GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

$100 Honestly, that graphics card is a bit underwhelming given how much the rest of the rig is worth. You’d be much better off hunting down a more powerful, older card on Craigslist or eBay—it’ll give you a much better bang for your buck.

Hey everyone.. I could use some advice. Which graphics card is actually better: the ATI X1650 Pro 512 MB DDR2 AGP or something else? I'm running a 2.4 GHz Pentium, 1 GB of RAM, and an asus p4s8x motherboard with a 350W power supply. What would be the best fit for this setup?

I'm looking for some recommendations on a solid Nvidia-based graphics card... ideally something that's a real best buy for around $120.

Thx

Bryan Evans77 said:🤦 regarding $180 you have an hd5670🤦

Typical... someone always manages to mess up. 😁

James Evans49 said:Hey everyone... I was wondering if anyone could tell me which graphics card would be the better pick: the ATI X1650 Pro with 512 MB DDR2 on an AGP slot, or something else? My current setup is a 2.4 GHz Pentium with 1 GB of RAM—what would be the best move here? I'm running an asus p4s8x motherboard and a 350 W power supply.

Honestly, buying anything brand new right now just isn't worth the money. You're much better off hunting down a used radeon 2600 or maybe a 3650. You won't find anything new that outperforms those, and frankly, spending money on a new AGP card is a bit of a dead end—that technology is pretty much a relic at this point.

Quote:>

Richard Rivera6 says: I'm looking for some recommendations for a solid NVIDIA-based card that I can find at Best Buy for around $120. Thanks!

GAINWARD GTS450 512MB, $267 — that's almost exactly the price point. Even if you can't snag it for that specific amount, it is definitely worth the extra investment. If I were you, I wouldn't try to cut corners by picking up something weaker or older; you'll likely just end up shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to actual performance.😉

crimsonstag84 said:The 8600GTS for $67, honestly, that should handle everything you mentioned 😉 quite nicely.

http://www.craigslist.org/vi/graphics-cards-for-sale-2114604

Alright, I guess I'll go with that one then. Let me just quickly scan through these other graphics cards, though—just want to be absolutely sure there isn't something better out there. LINK
Thanks.

The 7800GT might be close in performance if you get one with a decent cooler, but I probably wouldn't recommend it since it’s running an older DX 9.0c spec and pulls more power...

Casey Long2 said:GAINWARD GTS450 512MB, $267 - right on the money. Even if you can't snag it at that exact price, it’s definitely worth the investment. Honestly, don't try to cut corners with something weaker or older... you'll just end up shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to actual performance 😉

Thanks a lot, you really confirmed what I was thinking 🙂
I hate the idea of sabotaging my own setup... would rather pay a bit more now than deal with the headache later 😁

Which card is actually better: the NVIDIA GTX 460 Hawk Talon Attack or the 6850 Toxic?
And is a 430W Seasonic enough to handle either one of them?

They're around here somewhere. The Hawk pulls a bit more power, but the Toxic is more efficient and actually vents the heat out of the case. You can just overclock both without much fuss—and honestly, a Seasonic unit will handle it just fine enough.

Is this review actually legit? LINK

Seems like there isn't much of a difference between the NVIDIA GTX 460 Hawk and the NVIDIA GTX 470 🤷

It’s reliable enough, sure, but don't forget—this is just a heavily factory overclocked NVIDIA GTX 460 Hawk Talon Attack. That other card is a stock NVIDIA GTX 470.

Hey there,
I need some advice.

I'm looking for a PCI-e card.
My current setup is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 and I'll be upgrading to 4GB of DDR3 RAM shortly.
Power supply is 400W.

Right now, I'm running an old NVIDIA card with 256MB of VRAM. It handles Call of Duty 4 just fine, but anything newer starts to chug. I also want to make sure everything runs smoothly once I upgrade to Windows 7.
I'm looking for a graphics card in the range of $233. I wouldn't mind something used. My goal isn't to max out every setting; I just want to be able to run some games—including newer titles—and I definitely need an HDMI output. Should I aim for 512MB or go for 1GB? What can my processor actually handle before it becomes a bottleneck?
I was considering something like this:
http://www.nabava.net/graficke-karti...16-1gb__805801

Is this overkill for me? Or perhaps still too weak?
I don't follow hardware specs closely, so any guidance would be appreciated.

It really depends on what resolution you’re running. If you're looking at something lower than 1680x1050, honestly, 512MB is plenty. But if you're pushing higher than that, you'll definitely want to aim for 1GB. Check out the 4850, the EVGA GeForce GTS 250, or even a 4870.

How on earth are you planning to fit 4GB of DDR3 in there? I’m genuinely curious. (Unless you're swapping out the motherboard and the CPU entirely...)

Regarding that HD 5670... it's a solid card. Should you go with 512MB or 1GB? If you're running at 1080p, grab the 1GB. Otherwise, you don't really need it—but hey, extra VRAM never hurts, especially when looking at that 512MB vs 1GB gap...

If I were in your shoes, I'd just look for something used...
Something like an HD 4850, a GTS 250, maybe even a GTS 450 if you can find one, or an HD 5770, 5750... stuff like that. 🙂

Thanks for the quick replies.
I'm working with a motherboard that supports both DDR2 and DDR3. Right now, I’ve got 1GB of DDR2 running at 800MHz, but since there are also DDR3 slots available, I'm planning to pull the old stick out and swap it for a new 4GB kit (2x 2GB) of DDR3. There's really no point in hunting down more DDR2 when the prices are practically identical.
What’s the deal with these no-name memory modules you see on eBay?
Also, looking at the used market, doesn't it seem like people are asking way too much considering what new sticks cost? Is there a specific brand or model you'd recommend that actually offers fair pricing?

Just buy the memory locally..
I mean, if you order from eBay, who are you even going to complain to? You sure the post office won't hit you with extra fees? You certain customs isn't gonna grab it at the border?

I looked through some graphics cards but didn't find much.. nothing really, except for what was on the PC Expert forums..

EVGA GeForce GTS 250 1024mb gddr3
http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=117
$200

Maybe go with something newer, like a gts 450?

crimsonstag84 said:If you're looking at a brand new GeForce GT 220 with DDR3 memory, you really won't find anything better in that specific price bracket; most of the other options out there use a 64-bit bus, which ends up bottlenecking your performance quite a bit...

http://www.newegg.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=7728

Personally, I’d suggest looking into the used market instead. For about $100-$117, you could probably snag something like an HD 4670 (with DDR3) or maybe an HD 5570 (also DDR3), both of which would offer a noticeable jump in power compared to the cards you mentioned 😉.

Just let us know what the rest of your build looks like—what kind of processor, motherboard, RAM, and power supply are you running?

Unfortunately, that item from Newegg is already out of stock; they actually pulled the listing from their site right after I placed my order 🙄, so now I'm back to hunting for a solid alternative....

Brian Peterson5 said:Unfortunately, they don't carry that AMD part anymore; I think they pulled it from the site right after I placed my order 🙄 so now I'm stuck looking for an alternative....

Maybe go used? Some other new card might just be too weak... honestly, this HD 3850 with the aftermarket cooler looks like a solid deal 😉

http://www.craigslist.org/vi/graphics-cards-listing-2189492

crimsonstag84 said:If it's used, then fine, as long as some other new card isn't just too weak... this HD 3850 with that custom cooler feels like a really solid deal 😉

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

In the end, I decided to go with this one instead http://www.newegg.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=8926