How would this graphics card handle modern games at lower resolutions?

[ininjaudead]

Hi. I'm considering buying a new graphics card for my budget build in order to run games like Bioshock, COD4, etc. on highish settings at lower resolutions. These are my current specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Dual Core Processor
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
EXCELSTOR Jupiter Series ESJ8160S 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Do you think a X1650 XT will run Bioshock and COD4 at high settings with no AA at 1024x768? If not, can you suggest the cheapest card that will?

Thanks. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[rgeist554]

I'm going to assume your board supports PCI-E since you have DDR2 RAM. If that's the case, what's your budget? If you can afford $150-200 try the HD3850 or the 8800GT 256MB, both are fantastic cards and fit right in that price range.

 

[ininjaudead]

Yeah, my board supports PCI-E. But I can't really go that high. $100 is about my max. I was looking at either of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131074

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062

Would they get the job done? If so, which would be the better buy?

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums mate
X1650XT will handle both bioshock and COD4 @ 1024x768 but i dont think u can max out every option u have to turn off or lower some of them
as rgeist554 said, HD 3850 or 8800GT will do the trick

 

[rgeist554]

Maybe try this for $109: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102034&ATT=14-102-034&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Video+Cards-_-Sapphire+Technology+Limited-_-14102034

*edit* Posted the wrong benchmark.
A little faster than the 1650 according to Tom's VGA charts and only a little over your budget. The 1950 gets about 10 more FPS in this benchmark:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=734&model2=726&chart=275

Dunno if the extra 10FPS is with the extra $50, but you could try upping the core and memory clock a little to squeeze out a few more FPS.

 

[SEALBoy]

I would take the X1650XT over the 7600GT, but for a $100 you can do better by going for an 8600GT like these.

And if you can stretch your budget a little, this X1950Pro is a class above any other ~$100 card.