PCI Vid card question

[Cooler_Master]

Hi my friend currently is looking to upgrade from an onboard solution to play WoW,Team Fortress 2(and some other source engine games). He has a AMD X2 2.5GHz and 3GIG of ddr2 ram the only problem is that he only has a PCI slot and nothing greater. So I was wondering is it worth to Upgrade or no?Hes not looking to play at a high res but would like to play at medium to high settings with good FPS. thanks all

 

[CurseTheSky]

The only PCI cards worth considering that I can find are an 8400 GS, 9500 GT, and HD 4350. They'll be just barely acceptible at best (even for WoW), and they're extremely expensive considering what you're getting.

I would say it's not worth the upgrade, unfortunately.

 

[Farfrumhumpn]

Time for a new mobo. You'd be better off finding him a PCi-E mobo and PCi-E video card for the same price as a good Pci card.

If anything else check out the FS section for a used mobo and used video card and get even more bang for the buck, of course this would mean an OS reload for him but for what you'd get it'd be worth it.

All modern Pci video cards are going to be limited by the AGP 1x bandwidth of the Pci slot which means for games the 6200 Pci card will perform exactly the same as a 9500GT or HD 4350 Pci vide card because it won't be the GPU holding you back but the speed at which the data gets from the system to the video card.

I bought a friend in Canada an X1550 ( X1300 ) PCi video card about 4 years back and he got almost no more FPS with that card than the FX5500 it replaced, the only difference is he was able to use higher detail settings but his FPS was about the same no matter what he did because the card was being choked big time by the bandwidth of the slot.

When it comes to gaming you might as well go with a 6200 Pci video card because your FPS won't change between that and an HD 4350 but if you want lower power and better features by all means, waste the money on an HD 4350 vs getting a $50 PCi-E mobo and $50 HD 4650

Actually, if you get him a 790GX based mobo, then he'd be able to play WoW with the IGP as it's roughy an HD 4350 anyways then he has the ability to upgrade further down the road with an HD 5670 when they come down to $70 - $80.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Since that's an X2 with DDR2 RAM, can I conclude that it is AM2 or AM2+? Pick up a 785G board, drop in that CPU and RAM, and use the HD3200 onboard graphics. If that's not good enough, then you can still pick up a PCI-E video card later on.

 

[Farfrumhumpn]

Since that's an X2 with DDR2 RAM, can I conclude that it is AM2 or AM2+? Pick up a 785G board, drop in that CPU and RAM, and use the HD3200 onboard graphics. If that's not good enough, then you can still pick up a PCI-E video card later on.

The 790GX is better for gaming as the IGP's are architecturally identical but the 790GX has a 200mhz clock advantage which translates into 5- 20FPS difference in most situations. Given if you OverClock the IGP the 785G's HD4200 will go higher than the 790GX in most cases but without OverClocking the 790GX's HD3300 will outperform the HD4200 every step of the way due to the clock speed difference.

The biggest difference between the IGP's of the 785G and the 790GX is the 790GX Hybrid xfire work with the HD3450 vs the faster HD4350 the 785G hybrid crossfires with. Well, that and the 785G is a 45nm part whereas the 790GX is 55nm.

 

[Cooler_Master]

Yea I have a HD 4850 for him to use which would be real good for him, but he only has like $60 to spend and his PSU is only a 430W so this might be difficult

 

[Cooler_Master]

and the mobo would have to be a micro ATX b/c the PC he is using is a compaq his parents bought at walmart and they dont want me some gaming PC case in there living room

 

[Farfrumhumpn]

Check out this Asrock 790GX mobo.

$85 shipped and you're buddy would be a lot better off for it.

5+1 phase power for 140w CPU support, 128mb sideport and 4x dimm slots mean a lot of upgrade options. And with the sideport memory he'll have a full 3gb ram available to the OS which can come in handy for gaming under Vista in WoW.

Either that or this Gigabyte 785G mobo. Has all the same upgradeability as the Asrock for $80 shipped only with a 3yr warranty and a little better power circuitry. The IGP on this mobo is slower at default but from the reviews they all seem to OC to arround 800mhz on the IGP.

 

[Farfrumhumpn]

Yea I have a HD 4850 for him to use which would be real good for him, but he only has like $60 to spend and his PSU is only a 430W so this might be difficult

IF he has a $60 budget then head over to the FS section here and find a used 790GX mobo, should be easy at $60. Just put up a WTB thread and state that you want a mAtx 790GX mobo for no more than $60 shipped then give it a week to sift thru all the offers you get and pick the best one.

I'd prob see is he can save up an extra $20 though and get that brand new Gigabyte 785G mobo. HE can always sell his mobo for $20 - $30 locally on Craigslist once he makes the upgrade. That or eBay it for one of those people that pay $50 - $100 for an exact replacement mobo so they don't have to reload thier OS, that would prob be the best bet, he may be able to get that Gigabyte mobo for free if he eBay's his old one as a working exact replacement part.