GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

I once tried pairing a dog and a cat together—it definitely didn't end well.

haha, maybe he's pulling my leg, but both graphics cards were showing up just fine in Device Manager

You aren't going to get anywhere with that approach, so stick to your guns. Believe me, I have a nearly identical setup sitting in my storage closet. Back in the day, I was trying to figure out what the absolute best GPU would be for a newer generation single-core chip (like a P4 or an Athlon 64). A single core is a total relic by today's standards, and that ATI Radeon HD5450 512 is actually plenty—maybe even overkill depending on what you're playing. To be specific, an Athlon 64 3500 paired with an HD6450 works fine for games released up until about 2006. But from that point on—specifically with titles like Oblivion or The Witcher—the CPU is constantly pegged at 100%, while the GPU sits around 45-75% usage (that’s with a 1440x900 resolution; if you drop the resolution, the performance is just as bad or even worse). Most of the time, the card stays around 50%.

Only grab a different card if you're planning on upgrading everything else very soon. Honestly, it's much smarter to fix your platform first, then add the "cherry on top" later by picking up a better graphics card.

I’ve been thinking about it, but honestly, my wallet is feeling a little thin right now... I know a decent amount about PCs, though I really just hopped on here to get some expert advice. It actually blows my mind how much I can still squeeze out of this old rig of mine (motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2.. 1GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, graphics: ATI Radeon HD5450 512mb, processor: AMD Le-1600 single core 2.2GHz stock). Even with those specs, I'm still cruising through games like Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grid, Prototype 1, and even Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on max settings. That integrated graphics card is basically a total lifesaver for this setup, acting like a massive boost to the whole system

nimbleowl94 said:I’ve thought about it, really, but money is a bit tight right now. I know my way around a PC well enough, but I mostly came here looking for some guidance. Honestly, I’m just surprised at how much I can still squeeze out of this rig. My setup is basically a Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 with 1GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM, an ATI Radeon HD5450 512, and a stock AMD Le-1600 single core 2.2GHz processor. Even so, I’m running stuff like Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grid, Prototype 1, and even Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on max settings. That integrated graphics chip on the motherboard is doing some heavy lifting for me here.

How on earth are you actually getting Grand Theft Auto IV to run? What kind of frame rate are we talking about? Are you hitting maybe 10 FPS on low settings at 640x480?

I assume you’ve decided to pivot away from an all-in-one setup—but have you actually sat down to play Grand Theft Auto IV yet? 😲

Bottom line: this rig will handle web browsing (just try not to go tab-crazy), run Office, and tackle older titles just fine. In the meantime, you can save up and start planning your next upgrade.

I can run Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on pure minimum settings without any stuttering, though I’m not really feeling it since playing on low graphics just kills the vibe... anyway, I wanted to pick your brains on something: If you install an AMD AM2+ CPU on an AM2 motherboard, the system bus speed drops from HT3.0 (5200MHz) down to the HT1.0 (2000 MT/s) spec; even though the actual clock speed of the AMD AM2+ CPU stays the same. That’s what the specs for this motherboard are claiming, but does that actually apply to the specific chip I’m planning to drop in? Like, is it going to throttle my processor's speed down to 2000MT/s?

Which CPU would you go with?

Here’s a list of CPUs compatible with your motherboard. Just make sure you check which BIOS version you're running, and I'd highly recommend avoiding any 125W processors if you can help it.

No worries, man, I mentioned this like 15 or 20 posts ago before you even hopped into the thread :P I can snag an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 x Brisbane Socket AM2 2.6 for about $26, which is actually a bit less than $50. On eBay, they’re going for around $83

That chip would go right into my motherboard, but I'm really sweating whether I'll be able to squeeze all the power out of it. That's why I pasted that English text earlier—I'm terrified it might throttle the CPU speed, and if that happens, the whole deal isn't worth it to me. This one is rated at 65W according to the link you shared

I also dug up some info saying this processor needs the F6 version of the BIOS. I'm not totally sure which version I'm running right now, but Gigabyte has all the update links ready to go on their site

Before you boot up, you can quickly tap one of those F-keys to jump into the BIOS—that’s where you'll see the version number too. Just a heads-up: you absolutely have to update it before you swap in a new processor. As for whether it's actually worth the money... well, you'll definitely notice an improvement, but let's be real, it isn't some permanent fix for an aging system (which I'm sure you already realize).
I recall seeing plenty of standard 5000+ units listed on sites like Newegg for around 150-$67

Honestly, it’s not a huge amount of cash, so I figure it’s worth grabbing this processor just to tide me over for another year or two while I save up for a proper new rig. As for a GPU, I’ll play it by ear and see what I end up picking up later on.
My current LE-1600 is just a single-core chip running at 2.2GHz, but I’ve actually managed to overclock it to 2.98GHz since the temps stay super low. This new one is a dual-core and comes clocked at 2.6GHz out of the box, so I could probably push that up to around 2.9GHz too.
Right now, the only thing keeping the CPU cool is the stock AMD cooler http://www.kisildalur.is/web/uploads...s/1237_big.jpg and part of me is worried about something frying, though I think it’ll hold up fine—plus, I should have a few more fans arriving in the mail any day now.
...I usually jump into the BIOS using the DELETE key
I haven't messed with a BIOS update yet, but I guess it's about time I learned how to do it.😁Do you think my current processor will still work if I flash to that new version required for this dual-core (the F6 version)?
I stumbled upon this awesome site Newegg and it looks pretty solid for $13 http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_174120_1.jpg and I'm planning to grab the processor from there as well; some buddies of mine have ordered from them before and nobody has had any issues.

nimbleowl94 said:Would my current processor still work with this new version required for the dual core setup (the F6 version)?

It has to work. Upgrades don't mean they strip away support for older hardware.

Greetings!
So, I have an older PC here. The CPU is a Pentium D 815, and the graphics card is an ATI Radeon X1550 (256MB, 128bit).

I am wondering which graphics card you would recommend for this build? It needs to be compatible with my current motherboard. I am not looking to buy a brand-new computer right now, so I realize this setup is quite dated.
I plan to swap the processor for a Core 2 Duo, since the board supports it.

Here are the other specs: 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 350W power supply.

Currently, I can run Assassin's Creed on low to medium settings. What else would you suggest that could handle similar titles, such as Assassin's Creed 2?

http://www.asrock.com/mb/VIA/4CoreDual-VSTA/
Maybe this one...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing

Thank you!

wiredlynx10 said:Hey there!
So, I've got this old rig sitting here. It’s definitely seen better days—running a Pentium D 815 processor and an ATI Radeon X1550 with 256MB of VRAM on a 128-bit bus.

So, I'm looking for some advice on which graphics card I should throw in here. I need something that actually works with this motherboard... I'm not building a new rig, so I'm fully aware this thing is ancient and pretty much useless by today's standards.
I think I'm going to swap in a Core 2 Duo. It's compatible with my current setup, so might as well make the move.

Everything else: 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 350W power supply.

I can finally run Assassin's Creed 2 on medium to low settings, which feels like a win. What else would you guys recommend? I'm looking for something similar that my current setup could actually handle—maybe something like AC2?

Check out this motherboard from ASRock: http://www.asrock.com/mb/VIA/4CoreDual-VSTA/
Maybe this works...
I found this listing on Craigslist for an ATI Radeon HD5450 512. It’s being offered by someone looking to move it quickly. Honestly, if you're just trying to get a basic desktop up and running or need something to handle light tasks without breaking the bank, it might be worth a look, but don't expect any miracles. It’s definitely not going to cut it for anything demanding.

Thanks!

That won't work. Your motherboard supports old-school AGP cards, but the one you linked uses PCIe. The absolute best you could squeeze out of that board would be an HD3650 AGP, but honestly? If I were you, I’d just keep saving up for a completely new build instead.

I was thinking about something along these lines. I found this listing on Craigslist for an ATI Radeon HD5450 512MB. It’s sitting there at a decent price if you just need something to get a display running or play some really light titles. Honestly, it's pretty basic hardware, but for the right price, it serves a purpose. Or this one. I found this listing on Craigslist for an ATI Radeon HD5450 512MB graphics card. It’s sitting there at a pretty decent price if you're just looking to get a basic system up and running. Honestly, it's nothing fancy, but for a budget build or an office PC that needs to handle some light video playback without choking, it does the job. If you're hunting for something to scrape by on, this might be worth a look.

I read somewhere that this motherboard features a single PCIe (x4) slot, but I've also seen some folks on various forums claiming that's actually the maximum capacity. Does anyone know if an ATI 4850 would even work here?
I might be totally off base on this one. 🙂

wiredlynx10 said:I read somewhere that this motherboard only has one PCIe (x4) slot, and I’ve also seen people on forums saying that the maximum card the board can actually support is an ATI 4850. Am I totally off base here?
Probably misread something. 🙂

My bad, you're right. I did a quick Google search and realized I was looking at the wrong board specs. Then again, this processor is pretty old, so it isn't exactly going to handle anything heavy anyway—maybe an HD3850 or something along those lines wouldn't be overkill.

What specific power supply are you running? You should probably pop the case open to check—I'm guessing it's a low-end unit, so you really shouldn't be pushing anything with high power draw (like components that require dedicated extra power connectors)

Timothy Kim60 said:What kind of power supply are you actually running? You’re probably going to have to crack the case open to check—I'm betting it's a cheap unit, which means you shouldn't try pushing anything with high power demands (like cards that need extra power connectors)

The CPU isn't exactly top-tier either, so maybe just grab an HD 4670?

swiftfalcon89 said:The CPU isn't exactly anything special either, so maybe just grab an HD 4670?

Why settle for an HD 4670 though...? I'd say an HD 5670 or 6670 is definitely the better way to go...

crimsonstag84 said:Why bother with an HD 4670 at this stage? You'd be much better off grabbing an HD 5670 or even a 6670...

Do you really think that old processor can actually handle it?