Recommendations for a cheap video card

[bluemax]

No prob - it was fun.

 

[WeiDragon]

Originally posted by: WeiDragon

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
I thought you said your PSU was 350W. In reality, we need to know the EXACT model of your PSU to know for sure. It would not hurt a thing to upgrade it since it's probably as old as the rest of the machine, isn't it? But like I said earlier, I have a 350W Enermax PSU that's 5+ years old and it's still going strong. I have no doubt my 350W Enermax could handle an Athlon X2 + HD4670 video card no sweat.

Ideally, upgrading your platform would be wiser in the long run. Just don't expect there to be an improvement in gaming performance if you don't upgrade the GPU as well.

I have an Antec SL300S. Ideally, it'd be able to run handle a 4670 and I'd be spending about $150 total, but if not, we'll see. Thanks for the advice everyone.

How accurate is this PSU calculator? http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I inputted a regular motherboard, AMD Athlon X2 7750 2700 MHz Kuma @ 85% TDP, 2 sticks of DDR2 SDRAM, an ATI Radeon HD 4670, 1 IDE 7200 rpm HDD, and 1 DVD-ROM drive. That's all I have. At a 95% system load and 40% capacitor aging (shot in the dark but I figured I'd go on the high side), it recommended a wattage of 287. Granted a lot depends on my PSU - would the Antec SL300S be able to handle that?

Also, what power connection does the 4670 require? Would my old PSU have it?

 

[bluemax]

Go with a 65W processor over a 95W.... 30W makes all the difference for ZERO cash.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Yeh, I don't think you're power supply could handle the Athlon X2 7750 paired with the 4670. It is a power-hungry chip compared to the other Athlons. I recommend you get one of the "e" processors like the 4850e or 5050e. Your 300W Antec only offers 15A on the +12V rail, which isn't much; and it's old, so saving every bit of power will help until you can get a new unit. By comparison, my 350W Enermax claims to output 27A on the +12V rail, which is why I am so confident about it.

And the HD4670 does not require any power connection, which is why we're recommending it. It draws all of its power through the PCI-E slot.

Whatever motherboard you get, though, make sure it can support some of the latest Phenom II processors. Ideally jumping from a dual core Athlon X2 to a triple or quad core Phenom II processor sometime in the future will reap huge benefits for you, especially as games become multithreaded.

 

[WeiDragon]

How important do you think getting a motherboard that supports the latest Phenom II processors is? I'm currently looking at 2 bundles:
- $70 for a 780g mobo that DOES support Phenom II ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157154 )
- $90 for a combo deal of 4850e and RAM ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.179557 )
Puts me at $160 pre-tax/shipping.

The other deal is:
- $125 for a 780g mobo that does NOT support Phenom II + 5050e ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.182188 )
- $28 for a 4 GB of RAM (after rebate on Amazon)
Puts me at $153 pre-tax/shipping (only for NewEgg).

I guess it is only $7 but I do have a gift card for Amazon that I'd like to use...

 

[bluemax]

Folks, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't ALL 780G AM2+ boards support a Phenom 2+? (Some might just need a BIOS update...) [shrug]

The 4850e/5050e is a tiny bit more expensive than a 65W processor, but not by much and the extra 20W power savings could go a long way in keeping your existing power supply and using a slightly better video card down the road. It's a good choice.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Originally posted by: bluemax
Folks, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't ALL 780G AM2+ boards support a Phenom 2+? (Some might just need a BIOS update...) [shrug]

The 4850e/5050e is a tiny bit more expensive than a 65W processor, but not by much and the extra 20W power savings could go a long way in keeping your existing power supply and using a slightly better video card down the road. It's a good choice.

Some boards don't, or don't support very many Phenom IIs. And some boards have crappy BIOS support as well. And some boards claim to be AM2+ when they aren't. It's always a good idea to check out the site for a specific board and see what processors it supports.

Originally posted by: WeiDragon
How important do you think getting a motherboard that supports the latest Phenom II processors is? I'm currently looking at 2 bundles:
- $70 for a 780g mobo that DOES support Phenom II ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157154 )
- $90 for a combo deal of 4850e and RAM ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.179557 )
Puts me at $160 pre-tax/shipping.

The other deal is:
- $125 for a 780g mobo that does NOT support Phenom II + 5050e ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.182188 )
- $28 for a 4 GB of RAM (after rebate on Amazon)
Puts me at $153 pre-tax/shipping (only for NewEgg).

I guess it is only $7 but I do have a gift card for Amazon that I'd like to use...

You can't go by Newegg's specifications to judge whether or not the board supports Phenom II processors. You have to visit the motherboard's CPU support list page.
Gigabyte: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Sup...oductID=2995#anchor_os
ASRock: http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.a...=A780GMH/128M&s=AM2%2b

Both boards pretty much support all AMD processors, although the ASRock board needs to bring out a BIOS update for the new Phenom 955. Either option will work fine for you.

 

[WeiDragon]

Thanks. I'm going for the 2nd combo. Considering this video card as well ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161252 ) and fortunately it comes with a DVI-VGA adapter. That puts me at about $100 more than I initially wanted to spend so I haven't decided on that part yet. Really appreciate all the help.