Looking for Graphics Card (Under 80$?)

S

Suicider123

n00b
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
10
Notice: I'm a noob at this computer thing, I literally knew nothing about the slots and stuff, until today ;)

This is my computer's specs:
AMD 64 3200+
PCI Express Slot
ATI Radeon X200 Chipset
1.5G Ram
It's a HP Pavalion a1206n

I'm just a "casual" gamer, only playing around twice a week on weekends.. All I'm looking for is a video card that can handle:
Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 2, AOE3 on Medium at least, as my computer can't even play Battlefield 2 right now, even with everything set on lowest or off..

I was looking around and found a reasonably good one. It's PowerColor X300 SE Hypermemory 256MB (128 onboard) for 54$. Is that a good choice? and can it do what I'm asking?
Or... Maybe this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131316

Also, I'm looking for a card between 50$-80$ (Parents won't pay for me... I'm 15 btw)

Thanks in Advance

PS. I've been told that a GeForce 6600GT card is very good for its price, but it's way above my limit, as I'm focused in sports and school and not working.. I just want a card that can allow me to play Call of Duty 2, at least, online without major lagging.
 
Do lawn work .That's what I do. You won't get a good video card for 100. Just save up. I built my first rig when I was 14.
 
pilotace001 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=
Click to expand...

Umm.. That's just a list of video cards...

I think you guys misread or something.. but I just want a card that can allow me to play Call of Duty 2, at least, online without major lagging. Meaning medium-low settings are fine with me..

I'm looking at these two cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131415
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127091

Of course I prefer the X300SE for its price, but will it be able to allow me to play those games?
 
I had an X300SE in my machine while I was upgrading to 7800 GT SLI. It's absolutely worthless for any sort of gaming. The X550 is hardly any better. You aren't going to be able to get a card that plays COD 2 on medium low for under $100. $130 would be the minimum you would need (6600 GT). Newegg is selling an EVGA 6600 GT for $135, and there's a $20 rebate on it. This is an exceptionally good deal and it would allow you to play your games.
 
Suicider123 said:
Of course I prefer the X300SE for its price, but will it be able to allow me to play those games?
Click to expand...

Not likely. I just sold a lightly used 6600GT in the For Sale forum for $105. That would be my recommendation and should suit your needs. Look around the FS/FT forum. There's all sorts of great deals to be found there.
 
I second the idea that you're going to want at least an x800gto or 6600GT. Just save every penny, I was in your position once.
 
RQLe said:
X300SE with hypermemory is very similar to your current onboard express ati graphic.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102644R
x800GTO / 6600GT
Click to expand...
Great deal on the GTO, its 12 pipes and 256bit memory bus, but it is only DDR2, so it will not scale as high with high res and AA/AF. Also note it is refurbished, nothing bad as I have bought several things from them refurb, all working out just fine.
 
I known you all are generally a helpful bunch, as evidenced, but does anyone think its kind of ironic that someone comes to the [H]ard forum for suggestions on an $85 video card......which is somewhat decidely non [H]ard.

Oh yeah and to the original poster that list happens to be a list of video cards that will do what you ask, pick one. Minimum I would go with is a 6600GT with 128MB.
 
lol keep dreaming if you even think a x300 can play cod2 on medium.... even a 6800gt have trouble with cod2. For $85 you're not going to get anything that can do what you asked, the lowest $$ that can fullfill what you asked is 6600gt which is only $20 more.
 
for 85 buy an used Radeon 9800Pro or save up 20 more dollars for the 6600GT, which is the best for you I totally agree
 
Probably the best bet

At 1024x768, it will get you almost playable FPS in 'Call of Duty 2', with graphics on 'High'. If you bump the quality down, or maybe lower the resolution, it should give you solid gameplay in that title.

Same res, and high quality again, and it also does pretty darn good in 'Battlefield 2'.

Harder to say in AoE3. Right now, it doesn't look so good, but ATI's drivers are bugged in that title - we should be getting a patch in the Cat 6.2 or 6.3 driver update that fixes that up.

It's DEFINITELY pushing the limit as to the weakest card you should really consider - but, AFAIK, it's closest to what your budget allows for. Less than $100, no rebates needed.
 
Yea that x1300pro can run all the games he wanted to play, but it was running at "pure speed" in BF2 rather than the medium settings he was looking for. Overall id suggest really thinking about how satisfied your going to be with something cheaper than the 115-130$ a 6600GT will set you back. Check the benchmarks on whatever card you decide on, because a 80$ card that gives you 10 frames per second in the FPS you like to play is a waste of money in the end.
 
banned_user said:
Yea that x1300pro can run all the games he wanted to play, but it was running at "pure speed" in BF2 rather than the medium settings he was looking for. Overall id suggest really thinking about how satisfied your going to be with something cheaper than the 115-130$ a 6600GT will set you back. Check the benchmarks on whatever card you decide on, because a 80$ card that gives you 10 frames per second in the FPS you like to play is a waste of money in the end.
Click to expand...

No, that's with all in-game sliders set on 'high' or 'max'.

At XBitLabs, "Pure speed" is used to denote the 'no FSAA/no Aniso' tests. Note how the pair of graphics for Half-Life 2 are labelled.

Test details

XbitLabs said:
We chose the maximum graphics quality settings in games for all the graphics cards and the maximum possible rendering mode, too: Shader Model 3.0 for GeForce 6 and RADEON X1000 architectures and Shader Model 2.0 for S3 Chrome and RADEON X700. We used the in-game benchmarking tools to record and reproduce a demo and measure the reproduction speed in frames per second, if possible. If not, we used the FRAPS utility. We also measured minimal as well as average fps rates whenever possible.

We turned on 4x FSAA and 16x anisotropic filtering for the “eye candy” test mode using the game’s menu or from the graphics card driver. If the game engine didn’t support FSAA, we didn’t test the cards in the “eye candy” mode.
Click to expand...
 
tshen_83 said:
for 85 buy an used Radeon 9800Pro or save up 20 more dollars for the 6600GT, which is the best for you I totally agree
Click to expand...

Agp card cannot be forced into a Pci-express slot unless you're Chuck Norris
 
I bought a 6600 regular which is in that price range for a backup rig. They OC good as well. Maybe be able find them a little over 80 new. Some makers are much more but just shop around and don't accidentaly get an LE. Needs 8 pipes and a 128bit memory interface.

Will be best to play CoD2 maybe in DX7 mode and everything else will be playable as well. A lot of these little rigs are going around right now. The thing probably has a 250w unit guys. The 6600 works well in my managers rig who is using something similar. Compaq 3400+ Sempron, Ati Express200 etc. Never saw a GT in the $100 range but hey if you can stretch it.

Anyways, this is the best advice I can give to actually try and fit in the criteria. ;) These are WAY better than what is in the 50-60 range.
 
now the best value card is the 6600LE GDDR3 version ($80-90)

and flash it to the 6600GT ,use the Winfast BIOS

usually you can get the 85%-90% performance of a 6600GT card ;)

my old 6200 card with GDDR3 (not 6600LE)

cpu in stock , video card oc to 580/1100

rape the 90% 9800pro in the 3dmark03 ;)

14801083578.jpg
 
If you look real hard you might be able to find a X700 Pro for around that price I have seen them for that but cant seem to find them for that right now. I had one before my 7800 and it would play anything i threw at it. or maybe a X600 Pro I think they were roughly equal to a 9700 or 9800 not wonderful but decent. Or look around at 1300's they are supposed to be equal to X700's so its possible you just have to look maybe a vanilla 6600 dont let these guys tell you you need a top of the line card to play games. I used a FX5200 up to this year and before that a rage 128 I just recently jumped on the high end train and the only thing it did was let me play at high res.
 
GAHHH i cant believe these freakin cards r so ffin expensive! wdf!

Oh, and before I got this computer, I had a home-built one with a CompUSA Radeon 9250 128mb (It had a AGP slot). I downloaded F.E.A.R and CoD2 Demos, and ran on it pretty well on lower settings (CoD2 some actually on Medium)... :eek:

I dont get the FPS thing.. wat's considered playable (no lag, pretty smooth, NOT considering whether its low/med/high settings)?

I like this one though.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102640
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814139169
But both 100$...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814130253.. reviews look pretty nice

Also, what if i just overclocked the power of the memory to highest? what does the overclock thing do? does it damage the card or cpu?

mituhide-where did u get that overclock program?
 
For fps you want generaly 30 FPS or higher. Download FRAPS and it will tell you your FPS. Overclocking generaly doesnt hurt the card if you dont go to far and can keep it cool it will gain you some performance whether not its worth it depends on opinion. As long as it has a 128 bit memory bus it should do fine as long as you dont want alot of res or eye candy. I would probaly go for the X1300 pro as its supposed to be equal to my old X700 Pro and that could handle anything out there respectivly.
 
mavalpha said:
Also drop by the FS/FT thread. For example, I'm selling an X700 Pro 256MB for $100 shipped. (Shameless plug for my own FS/FT thread, I know. :D)
Click to expand...

Lol :)

Ok, these are my possible solutions right now:

1. X700 Refurbished $75
2. X550 $70 *Probably won't buy because you guys said it sucks*

does refurbished come with CD and cables, etc?
 
X1300LE 128bit 256MB DDR2 7980yen ($68)

support the Dx9c , faster than the 6600 DDR
easy to be overclocked

now is the best value card :) (like the 9550@2004y,2005y)
 
mitsuhide said:
X1300LE 128bit 256MB DDR2 7980yen ($68)

support the Dx9c , faster than the 6600 DDR
easy to be overclocked

now is the best value card :) (like the 9550@2004y,2005y)
Click to expand...

Where?
 
I'm putting another vote in for the $99 X800 GTO, even though it's refurbished: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102644R. A new x800 GTO is even more off your price target at $109: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102620

Don't go for a newegg "refurbished" card if you're on a budget. 1) more than 1/2 the cards come bare in a white box (no manual, cables or software), 2) the "refurbished" cards consist of either factory refurbs or untested customer returns (i.e. some are actually tested defective by the previous buyer) and 3) if it's bad, you eat shipping to return it.

$25 or $30 over those other refurb cards you're looking at isn't that much considering the somewhat hefty requirements you have for casual gaming. I consider casual gaming something I do on my GMA900 laptop: Q3:Arena, UT2004, NFS:U and older games.
 
Suicider123 said:
Where?
Click to expand...

the card is here
http://www.kuroutoshikou.com/products/gboard/rx1300le-e2h.html
X1300LE 450MHz/666MHz 256MB GDDR2
the net direct price is 9280yen ($79) ,but We here the [Joshin Kyoto] sell for 7980 ($68)
http://www.kakaku.com/prdsearch/detail.asp?PrdKey=05508013550

also recommend-
the Leadtek WinFast PX7300GS TDH GDDRⅡ128MB for $69
also support OpenGL 2.0 , Shader Model 3.0 , CineFX 4.0 and Intellisample 4.0
http://www.faith-go.co.jp/lists/viewitem.asp?cid=00006&id=000000200507758

winfast_px7300_gstdh_1.jpg
 
Suicider123 said:
http://www.logiccircle.com/xcart4016/product.php?productid=17151&cat=0&page=1

How's that?
Click to expand...
That's a steal if the description is accurate ("MS-8979-030"). Other sites sell it for nearly 2x the price. http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=NX6600-VTD128E_Diamond&class=vga

It runs at 400MHz core and 800MHz memory stock (2ns GDDR3 = 1GHz rated), so stock performance is between a 6600 and 6600GT.

I had the 6600GT version of the MSI Riddick bundle. The card overclocked very nicely (560MHz core, 1200MHz memory).
 
Furystrike said:
you want a 9700/9800 pro. Check Ebay or the FS/FT forums
Click to expand...

Agp cards cannot be made to fit into pci-express slot unless you're Chuck Norris Himself
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top