Inexpensive video card help please

O

oboyco

Gawd
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Messages
533
I haven't gamed in over 10 years, and am obviously out of the loop, but am considering getting back into it to a small degree. I am looking for something in the $50 range and maybe up to $100. I am leaning towards ATI simply because of my MB ATI chipset, but am open to Nvidia if compatible with Vista x64. Probably looking to play COD, or other WWII games, (suggestions for games).

I would definitely prefer passive cooling and a somewhat low power draw due to my 350 wat PSU.

Here are is my system:
Asus M2A-VM mb with on board X1200
AMD x2 3800 Windsor
6GB 667 ram
WD 320gb RE enterprise hd
Enlight case with 350 watt PSU made by Delta
2 Liteon 20x SATA DVD drives
ATI 550 TV tuner card
Vista Home Premium x64
Acer AL2216W 22" LCD 1600X1050

I play a lot of movies and watch TV on this PC. The onboard vid works well for what I do now.
 
Decent idea might be an ATI x1650 pro, should be in the $50 area. I been running 2 of them in crossfire for over a year and they do alright at lower resolutions. Video playback is pretty good, although the color (especially reds) was very washed out before using catalyst to adjust the colors. Im sure there are better values, but i havent used those, so i cant comment on them.
 
The best card in your price range is the 2600 XT, and I would recommend you spend as much as you can afford. It is a much better card than the crappy x1650, and well worth the extra 30-40 bucks. It also assists with h.264 and VC1 decoding, which means HD videos (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, plus downloadable videos) will be a snap for your system.

Here's one with a fanless cooler, so you can avoid the noise typical of cheap video card coolers (ie when you watch movies).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125075
 
Thanks guys, the key word here is passive cooling.

defaultluser, I think this is the ideal card that I was looking for. After a whole lot of research, this is the one. I already pulled the trigger at Newegg and am assuming this isn't a huge power draw requiring a PSU upgrade. Oh man, I had no idea how many versions and mfg of these versions there are out there these days, the card numbers games are almost unbelievable.

Again, thanks for the recomendation for a "low end" card, as this forum is mostly geared for the cutting edge. Passive cooling and decent performance in my price range and needs.
 
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