Help me choose video card

[dumband dumber]

Hey guys,

Can some1 recomend me a card to use with Hannaspree 28 inch lcd running at 1920 x 1200.

Preferably a Midrange card since i am not a hard core gamer.

Under the hood is...... HP Pavilion a6560t with core 2 duo E8400, 2GB(dont no wat brand), 320 sata HD, ATI x3450(Low End) and Vista Home Premium.

Oh BTW, the pavilion came with only 300 psu, and I rather not spend anymore money on new psu.

I've heard people say that u would need at least 4 to 500 psu(Is there any truth 2 this?)


And i gotta tell ya, I've never played a game, . It looks so intimidaing LOL but I wanna give it ashot.

I was thimkin about going with 9600GT or HD4670. or even perhaps 8600GT?

Anyway any help would b greatly appreciated.

Kevin

 

[halister_one]

300W PSU, likely from a no-brand company...it's gonna be close if you go with the 9600GT.

Rather than risk it, go for the HD4670. Here's the power consumption: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3405&p=9

You might want to check with the PSU and list the specs. Although it says 300W, it doesn't mean it can do 300W.

 

[Shadow703793]

Imo this is the best option:

1. Get a good motherboard(ie P35-DS3L pr P45-DS3L) + PSU (Corsair 450W or even better a PC Power & Cooling 610 ) + new ATX case.

2. Install the stuff from the HP (CPU, RAM, HDD,etc) to this new set up.

3. Get a 4850.

 

[dumband dumber]

thanks shadow.....but i just got this system for $670 and i sure hate to spend more money on it.
BTW, i found out that MB is G31 (is this a good MB?)

 

[Zenthar]

G31 is a P31 with integrated graphic and the P31 is somehow a "lower" version of the P35. Since the P35 was an excellent chipset, you shouldn't worry about it's quality.

If you want to upgrade to something decent, you will need to change that PSU, I think NO midrange card requirements go below 400W. The problem is that even casual gaming can cause strain on a card at this high resolution. So I guess you should look at nothing less than a 8800GTS 512MB, but I would recommend 4850/4870. I think some 9800GX2 can also be rather cheap these days.