PCI Video Card Question

[jgeppy27]

I recently purchased a motherboard/processor combination with on-board video. The motherboard works great, but unfortunately it has only a PCI slot and no PCI-Express. I am pleased with my purchase, but I'd like to upgrade the video capabilities. I'd like to spend around $100 and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a decent card for gaming (Mass Effect, Crisis, etc.). Obviously, I'm looking for a Video card to play these games on low to medium settings. Thanks for any input in advance.

 

[jgeppy27]

btw the on-board I have is currently an Intel GMA 950. I heard bad things about it before I bought the motherboard and it seems like they weren't lying. I play Wow and it runs about 10 fps on average.

 

[cheepstuff]

i dont think pci and gaming GPUs go together very well. newegg.com ( try here, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609642&Configurator=&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc= ) has a selection of pci grapics cards ranging from $30 to $190. again, many of these are fore computer users trying to use multiple moniters, not gamers

 

[gamerk316]

The best you can get with PCI is a steady framerate in WoW. You have almost no options for modern gaming whatsoever without at least an AGP card.

You sure you don't even have an AGP slot somewhere??

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

You won't find any card that will play Crysis and Mass Effect 'well', but they will 'play' them on the lowest settings.

You best bet is this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131082

and then this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187041

But really they are terribly limited by being on the PCI bus which is 1/4 the throughput of PCIe.

 

[jgeppy27]

Nope no AGP or PCIe... My situation seems worse then i thought. I seen both of those cards on newegg and was thinking of the 8400 gs. The card didn't have many reviews and none of the reviews dealt with gaming. I found this card on tigerdirect http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3805451&CatId=319 and it may seem like the best choice for me but is the radeon 2400 better than this card?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

No that card is slower than the HD2400, but the difference is minimal because they are both so hampered by the slow/thin PCI bus.

It almost doesn't matter what you get because it would be like buying a V6 or V8 and then taping the air intake so that there's only a pin-hole left. Sure one or the other is more powerful at the core, but since they are so far from optimal output they're not going to be all that great or even noticeable in their differences. Only the on board workload, like increased AA might benifit one or the other, but really it won't matter much there either since they are both weak in AA due to the small bitwidth VRAM.

IMO your best bet is if you can find an inexpensive MOBO that supports your CPU & RAM that you already have for around ~$50-60, and then add something like this (if you must go TD);
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4035118&CatId=1558

or from NEgg one of the following;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121243

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814145161

Even if the Mobo were just over $60 you could always go with these, which while not great, would perform better than any PCI card you're looking at;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121259
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121230

All would be much better IMO, and also give you an upgrade path after this one, although you're still going to be on the low side of the settings.

Best bet for getting some medium settings is a GF9500 or HD3650/4650 class of card with 128bit memory (size doesn't matter much but 256MB is the norm nowadays).

That would be my recommendation, because PCI just is going to be very unsatisfying, and leaves you no future.

Also if you can swing about $60-65 towards a graphics card after the mobo replacement, then you're looking at things that would be better at Medium on a game like Crysis, like a GF9600GS/GSO/GT or HD4650/4670.