Replacing an MSI HD4850. What card will match or outperform?

[Rhythmdvl]

The fan on my MSI HD4850 is going. Is there an easy after-market fan solution that I can turn to? I’ve built, but never overclocked a system before so non-stock fans are something new to me.

I’m assuming that many modern cards will match or outperform this seven-year-old card. But with the dizzying array of cards out there, I’m not sure which ones will work performance-wise, which ones will actually be a step backwards, and which will be overkill. We do minimal gaming on this PC (gaming machine is upstairs); it’s primarily used for streaming video and music.


Card will go into a Win7 running Asus M2N4-SLI. The motherboard has a two PCIe x16 slots. The current graphics card’s basic stats are 512MB DDR3 (256-bit), stock clocking at 625MHz, 800 stream processors.

Thanks~

 

[spat55]

GTX 750 would smash it.

If you want to go second hand and get something cheaper still then the GTX 650/ti or HD 7750/7770/7850 would also do you. If new you'll want the GTX 750 or R7 250x/360. Any of these cards will all be a step forward but the biggest set forward would be a second hand HD 7850 2GB if you have a strong enough power supply.

 

[Seba]

You can easily repair that with a case fan, fixed with zip-ties on the radiator (assuming you do not have any cards in the slots below the graphic card). I've done that with my old HD 4850 with a similar cooler (because I could not find a suitable replacement fan).

If you want to buy a new card, there is no point in getting such a slow card (HD 4850 is around R7 250 level of performance). Get at least a GTX 750/GTX 750 Ti with 2GB VRAM.

 

[Rhythmdvl]

Thanks for the replies.

My first step is to see if I can find an old case fan and zip-tie it to the heatsink. Barring that:

A quick check of NewEgg shows that the GTX-70 is running +/- $120.

I’m a wee bit hesitant to upgrade its performance because it really is a limited-use computer. Since it shows no signs of slowdown or any other video issues, any performance upgrade will be all but undetectable. We have several other machines in the house, and this one is relegated to Netflix/Amazon/YouTube streaming and the occasional local video. We do a tiny bit of browsing (who is that actor/what episode is this?) and minimal gaming (all that is done elsewhere in the house). I don’t mind spending an additional $25 to $50 on a more expensive card to avoid being penny wise/pound foolish if it’s worth it, but in this case we really wouldn’t be able to notice any performance upgrade. Any cards in the sub-$100 range that would do?

(Again, I don’t mean to be disrespectful of the answers, but this really is one of those cases where the performance boost won’t be noticeable.)

Come to think of it, the 'main' computer has a pair of HD5770s in it (in a CrossFire-supported motherboard). Is it feasible/cost effective to pull one of them (just one because the recipient is an SLI board) and replace the two 5770s with one newer card (I know the boost from CF/SLI isn’t one-to-one)? In this case, this is my main work/gaming machine, so a any reasonable performance boost would be noticeable (and appreciated). Any chance of doing that for at or around $200?

Again, thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

[Seba]

If this PC is not used for games, then a better option would be to replace the platform, by upgrading to a Pentium Haswell (and using the integrated graphics).

Regarding those HD 5770 in CrossFire: I think that even a GTX 750 Ti 2GB would outperform that CrossFire setup.

 

[Headfoot]

Yes, pull the 5770 and replace it with something better and cascade one of them down to the secondary machine. CrossFire 5770 is going to be really pretty bad and slow compared to even a really low end modern card like the Gtx 750 Ti or a R7 265.

I'd just buy a used 7950 for $100 and call it a day.

 

[KingFatty]

Also keep in mind driver issues. When you switch cards, it might be useful to be able to stick with the same driver. I'm not sure if your 4850 uses the current AMD driver, or the older discontinued version.

Either way, if you switch cards (AMD to Nvidia, or even AMD old to AMD current), you should install the DDU utility, which can clean out the old drivers and prevent annoying conflicts. You can run it in safe mode.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Especially do this if you are switching between brands, but I'm guessing you might also have issues just going from your older driver to a current drive even if you stick with AMD but get a current card that runs of the current drivers.

 

[Headfoot]

Also keep in mind driver issues. When you switch cards, it might be useful to be able to stick with the same driver. I'm not sure if your 4850 uses the current AMD driver, or the older discontinued version.

Either way, if you switch cards (AMD to Nvidia, or even AMD old to AMD current), you should install the DDU utility, which can clean out the old drivers and prevent annoying conflicts. You can run it in safe mode.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Especially do this if you are switching between brands, but I'm guessing you might also have issues just going from your older driver to a current drive even if you stick with AMD but get a current card that runs of the current drivers.

This is a very good idea. DDU is a lifesaver