Recommendation for newer video card for older system

[networkman]

System:

PS: Antec 500 watt
MB: Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 (Bios F10e)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64x2 5000+
RAM: 8 Gig DDR2
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3750 512meg
O/S: Win7 Home Prem 64bit

Two factors - 1: Price ~ $100 and 2: What will work in the older motherboard?

I'm not a big gamer - most recent regular game is Dungeons & Dragons Online; occasionally, I'll play Rainbow Six Vegas with friends, but that's about it as per 3D shooters.

I'm also not married to ATI/AMD -- Nvidia makes fine cards too. Case is a medium size Antec tower, so no need for low-profile cards. Just trying to buy myself a little more time/performance. Thanks in advance for advice!

 

[tweakboy]

Grab a 9800 GT .

Its fast and cheap. 40 bucks or soo. gl

 

[tweakboy]

Blows away your current ATI card.

 

[DooKey]

If you are stuck at that price I would go for AMD 7750 or NV GTX 650. They are both similar in performance and I'd buy either one in your price range.

 

[toyota]

lol never even heard of a 3750 but appears to just be nothing more than a 3650. and what is wrong with the 3750? did it die or you just want something newer? I would buy nothing faster than the gtx650 as even that will be held back by that old cpu. heck a gt640 would be more than fine but a gtx650 can usually be found for just 10-20 bucks more.

 

[Jimzz]

Do plan on carrying this card over if/when you upgrade or this is it?

For a little under $100 get the 7770
For a little over $100 get a 7790

Those both come with games you can sell to get a little bit back or new games for you.


And more cheaper look for some good used cards like a GTX560/460 or a maybe a 6850.

 

[networkman]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks! Used is fine with me, so if you know someone wanting to sell an older card, maybe point me to them or vice versa.

My main concern is that video card be able to work in the motherboard. Admittedly, it's been a few years since I've kept up with the cpu/video market, so it's hard to keep track. I wasn't sure if the PCIe cards of today would work in older slots or not.

Edit: And as to the question of carrying over, yes, it would be nice to able to re-use something in a replacement system. Replacing just about any other component entails replacing several components. Maybe upgrade the cpu if I can find one used... like a Phenom II 945 ? I think that's about as high as the board will support. Wattage on the CPU is the limiting factor.. manual says 90 or 95 watts is the max on the cpu.

 

[networkman]

Again, thank you for the suggestions!

One last question then.. since I've been reading some other similar themed threads - notably about the CPU being a limiting factor on the performance of the video card, would it be advisable to upgrade my CPU to the Phenom II x4 945 before doing anything with the video card? Obviously the additional "horsepower" would be welcome but since the two items are in the same range of price, I'm thinking that might be a better step in overall performance of the system?

 

[gammaray]

antec 500W is enough, PLENTY for everything you are using, even an AMD 7850 (+/- 170$) use less than 100 watts full load. So don't worry about that part.

concerning your video card, in theory, all the pci express video card should work.

concerning the upgrade CPU phenom 2 945, its a am3 socket, so just make sure you get the 95W version and not the 125W as your mobo doesn't support it.

 

[networkman]

antec 500W is enough, PLENTY for everything you are using, even an AMD 7850 (+/- 170$) use less than 100 watts full load. So don't worry about that part.

concerning your video card, in theory, all the pci express video card should work.

concerning the upgrade CPU phenom 2 945, its a am3 socket, so just make sure you get the 95W version and not the 125W as your mobo doesn't support it.

Yes, gammaray, thanks for the confirmation on the power supply. And your point is well taken on the CPU - I had noticed that detail and it's made finding the non-125W CPU all the harder, but I have a source now - will be ordering this week.

 

[networkman]

Update: I found a Diamond 6770 1 Gig for $65 here on the "AT For Sale" forums. After doing a little research it appears to be within a few watts usage of the current 3750, so I think it'll work out well. Thanks for all of the advice.