Onboard video, advanced enough for casual gaming?

[geepondy]

I am coming from a P4 2.26/Radeon 9800 Pro setup which has in a nutshell become unreliable in a lot of ways to the point in which I am typing this on much older second system backup. If I buy now, I only have about $700 to spend on case/PS, mb, hd, cpu, mem and video. A possible scenario is to forgo video card for now to maximize budget on other components. I was wondering if the motherboard onboard video chipsets have become advanced enough for casual gaming, for example a game I have now, Half Life 2 at say at lower resolutions without all the eye candy on. Surely it could handle Zuma Deluxe a game I am currently addicted to?

Also any good forum recommendations here or elsewhere that could give me component recommendations for an allowed budget? I'm no longer in tune anymore about what is good and what is not.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

in short no. it won't even come close to you 9800pro. you could ask here or in the general hardware section about the parts on a budget. her you;ll get more gaming oirented advice though

 

[Schadenfroh]

You could always buy an AGP motherboard if you are low on budget, an nforce3 ultra supports socket 939 and existing DDR1, you can get some pretty powerful dual core CPUs for Socket 939 and you can keep your 9800 Pro / ddr ram (unless that is rambus).

 

[BernardP]

I am also a casual gamer, mostly because of lack of time to play more.

If you are willing to accept some compromises, integrated graphics can fill in for a time. I have NVidia 6150 integrated graphics and have recently played Prince of Persia - Sands of Time @ 800x600 with all games settings and filtering to maximum. I am currently playing Tomb Raider Legends @ 800x600 with all settings, effects, shadows, but no AA. Of course, the "next-gen graphics" option is not selected. With these settings, the game is playing very well without any slowdown. It helps that I still have a 17-inch CRT, for which 800x600 is quite acceptable.

I will be getting a discrete video card and larger widescreen monitor before the end of the year. But as long as I keep using my CRT, I can manage pretty well with integrated graphics.

 

[geepondy]

Hey that's a viable alternative but regarding memory, none of the modern processors use my current DDR333, do they?

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
You could always buy an AGP motherboard if you are low on budget, an nforce3 ultra supports socket 939 and existing DDR1, you can get some pretty powerful dual core CPUs for Socket 939 and you can keep your 9800 Pro / ddr ram (unless that is rambus).

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: geepondy
Hey that's a viable alternative but regarding memory, none of the modern processors use my current DDR333, do they?

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
You could always buy an AGP motherboard if you are low on budget, an nforce3 ultra supports socket 939 and existing DDR1, you can get some pretty powerful dual core CPUs for Socket 939 and you can keep your 9800 Pro / ddr ram (unless that is rambus).

iirc you should be fine. Just get a board that supports DDR1, and s775 or Am2.

 

[BernardP]

geepondy, if you are buying a new system, it seems questionnable to chase older AGP/Socket 939 parts just to recycle your current memory. You are getting a new system, not upgrading. This is a normal time to make the transition to current standards.

Why not get a nice little Asus AM2 board with NVidia 6150 integrated graphics with 2x 1GB 533 Mhz memory and build from there?

You are in the ball park with your $700 budget. You could maybe recycle a hard drive or optical drive from your current system

 

[nitromullet]

For $700 you can build a pretty decent rig that will be a great general useage system and be able to play most games out fairly well. Plus, by going PCIe, DDR2, and AMD socket AM2, you should have upgrade options for your cpu, RAM, and video card in the future.

This is a quick build I came up with that should get you thinking. All these prices are Newegg and include shipping. I bet with some effort you could do better for less.

Antec Solution SLK3800B Black Case w/ 400W PSU..............................$100.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129163

LG Black DVD burner..........................................................................$35.63
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827136103

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB HD....................................$58.93
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144415

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Socket AM2..................................................$109.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103729

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800........$109.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145566

ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra.................................$101.40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022

Radeon X1900GT................................................................................$186.12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142084

Total..................................................................................................$701.06

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: geepondy
Hey that's a viable alternative but regarding memory, none of the modern processors use my current DDR333, do they?

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
You could always buy an AGP motherboard if you are low on budget, an nforce3 ultra supports socket 939 and existing DDR1, you can get some pretty powerful dual core CPUs for Socket 939 and you can keep your 9800 Pro / ddr ram (unless that is rambus).

iirc you should be fine. Just get a board that supports DDR1, and s775 or Am2.

The nForce 3 Ultra Socket 939 supports DDR1, check the mobo makers for ram compatibility. I am fairly sure that you can use DDR333 with it.

 

[jkcheng122]

if u stick with ur ddr333 and agp, u really wont gain much from ur current rig so it's a bit of waste of money. what nitromullet listed will give u a tremendous boost in everything u're currently doing.

tho i'd suggest going with a x1950pro or nvidia 7600gt instead of the x1900gt. also i'd suggest gettin either 1 stick of 1gb ram or go for 2 gigs. 2 gigs will be more than enough memory for xp, and will be the norm for vista when and if u decide to go that route.

 

[BernardP]

As the original question concerns IG gaming capabilities, it would also be possible to go with an IG Socket AM2 board with 2 GB RAM and leave out the videocard for now, to stay within budget.

Of course, for a time, this means compromises on the gaming front, as I discussed above, but not total abstinence.

:clock:

In a few months, it will be possible to add a midrange DX10 videocard which, if current indications are true, should perform at about the 1950 Pro/7900GS level.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: jkcheng122
if u stick with ur ddr333 and agp, u really wont gain much from ur current rig so it's a bit of waste of money. what nitromullet listed will give u a tremendous boost in everything u're currently doing.

tho i'd suggest going with a x1950pro or nvidia 7600gt instead of the x1900gt. also i'd suggest gettin either 1 stick of 1gb ram or go for 2 gigs. 2 gigs will be more than enough memory for xp, and will be the norm for vista when and if u decide to go that route.

That's a good suggestion on the RAM, start out with a single 1GB so the option to upgrade to 2GB is not lost. As far as the video card goes, an X1950 Pro wouldn't be a bad bet either. However, the X1900GT is more comparible to a 7900GT than a 7600GT, although the 7600GT is cheaper.

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 256MB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102061