0
I'll have to talk him into anything non nvidia personally. He's always been a nVidia guy, he said it's because of never having a problem on them. I tried reminding him, the 8800gts is what failed. He told me his brother in law gave it to him and it hasn't been ran in over two years. So... I'll talk to him later about the refurbished 550ti and comparable amd cards.

By the way

Msi p67 diamond mobo
Core 2 duo 3.0 GHz
HyperX 4x1gb ddr 800
Msi xfi sound card, guess it came with mobo the original owner said
WD 250gb hdd sata
WD 160gb hdd sata
Cheap dvd rom
Corsair tx750w power supply (came with case from mobo owner)

That's about it for hardware, haven't had it together long enough to do much testing, but the original 8800gts is fried, no boot at all with it. Will boot with one if my 550ti's though, so it's not power lol
 
The Alias

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
646
58
91
steddora said:
I'll have to talk him into anything non nvidia personally. He's always been a nVidia guy, he said it's because of never having a problem on them. I tried reminding him, the 8800gts is what failed. He told me his brother in law gave it to him and it hasn't been ran in over two years. So... I'll talk to him later about the refurbished 550ti and comparable amd cards.

By the way

Msi p67 diamond mobo
Core 2 duo 3.0 GHz
HyperX 4x1gb ddr 800
Msi xfi sound card, guess it came with mobo the original owner said
WD 250gb hdd sata
WD 160gb hdd sata
Cheap dvd rom
Corsair tx750w power supply (came with case from mobo owner)

That's about it for hardware, haven't had it together long enough to do much testing, but the original 8800gts is fried, no boot at all with it. Will boot with one if my 550ti's though, so it's not power lol
Click to expand...
p67 and a c2d ? isn't p67 socket 1155 and core 2 duo socket 775 ?
 
MrK6

MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
4,458
4
81
1) Shake and bake
2) If that doesn't work, grab a used card off the forums. It'll definitely be your best bang-for-your-buck
 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
Honestly OP it's well worth the extra $30 for a GTX 560.

I'm not impressed at all with the GPUs in that price bracket though. They've been sitting at those prices for ages while the midrange and high end cards have plummeted. Heck, I've even seen the 7850 go for $160 recently (I know he doesn't want AMD but I'm just bringing it up as an example of a decent deal).

I think your friend's best bet is going to be to wait for a sale and jump on something.
 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
1gb cards aren't going to have great longevity either. I hate recommending people cards in this price range. We're on the cusp of 2gb of vram becoming standard. If the OP can wait even a month or two he can probably get something an order of magnitude better.
 
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