Athlon 64 Resurrection

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BecauseScience

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Messages
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Athlon 64 3000+ (stock)
Geforce 6100 / NF 410 (has pcie slot)
Crappy 160W Antec PSU
1G RAM
21" CRT @ 1280 x 1024

Is there a card for $30 or less shipped that can deliver a good gaming experience on modern titles without any additional upgrades? Used is fine. If card XYZ usually sells for $30 shipped in FS/FT then it's fair game.

I'm most worried about the anemic psu:

Antec PP-303X "160W"

3.3V - 14A
5V - 30A
12V - 8A

If necessary, this PSU could be installed instead:

FSP300-60GT "300W"

3.3V - 14A
5V - 30A
12V - 12A

Edit:

I'm trying to get the best gaming ability out of this machine as-is. If that means running at 800x600 and buying a two year old gpu then that's fine.

I want to know the best gpu ($30 or less) that can go into this machine new, used, whatever.

It simply does not make sense to sink $50 or $100 into this machine.

Don't tell me to buy a new PSU/CPU/RAM or what could be done if I bought new PSU/CPU/RAM. I'm well aware of that.

What I need help with is selecting a low end, low power gpu that's either new or used.

Thanks.
 
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Ok, first of all, the CPU would bottleneck all but today's lowest-end cards (HD4550 or 9400GT). Not to mention, both of those PSU's would totally not be enough. You MIGHT be able to get away with the 300watt PSU, but even then, that's not that hot of a PSU for even a low-end card.

As for modern games, you'll need 2GB of RAM at least (1GB just isn't enough), a new(er) processor like an X2 3600+ at least, and yeah, you basically just need a new system.

$30 just isn't going to get you any where. Unless you can find a used 8800GTS320 for $30, you won't get far. Even then, your processor would bottleneck the card.

By modern titles, do you mean games from 2007-present? B/c that system won't play them at all or really horribly. 2006 titles on back would be fine though.
 
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I think he is just trying to find something decent man.

Does it have an AGP or PCI-E slot? Both of those PSU's won't really be up to the task IMO with an added video card besides one that it just powered by the PCI-E.
 
lollerskater69 said:
I think he is just trying to find something decent man.
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100% correct. All I'm trying to do is get this old PC to a place where it can play current titles at low resolutions and settings without it being a complete slideshow. My question was not how do I turn this crap old PC into a top end gaming rig.

I realize that the solution will likely be a bottom end card possibly a generation or two old.

I don't know much if anything about low end cards so I'm asking.

Red Falcon said:
By modern titles, do you mean games from 2007-present? B/c that system won't play them at all or really horribly. 2006 titles on back would be fine though.
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Current titles means those sitting on the shelf at Best Buy right now.

lollerskater69 said:
Does it have an AGP or PCI-E slot? Both of those PSU's won't really be up to the task IMO with an added video card besides one that it just powered by the PCI-E.
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It has pcie. Neither one of the psu's has a pcie supplemental power connector of course.

Let me reiterate one more time. No components other than gpu and possibly a psu switch to the FSP unit listed above.
 
I don't see you achieving your goal for $30 or less. You need more $$ and more power.
 
did you list the games that want to be played?

your initial question of a $30.00 upgrade to move the system into playability is not going to happen. you will have to up the PSU, buy a V-card and toss another gig of RAM. you are still limited with a 3000+ but with the above mentioned upgrades you could play some newer stuff 1280< with out much eye candy.

i still game on my old rig (Ubuntu/XP and 7) a x2 4400 2gb nVidia 9600GT (all stock) and Oblivion, L4D and Crysis are perfectly playable 1440x900. granted i have shadows and other stuff set low or off, but it looks good and i enjoy playing, not irritated by any *chug *stutter *chug.

your looking at around 80-130 for PSU, Video card if you put the effort into finding the parts and are patient.
 
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Not trying to hawk my goods or nothin, But I got a 6800GS hardly ever used I could easily get to your door under $30 if you're interested. It won't smoke the doors off anything, but when I used it, it was powering a 30" CRT @ 1024 playing WoW @ 60fps no problem on a P4 2.4C
 
6800gs should be a decent card. Not sure how it compares to modern cards though.
 
I have seen some used Nv 7800/7900 and Ati 1800/1900 going for $20-40. At the resolutions you are talking about they would play most modern games quite well. Both series of cards have all the required features to play the modern games except DX10 only games, which there are none of yet that I know of. You will have to look around to find one of those cards though. Also the 300watt is iffy at best for those cards. I have had them run stably on power supplies with as little as 18A on the 12v rail, but 12A is prolly not going to cut it.
 
vjcsmoke said:
6800gs should be a decent card. Not sure how it compares to modern cards though.
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still a moot point but,

its a DX9 component. cant really compare it to anything other than the ATI of the same product cycle.

note that the GS in PCIe only has 12 pipes (the 6800GS AGP had 16 with 4 masked that could be unlocked) there are 12 and only 12 on the PCIe -different silicon.

you still will need to power the card...new PSU :(
 
i offered a super cheap 7600GS to him that needs no external power and would play games decently at lower res, games like the Source games and what not run great on it, even at 1440x900 resolution
 
nobody_here said:
i offered a super cheap 7600GS to him that needs no external power and would play games decently at lower res, games like the Source games and what not run great on it, even at 1440x900 resolution
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sounds like some goodness coming from the boards. 7600GS is a decent enough card. sure there are faster (are'nt there always) but super cheap and no power connection could well cover you.

btw what games are you looking to have played on the system?

went to browse some stuff in FS and saw this Antec 350W 16a on +12 rail $5 +shipping
 
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he could get both that psu and my 7600gs for $30 total shipped roughly, assuming the seller of the psu doesnt overcharge for shipping :) and btw, that earthwatts 500w psu is what i use now, great psu if he was considering spending just a little more

looks like a suitable solution to me, at 800x600 this card should really fly....i have played guild wars on it at 1440x900 with everything maxed out, also plays source games nearly maxed out at that resolution, i would think 1024x768 pretty much maxed out as long as he doesnt want to play crysis and such...
 
I sold a 3800+ system with an AT8 mb and a x1800XL to my friend and it suits him just fine.
 
Thanks for coming though with some good suggestions guys. And thanks to nobody_here for the offer of the $20 7600GS.

I've run into a snag on the machine. SP3 bombed upon install and left the OS trashed. I ran some tests and found consistant disk corruption. I swapped out the disk with a known good one. Same. It looks like an IDE-only issue since memtest and prime95 were showing no errors.

I'm abandoning this project. Too much time sunk into it already for such a worthless box.

Thanks to everyone for the help.
 
If you've got a Socket 939 board, I've got an Athlon X2 3800, Radeon X1650Pro 512MB, 2GB mis-matched PC3200 and a Thermalright SI-120 you can have for the price of shipping. The motherboard they were all in gave up the ghost when my PSU on that rig decided to let the magic smoke out. I have no need of anything that old, so you're welcome to it. Then you can use your $30.00 to beef up the PSU.
 
JeffD78 said:
If you've got a Socket 939 board, I've got an Athlon X2 3800, Radeon X1650Pro 512MB, 2GB mis-matched PC3200 and a Thermalright SI-120 you can have for the price of shipping. The motherboard they were all in gave up the ghost when my PSU on that rig decided to let the magic smoke out. I have no need of anything that old, so you're welcome to it. Then you can use your $30.00 to beef up the PSU.
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I took JeffD78 up on his offer. He sent the stuff the same day! :D

I installed his contributions along with the 300W PSU. I ran orthos and furmark together overnight. 100% stable! The entire machine draws under 180W at the wall. Fully loaded with orthos and furmark it hovers around 175W. It looks like the 300W FSP PSU is plenty for this little box.

Big thanks to JeffD78!
 
Good to hear!

I don't know how well it would do for you, but I've had that CPU at 2.7GHz.... :D
 
Currently have a HD3450 running on a 300w PSU with no problems. It plays game, but not very good. Also doesn't require a pcie power plug and is fanless. My HTPC card actually. You could try something like that. I paid $30 shipped for it.
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definitely aim for an x1950pro/7800gtx or higher. a LOT of them can be had for under $30 these days. with newer cards focusing on shader power rather than raw pixel pushing those cards can still hold their own. x1950pro > 8600gts > 9500gt
 
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