Cheapest video card for basic gaming?

[Yevalht]

Can anyone recommend one? No low-profile tho.

 

[samuelmorris]

Depends what the budget is, and what games you want to play. Sure you could buy an HD5450 for $40 but it'd be crap compared to what you can buy for $60 (far worse than 2/3 performance despite 2/3 cost)

 

[Yevalht]

So what are my options with $60?

 

[samuelmorris]

$67 after rebate will you get you this, which is a reasonably good card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150504
(More powerful than a lot of the old geforce 8800s).

If that's a bit too much then you can go with:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150393
Which is $59 initially, but an impressive $34 after rebate, and performs similarly to the old X1900/7900 series cards of 2006.

 

[wol-va-rine]

So what are my options with $60?

you could look in the FS forum and get a way better card than you ever could brand new for $60, probably at least a 4850 for around $50-$60 IIRC...

 

[Yevalht]

you could look in the FS forum and get a way better card than you ever could brand new for $60, probably at least a 4850 for around $50-$60 IIRC...

I was thinking about that too. So I am still looking

 

[450]

define basic gaming.

 

[Yevalht]

define basic gaming.

Like playing MMOs? I don't really care about high end FPS. I just want to play my online games with my friends without suffering much from lag.

 

[450]

whats the rest of the hardware?

 

[novadaemon]

4850 or gts 250. if you are lucky you can get a 4870 for 60-70.

 

[cabech984]

Need more info. Games, rig specs, resolution of monitor etc...

 

[ravensteel]

I did find this one Radeon 4830 for $60 which I think should hold you over. It should do quite well, my old Radeon 3870 can play a majority of games out there at decent fps so I know this video card should be no problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131381

 

[rat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855&cm_re=4670_hd-_-14-102-855-_-Product

HD 4670 1GB card for $49.99 after rebate. I have this GPU (but an ASUS version) and it does pretty decent. Can do L4D2 on high (defaults to that with 4xAA, etc) but I keep everything set to medium for online play. Anywhere from 40 to 120 fps. Usually between 60-100 except during horde zergs.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=580&card2=579

GPU comparison between the 4650 and 4670.

You'll probably be fine with the 50, the 70'll squeak out a bit more performance.

Main difference between the 4830 and 4670 is memory clock and the gains that come with that. 4670 still has higher raw GPU speeds.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=586&card2=579

So anything 46xx or higher I think you'll be fine with. Find the one that's discounted the most.

 

[Yevalht]

Need more info. Games, rig specs, resolution of monitor etc...

CPU: e8400
MB: Asus P5QC
RAM: 4GB Kingston Hyper

Res - 1360x768?

 

[spaceman]

I just bought a 4850 w/ a Zalman cooler for $55 shipped here on the FS.

 

[TheBuzzer]

you dont need a video card for basic gaming.

 

[Yevalht]

you dont need a video card for basic gaming.

The mobo I have doesn't have a onboard video so how can I play lol?

 

[450]

How much do you want to spend?

 

[Yevalht]

How much do you want to spend?

Thanks for all the recommendations but I just ordered myself a pair of 9800 GT.

 

[samuelmorris]

SLI, for basic gaming? What on earth? I hope they were dirt cheap.

 

[Yevalht]

SLI, for basic gaming? What on earth? I hope they were dirt cheap.

Not gonna be SLI. One for me and one for my sibling.

 

[samuelmorris]

Well, my previous point still stands. You can get a new card that's essentially as good as an 8800GT for $70, and an 8800GT will be second hand (not to mention 8800s only have a 2-3 year life expectancy so if you've got early cards, they may not have long left)

 

[Yevalht]

this

9800gt == gts250?

 

[sethmo]

I played BC2 on a 4850 512mb @ 1920x1200, medium settings, decent framerate the majority of the time.

I have seen used 4850s go for ~$50-60 in the FS forum. I believe NewEgg had a sale on the 4850 for $54 AR once, they aren't that cheap anymore though.

 

[samuelmorris]

9800gt == gts250?

Incorrect. Same GPU design, but with the following differences

9800GT: 112 cores
GTS250: 128 cores

9800GT: 600mhz core, 1500mhz shader, 1800mhz memory
GTS250: 738mhz core, 1836mhz shader, 2000 or 2200mhz memory.

This results in a performance increase of more than 30%.

 

[TheBuzzer]

The mobo I have doesn't have a onboard video so how can I play lol?

get a stack of cards, and there you go solitaire without needing to even use the computer.

 

[Yevalht]

get a stack of cards, and there you go solitaire without needing to even use the computer.

Or just get a stack of domino and we can play together? lol