Video card recommendations for older PC

C

Chime

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
103
Hi all, I recently got an older Athlon 64 X2 4200+ based system that I've installed XP on to make playing some of my older games easier. Currently I'm using the integrated graphics which work fine for most of my games, but I'm looking to throw an older Nvidia card into it to give it a little more horsepower. It has a first gen PCI Express slot and a 250 watt power supply, so I'd like to go to something that doesn't require any external power. The most demanding game I'm likely to play on this machine is Bioshock @ 1280x1024. Thanks in advance!
 
I honestly wouldn't go any older than an 8000 series. That way you still get gpu acceleration of video and flash playback.

is it xp 64bit or 32?
 
Wiki nvidia cards, pick a newer gen that has the gflops equivalent to a 9800 gt. you'll get a more efficient use of power that way.
 
if that's an oem 250 watt psu then you will not be running any video card in there. sounds like a Compaq/HP to me and that psu is only rated at 14 amps at just 25C when new. realistically that's only about 11 amps at best in real world conditions when brand new. factor in years of use and there is no way that cheap oem psu will safely power your entire system with any video card.
 
What's your budget? Also, is that 250w PSU proprietary or a standard ATX unit?
 
I dug around a bit this morning and found an old antec 350 watt psu that i can swap into the PC, hopefully that will be sufficient. As far as budget, the cheaper the better. I was hoping i could get away with a GT210 or something else I could grab on sale for around $20.
 
Chime said:
I dug around a bit this morning and found an old antec 350 watt psu that i can swap into the PC, hopefully that will be sufficient. As far as budget, the cheaper the better. I was hoping i could get away with a GT210 or something else I could grab on sale for around $20.
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Since the Galaxy rep is here, Ill sugest this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162080

$26 after rebate.

Or this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162115

$29 after rebate.
 
Chime said:
I dug around a bit this morning and found an old antec 350 watt psu that i can swap into the PC, hopefully that will be sufficient. As far as budget, the cheaper the better. I was hoping i could get away with a GT210 or something else I could grab on sale for around $20.
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That PSU should be enough to power any card that doesn't require an external power connection. The top of that list would be the GT 640, but if you're looking for something more budget oriented I'd suggest a GT 520 or GT 610, either of which offer about 3X the power of a 210. A GT 430 or 440, or 620 will be about 50% more power on top of that, roughly the equivalent of an 8800GT. Last I checked, CompUSA had a special on our GT 610 GC at $34.99 if you're wanting to pick something up in-store.
 
Galaxy said:
That PSU should be enough to power any card that doesn't require an external power connection. The top of that list would be the GT 640, but if you're looking for something more budget oriented I'd suggest a GT 520 or GT 610, either of which offer about 3X the power of a 210. A GT 430 or 440, or 620 will be about 50% more power on top of that, roughly the equivalent of an 8800GT. Last I checked, CompUSA had a special on our GT 610 GC at $34.99 if you're wanting to pick something up in-store.
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I agree totally, if your going to low ball, stick with current models low end stuff.
 
Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice. I found a Galaxy GT 440 for $53 locally today and decided to go for it. Installed it and went to test it out this evening... and ended up spending way too much time revisiting Rome: Total War. Tested out several games and everything worked beautifully. Now to track down some more DDR400!
 
Always a pleasure. Sounds like you got the half-price special at Best Buy. Glad to hear you found a good card at a good price.
 
Galaxy said:
Always a pleasure. Sounds like you got the half-price special at Best Buy. Glad to hear you found a good card at a good price.
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Yep :D Didn't really expect to find much there, but it was the last 440 left in the store and they had it on clearance for 50% off. Very happy with the purchase, the integrated ATI graphics didn't play well at all with OpenGL titles. Everything I've thrown at the 440 has run perfectly.
 
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