Mobo Replacement for Budg. Bld. -- best video card?

[mcaren]

I'm going to purchase this motherboard:

MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard -$114.99

to replace my 2nd DG965WH that Intel has agreed to replace (again). I'm through trying to tweak it and would rather pay than go through that headache again... The Intel board had onboard video while the MSI does not.

(I've got a Intel Pentium D 820 Smithfield 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 CPU)

This was a budget build (although after these new purchases it will no longer qualify in my eyes as a budget PC for my children...). They are 7 years old and the most graphics-intense games they play at the moment are Sim City 4 and Harry Potter stuff. My sister and brother visit occasionally and like to play WoW.

If I wanted this build to last at least 2 years without upgrades, and considering what they're playing now and might be within 2 years, would you recommend any of these video cards? Cheaper is better, but if it's worth the $$ I'd consider it...

Thanks for your help. mcaren

SAPPHIRE 100192L Radeon X1050 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - Mail-in Rebate $51.99

SAPPHIRE 100142L Radeon X1300 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - Mail-in Rebate $69.99

PROLINK PV-N43LBE(128KD) GeForce 6600LE 128MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $42.99

EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $109.99

BIOSTAR V7602GS21 GeForce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - Mail-in Rebate $106.99

 

[skyguy]

Out of those cards, the 7600GT is a steal. It's the best performer by FAR, and not much more money. The other cards will already struggle with current games, let alone stuff in 2 years like you said. The 7600GS is too expensive for its performance......doesn't match the 7600GT but only a few bucks cheaper? No way.

The 7600GT is a GREAT card, and that price is very good. I'd take that card hands-down over any of the other ones, no question. It should handle most of your kids games at a decent resolution no problem.

 

[mcaren]

Thanks for the advice! mcaren

 

[Mondoman]

However, it will make some noise because of the active cooling, and may require you to upgrade the power supply to something more modern (which you may already have, given that you have the pretty power-hungry Pentium D 820).

 

[skyguy]

The EVGA 7600GT cooler isn't nearly as bad as others....the BFG for example....that one sounds like a jet engine.

But Mondo is right, the 7600GT won't be silent. It'll be somewhat "quiet", but performance comes at a price.....in this case, a bit of more noise than the other cards.

No different than a Viper vs Cavalier......more horsepower, more noise. But more fun too