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Video card recommendation for light gaming?

J

jrichrds

Platinum Member
This is so my little cousin can play Lord of the Rings: Conquest. I know nothing about PC gaming, but system requirements are Core2Duo 2.4Ghz and 256MB video card with Pixel Shader 3.0.

I have a fanless 8400GS, but would like to get something more recent. Would a fanless ATi HD4350 be a decent enough improvement? Or can I get far better gaming performance from spending just a little more?

This is going into a quiet PC, so I would like it to be silent or quiet (not the "it's silent because I can't hear it over the roar of my hi-speed case fan" kind of quiet). This will probably limit my selection, but I'm only looking to spend $30-80 anyways.
 
System Requirements
===================

Lord of Lord of The Rings: Conquest? requires at least the following:

FOR WINDOWS XP SP2 or Windows Vista
* 2.4 GHz Core Duo processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* A 256 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 3.0 - nvidia 7800 or equivelent
* The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
* A DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
* At least 6 GB of hard drive space for installation.

Here's what if found from their website. Looks like the game requires a decent video card if it says 7800 or equivalent. An 8400GS is definitely not enough.

I looked forever to also find a cheap, quiet, and somewhat powerful card for my HTPC. I settled on the HIS HD 4670 card. It is extremely quiet and only revs up slightly in games.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161252
 
If you'll spend a little more, an HD4830 is very powerful and great price : performance. Not sure about sound though.
 
Originally posted by: daveybrat
Looks like the game requires a decent video card if it says 7800 or equivalent. An 8400GS is definitely not enough.

I looked forever to also find a cheap, quiet, and somewhat powerful card for my HTPC. I settled on the HIS HD 4670 card. It is extremely quiet and only revs up slightly in games.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161252
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: for the 4670 for this sort of niche gaming. Card linked by daveybrat has a very nice HIS cooler. Other advantage is low power requirements: no additional power connectors needed, so suitable for systems with a limited PSU.
 
Originally posted by: daveybrat
I looked forever to also find a cheap, quiet, and somewhat powerful card for my HTPC. I settled on the HIS HD 4670 card. It is extremely quiet and only revs up slightly in games.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161252
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to get this card. I was also considering the HIS HD 4650 which is silent and at the same price. But the 4670 looks to be the better value.

Are you able to tweak the voltages / fan RPMs on this HIS card through RBE or other software utility? I wonder if undervolting (at idle) is a possibility with this card.
 
4650 really isn't much of a gaming card.

4670 is basically a "lite" gaming card - meaning it can handle older games ok, newer games at lower resolutions & without AA.
 
If this is the only game that this computer will ever run, grab a 4670.

If your cousin will play other games with it in the future, look into the $85-110 price range, and grab a 9600GSO, 9600GT, or 4830. I did see an ASUS 9600GT with passive cooling for about $110, not sure if there was a rebate.

Make sure the computer's power supply can handle whatever you're putting in it. Most OEM machines (like Dell) come with decent 250-350w power supplies these days, which should run a mid-range card just fine. If it's a bargain basement PC, or if it's self-built and the power supply came with the case, you may be asking for trouble.
 
I got the HIS 4670, did a fresh install of WinXP with ATI Catalyst 9.2 drivers, ran the LOTR Conquest game at default 800x600 setting, and the video freezes within seconds (bunch of vertical stripes on the screen). Tried native 1280x1024 just for the heck of it and same thing. I hope it's just a video driver issue because the game plays fine with the 8400GS.
 
I got a ATi 4670 the other day for my machine at work, its about the same spec as yours (Core2 2.4GHz, 3GB Mem), at 1280x1024 it will play Far Cry 2 at max detail settings with 2x AA at around 30 FPS. It also plays C&C 3 at max settings really smooth.

So drop the settings down a bit and i reckon that card will handle most modern games for a while.

oh and my work machines power supply is only 375W so it doesnt require that much power.
 
I gave up on the HIS 4670. I tried some older ATi Catalyst driver versions (in case it was just the latest version that caused issues), but couldn't keep LOTR Conquest from freezing soon after gameplay starts. Probably an incompatibility between the game and the ATI drivers/4670. Stuck the 8400GS back in for now, and will find a home for the 4670 in another system.

I also found the IceQ cooling system on the HIS 4670 to be too loud for my quiet PC. I'll probably have to stick with silent video cards in the future.
 
Originally posted by: ronnn
Likely you need to get rid of the old nvidia drivers. Try driver sweeper.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: jrichrds
did a fresh install of WinXP with ATI Catalyst 9.2 drivers
Click to expand...


I didn't see any official word on the issue at Pandemic just
PC- ATI 48xx and nVidia 88xx crashes at high & low settings: A request for DxDiags has been sent to parties who have generously provided details involving the crashes they are experiencing. We are addressing this issue as fast as possible. This includes reported crashes on Osgiliath.
Click to expand...
Test that card to be certain it isn't defective, but it could still be a bug with the game.
 
Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Test that card to be certain it isn't defective, but it could still be a bug with the game.
Click to expand...
Are there programs (like Prime95 for CPU) that will test my HIS video card to be certain it isn't defective?

It works fine putzing around in 2D mode, but I don't have any other 3D games to test the card with at the moment.

 
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