Buying a new graphics card - (read first post)

A smart move on your part would be picking up some kind of 48xx card—even if that’s honestly total overkill for the processor you're running right now—especially since prices are bottoming out... and they'll only drop further once the 58xx series hits the shelves. Then, down the road in a year or so when you finally swap out that CPU, you can grab a 58xx at a much more reasonable price point, and you'll actually be able to utilize its power properly... though, I have a nagging feeling you're just going to end up buying the latest series anyway 😉

Zachary Wilson30 said:In your situation, a smart move might be grabbing a 48xx card—even if it's total overkill for that CPU—since prices are bottoming out now that the 58xx series is hitting shelves. Then, once you swap the processor in a year, you can pick up a 58xx when they're actually affordable, and you'll finally be able to use its power properly.But I have a feeling you'll end up just buying the new series anyway. 😉

You've got a point... and damn it... I'll probably just buy the new series. I've been psyching myself up for new cards for a year now, just waiting for them to drop. By the way, what do you think the actual improvement will be on this CPU compared to my old card?🙂

It’s a massive difference, obviously... but honestly, it isn't much bigger than what you'd see on something like a 4850. That's really the whole point. If you're just rocking a 19" monitor, even a 3870 would be plenty for you.
I actually thought you were smarter than that—that you wouldn't fall for the hype. Prestige comes at a heavy price, and it's no different when it comes to hardware. Give it another year and this stuff will cost twice as much as half the price...
When you're putting a build together, balance is everything. This specific combo of CPU and GPU just makes zero sense...

Zachary Wilson30 said:It’s a huge difference, obviously, but nothing more than what you'd see with a 4850, I suppose. That's the point. Even if you're just using a 19" monitor, a 3870 would probably be plenty.
I honestly thought you wouldn't fall for the hype. Prestige comes at a high cost, and hardware is no different. Next year, this stuff will likely cost twice as much for half the performance...
When building a rig, balance is everything. This specific pairing of CPU and GPU just doesn't make sense, I guess..

Yeah, I know you're right... but the biggest headache for me is that when I swap the CPU, I have to ditch the motherboard too...🙄 That turns into a pretty heavy investment, and I just don't have the cash right now... maybe in about 12 months, or early next year... I don't know, we'll see... maybe I'll just wait and buy the GPU and the whole new setup all at once...😳

As Nicholas Collins68 mentioned, a new series of ATI cards has just been released.
For those who aren't up to speed, there are a few key updates.
Hardware support for DirectX 11 has arrived. We should see games utilizing this later this year—if I recall correctly, the first ones might be the new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
There’s also been a lot of talk about Eyefinity. It allows you to display an image across up to six monitors simultaneously, essentially treating them as one massive desktop rather than individual screens. It supports up to 1920x1200 across all six. Pretty cool. 😁
Regarding performance... it's awesome! 😁In some tests, even one of the most powerful desktop processors in the world (the i7 965, OCaz) was a bottleneck for the 5870. 😁In other synthetic benchmarks, it isn't surprising to see the 5870 outperforming the GTX 295 (which uses two cores!). Generally speaking, performance sits above the GTX 285 and 4870X2, but stays below the GTX 295.
Peak power consumption is at 188W, which seems relatively low for a card with this kind of power. Temperatures stay below 80 degrees under load and hover around 40 at idle.
The transistor count is 2.15 billion, which is more than double the 959 million found on the previous 4890.

Does anyone know where I could track down an old graphics card? Something with a processor around 400MHz—honestly, I'm almost too embarrassed to even type that out.

How old is it?
I suspect that isn't an AGP slot. Based on that processor, it would more likely be a PCI X slot (not PCIe, but the older PCI extended version). If that's the case, finding a compatible card is going to be tough. You might have some luck checking with local e-waste recyclers or scrap yards...

Maybe there's some Socket 370 Celeron in the mix, so it could be AGP... Best if 🙂
just writes it out.

Here’s the deal regarding that Celeron 400 on the PPGA platform, paired with an ASUS P3V4X motherboard.

Is there any chance an AGP card will actually work on my motherboard?

The brainiac makes a good point. This motherboard supports a Socket 370 Celeron, though it uses a Slot 1 connector. It does have an AGP slot, so you don't need to worry about compatibility there—standard AGP cards will work fine on this board. But like he said, I guess it's really not worth buying anything newer than an $17.

Thanks, I appreciate it

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example-1
http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example-2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example-3

Which one of these three would you recommend?

Hey everyone!
I was hoping I could grab some advice on picking up a new graphics card. I recently picked up a Dell OptiPlex from Metro that has integrated graphics. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer by any means, but I do enjoy playing a few games every now and then. Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent card that won't break the bank? I'm looking to stay under about $75.
The CPU is an Intel Core i3, LGA 1151, running at a core speed of 1197 MHz.
The motherboard is an MSI 2A78h.
RAM is 2 GB DDR2.
I'm not sure if this matters, but I'm currently using an old Dell 17 inch CRT monitor.

Thanks in advance!

hd4670

Thomas Hernandez21 said:MX440 🙂

That’s exactly where I’m coming from, too.

Thomas Hernandez21 said:MX440 🙂

man, that's way too much... honestly, even an Nvidia TNT2 M64 feels like overkill these days.