Recommend me a card

H

HeavensCloud

Oswego, not shitty as Buffalo
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
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I'm looking to get my friend a new video card for his birthday. He is still using, and insists on using a dual screen 17" 4:3 dell monitor setup. He is using an x1650 right now but is having a bunch of driver issues on his windows 7 machine (AMD 5000BE oc'ed). He likes FPS games, C+C, diablo, not sure if his setup can handle BFBC2 or not but I want to get him into it.

I need something:
-that is ATI
-PCIe with crossfire capabilities
-can run current games at nice quality for his low resolution, 1200xsomething?
-running on a low quality 500 watt PS, an MSI mobo
 
what's the budget o.o?

a simple midrange 5770 would overkill at that resolution for a while :p
 
HeavensCloud said:
I need something:
-that is ATI
-PCIe with crossfire capabilities
-can run current games at nice quality for his low resolution, 1200xsomething?
-running on a low quality 500 watt PS, an MSI mobo
Click to expand...

ok well crossfire is not worth even thinking about. im sure he is running 1024x768 at 17in could be higher. not sure on the ATI side maybe 2000HD or 3000HD? off the top of my head i was thinking the 9800gt low power. it does not need the pcie power cable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500142

upgraded monitor would best gift first. just saw run of the mill 22" at walmart for $130 acer x223w. im sure you can even better prices online.

hope this helps a little
 
4850. $100 right now on Newegg and will run any game out today maxed at that resolution with maybe the exception of Crysis. A 5750 for $120 would be a good choice if he's interested in running DX11 but other than that, the 4850 offers the same performance for $20 less.

If he is dead set against getting a bigger monitor, then there is no reason to spend anymore. The next card up would be the 5770 for $160 and would be more than he would need for a 17 incher.

If he thinks he might go bigger in the future then he'd need a 5770 for a 1680x1050 or a 5830 would be even better with a 5850 being enough to max any game out. Youd need a bigger PSU for the 5830 and 5850 assuming this is a crappy PSU and not giving you a true 500 watts. If it is, then 500 would be enough.

For 1920x1080+ youll want a 5830 at least. If he's willing to spend $400 on a GPU a 5870 will max out any game at this resolution. For these card though, he'd need a PSU upgrade.
 
what makes you think the psu is low quality? If its from one of the big vendors it'l adhere to the sticker thats on the side of it.

But if you are worried about it a 5750 is going to require much less than a 4850.

And the idea of a no-aux-power GPU is questionable. They must be demanding PCI-E 2.0 (which supplies some extra wattage over the motherboard).

Anyways, the 5750 is an elegant solution from a feature/power/etc solution. The 9800GT/4850 (which are practically idenditcal) are both better performers but worse from a feature/power/etc perspective.

And I gotta go...
 
The psu a dynex, I know it's crap lol. Yea he likes his little monitor setup and makes fun of my dual 24" 1080p setup. I am running a 5770 in mine and can max out most games, maybe a 4770 would work for his low res machine?
 
A 5770 would be the best choice. I would recommend him getting a better power supply though. Newegg has some good deals on 500-700W right now for around $40-60.

Look on eBay too, he can pickup a 5770 or other cards on there for pretty cheap. I picked up 2 Vapor-X 5770s for less than $240; over $100 less than retail.

I'm actually putting up a custom gaming rig on there later this week. Possibly build one from scratch & put it up on there.
 
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