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$100-$120 upgrade

J

jervonics

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2004
Messages
173
Have a 7800GT OC from BFG that is just not doing the job anymore with the new games coming out. My budget is very limited. I was wondering, with all the infinite wisdom bandied about these forums, what would be the best choice to upgrade to? Only have $120 to spend, so I know I won't get the uberGPU, but I know I can get a heck of a lot better than what I got at the present. Thanks ahead for your time and knowledge.....
 
what resolution are you playing at? that cpu is a bit slow to be paired with a really fast card but if you are at 1920 then I second a 4850 or gts250.
 
You can't go wrong with a 4850, and it's right in your price range.
 
thanks for the replies. I am beginning to see a pattern here, so you guys think ATi is better for price than say an Nvidia based card? I have been a Nvidia user for my last 3 cards and have had no problems, but I am not adverse to trying something new....
 
jervonics said:
thanks for the replies. I am beginning to see a pattern here, so you guys think ATi is better for price than say an Nvidia based card? I have been a Nvidia user for my last 3 cards and have had no problems, but I am not adverse to trying something new....
Click to expand...
what resolution are you playing at?
 
jervonics said:
thanks for the replies. I am beginning to see a pattern here, so you guys think ATi is better for price than say an Nvidia based card? I have been a Nvidia user for my last 3 cards and have had no problems, but I am not adverse to trying something new....
Click to expand...

Well, if you want Nvidia you could pick-up a GTS 250 for about the same price as a 4850 (maybe $10 more). They perform similarly, so either one is a good buy.

You might have trouble finding the 4850, since they've almost cleared-out the stock (the replacement is the 5750, but it's overpriced).
 
i don't play at high resolutions normally. usually 1024X 768 or 1280X whatever on BF2.
But I just got Dragon Age and Empire Total War and I want to be able to see all the goods. Plus, I have GTA IV, its been sitting on my shelf for 4 months because my 7800 can't push it, so that will be fun to delve into....
thanks again for the 411...
 
jervonics said:
i don't play at high resolutions normally. usually 1024X 768 or 1280X whatever on BF2.
But I just got Dragon Age and Empire Total War and I want to be able to see all the goods. Plus, I have GTA IV, its been sitting on my shelf for 4 months because my 7800 can't push it, so that will be fun to delve into....
thanks again for the 411...
Click to expand...
sorry but GTA 4 is going to run like crap because your cpu. also a 4850 would be a massive waste with your cpu at 1024x768 and even 1280x960. at that very low res you need to be looking at a $50 4670 or $75 9600gt.
 
well, I WOULD play at a better resolution if my card could handle it. I mean i'm no reso snob....
 
Get the best card you can afford in that price bracket, if you go 2nd hand you can probably get a 4870 - then you should be able to run a higher res with little performance drop (as you will be cpu limited) but it will also be much faster than a 7xxx card even with your cpu.

It doesn't sound like you want to drop alot of cash replacing cpu + m/b + ram atm, also can you push your x2 4400 any higher - weren't they 2.4ghz stock or was it 2.2ghz?
 
hmmm, without sounding like a complete gimp, I'm not sure. This is an LCD from DELL that I bummed off my bro, because my Viewsonic af90 was just too big for my table. It says optimum is 1280X 1024 at 70Mghz refresh, which is my normal setting for gaming. SO, I am changing my earlier resolution statement to 1280X1024 all the time.
 
jervonics said:
hmmm, without sounding like a complete gimp, I'm not sure. This is an LCD from DELL that I bummed off my bro, because my Viewsonic af90 was just too big for my table. It says optimum is 1280X 1024 at 70Mghz refresh, which is my normal setting for gaming. SO, I am changing my earlier resolution statement to 1280X1024 all the time.
Click to expand...
I think a $75 9600gt would be your best bet at that res with your cpu. a 4850 would be held back quite a bit plus they have gone back up in price. the 9600gt would be a really big upgrade and I think you would be quite happy.
 
How about the Mystical Radeon 5750 512mb for $109.00? Only problem is, it's mystical and doesn't really exist....What happened? ATI announced it, and then quickly hushed it away under the carpet...
 
cannondale06 said:
I think a $75 9600gt would be your best bet at that res with your cpu. a 4850 would be held back quite a bit plus they have gone back up in price. the 9600gt would be a really big upgrade and I think you would be quite happy.
Click to expand...

+1 to this. 9600s handle SXGA nicely.
 
i ended up going with the BFG 9800 GT for $109 from Newegg with a $20 mail in rebate and free shipping. So I will end up going $89 for it. I figure that will be good enough, and then when I can afford to upgrade my cpu and MB later I won't feel like I'm being held back by my GPU.
Thanks to all for you help in this life changing decision I had to make. I New I could count on the HardOCP Forum brainiacs to set me straight!
 
that gpu will be bottlenecked by any updated cpu on current titles. You would be better off with some thing like this,
XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB $119.99
or
XFX HD-477A-YDFC Radeon HD 4770 512MB $114.99 + free shipping

Check out this review, it compares all the cards on the price range. Look how the cards do @ 1680x1050 with and without aa and af turned up. The 9800gt is the lowest in both lists by quite a bit. You only buy gpus once a year or 2. You won't be happy you spent $30 less in 6-12 month from now when the gpu is not keeping up.

Just my 2 cents.
 
jervonics said:
i ended up going with the BFG 9800 GT for $109 from Newegg with a $20 mail in rebate and free shipping. So I will end up going $89 for it. I figure that will be good enough, and then when I can afford to upgrade my cpu and MB later I won't feel like I'm being held back by my GPU.
Thanks to all for you help in this life changing decision I had to make. I New I could count on the HardOCP Forum brainiacs to set me straight!
Click to expand...

You got a good card for your resolution at a good price.
It'll be a big upgrade from a 7800GT. Enjoy.
 
5750 or GTS 250 would be the way I'd roll.
4850 isn't a bad card but lacks DX11.

Oh you went with the 9800GT. Yeah that's not a bad video card, I used to have the XFX model.

Here's been the video cards I've tried out this year:

Sapphire Vapor-X 4890, Asus 9600GSO, XFX 5870, HIS 5970.
The ASUS was a standby card while I waited on the 4890 RMA. Now it's just a PPU, if I can get it working again. =)
 
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