So I recently brought my dead computer of 6 months back to life after replacing the PSU (Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550w) with one I got on special on Newegg. This computer is 4-5 years old by now and not exactly a powerhouse (see specs below), but it ran what I wanted it to decently enough. Prior to replacing the PSU, it would turn on for a few seconds, and then off and stay off. No POST, or video output at all. I had a cheap off-brand (Turbolink 420w) PSU in it before, and I'm surprised it lasted the 4 years of heavy use to be honest. (As a bit of an aside, shortly before the PSU and/or video card failed, I had started playing around with a dual monitor setup. I wonder if that expedited its downfall?)
When I had the PSU installed and all ready to go, I went to do a test boot and it would power cycle like before but it would continuously turn off AND on until I was forced to unplug it from the wall. Distraught, I did some research and stumbled upon a forum thread where one poster resolved that issue by removing his video card. I removed the card and lo and behold, I got a post beep and a successful boot (well actually, I first had to re-seat my damn CPU heatsink, stupid thing is finicky). So far it is running stable with nice, low temps. I am writing this post from said computer at this time.
Now onto the issue at hand: Now I know a Radeon 5450 is crappy and old and near-obsolete by today's standards, but I don't have a huge budget ($50 max) for a new card. I am hoping to save up around $470 for an entirely new build in the future but I would like this one to run decently enough to hold me over until then. I use this computer for some light-medium gaming (Fallout 3/New Vegas and WoW namely, although Skyrim would be a nice addition) as well as for schoolwork and general internet browsing.
Is the old 5450 beyond salvage at this point? I'm afraid to try it again in this computer and the only other one I can test it in is an even older XP media center desktop, lol. If so, what other cards of equal or more performance could I get for around $50 (if any, new or used)? I'm not going to bother trying my luck with the current onboard video for my games, I know it'll be horrendous.
Thank you guys in advance and sorry for the wall of text and overuse of parentheses lol.
Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0GHz
4gb RAM
ATI Radeon 5450 HD
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550w
(no idea what mobo)
Windows Vista 64-bit
When I had the PSU installed and all ready to go, I went to do a test boot and it would power cycle like before but it would continuously turn off AND on until I was forced to unplug it from the wall. Distraught, I did some research and stumbled upon a forum thread where one poster resolved that issue by removing his video card. I removed the card and lo and behold, I got a post beep and a successful boot (well actually, I first had to re-seat my damn CPU heatsink, stupid thing is finicky). So far it is running stable with nice, low temps. I am writing this post from said computer at this time.
Now onto the issue at hand: Now I know a Radeon 5450 is crappy and old and near-obsolete by today's standards, but I don't have a huge budget ($50 max) for a new card. I am hoping to save up around $470 for an entirely new build in the future but I would like this one to run decently enough to hold me over until then. I use this computer for some light-medium gaming (Fallout 3/New Vegas and WoW namely, although Skyrim would be a nice addition) as well as for schoolwork and general internet browsing.
Is the old 5450 beyond salvage at this point? I'm afraid to try it again in this computer and the only other one I can test it in is an even older XP media center desktop, lol. If so, what other cards of equal or more performance could I get for around $50 (if any, new or used)? I'm not going to bother trying my luck with the current onboard video for my games, I know it'll be horrendous.
Thank you guys in advance and sorry for the wall of text and overuse of parentheses lol.
Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0GHz
4gb RAM
ATI Radeon 5450 HD
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550w
(no idea what mobo)
Windows Vista 64-bit
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