budget video card replacement

brienvw

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Hi everyone,

Last night, I heard a loud pop while playing WoW. Apparently, several of the capacitors on my 7600GT blew out. I've had that card for a couple years, and am looking for a budget replacement. The 7600 seemed to work fine for my purposes, so it doesn't have to be something spectacular. I figure since, I bought this one a few years ago, there are probably some better cards out there that won't hurt the wallet. Does anyone have any budget suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Brien
 

brienvw

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I came across this card as a possibility in another post: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130378. What do you guys think... this is probably around the range that i want to spend... 50-70ish
 

brienvw

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Sure thing.. thanks for your help Mactronix.

Here's what i have:

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

Euphoria_MK

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I would go for this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127394R

14-127-394-03.jpg


It's open box but what the heck, newegg checks their stuff, plus you have 30 day return policy
 

Euphoria_MK

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^^ Oh yeah the 9600GT is a great deal especially the one that PsyKhiqZero listed plus you have free shipping. This is a no brainer ;)

Go for it, I had two before I got my hd4870 and it performs well.
 
A 9500GT will be a jump up (3 tiers) from the 7600 GT, but will be overmatched by even a 4650 (DDR3; 3 more tiers over 9500GT), or a 4670 (5 more tiers over 9500GT).
If it were me, I'd get this one for $80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102818 because of the quality of its cooler and GDDR4 memory. If that's too much, here's a 4650 with GDDR3 for $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141080.
If that is still too much, a 4650 with GDDR2 will be equal to a 9500GT with GDDR3; here's one for $55: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161262
 
A 9600GT is one tier higher than a HD4670, but uses more power. Your PSU will have no trouble with it though, being enough for a 4870X2 if you wanted to spend that much :); just a matter of your electric bill. If WoW was happy with your 7600GT, it will be absolutely thrilled with a HD4650, the least expensive of your upgrade options.
 

mamw93

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With any new card you will also need a new psu to run it. If all you play is WoW (Which is gay) then get a simple 9500 gt and a 350 Watt power supply. It all should work fine assuming you have PCI Express on your motherboard. If not then get an AGP card and have fun playing the gayest game ever.
 
Ok i honestly dont know which one of these would be the better card but on price alone the sapphire card is hard to get away from. A standard 4670 is very similar to a 3850 in performance but uses less power and is built on a newer archetecture with some improved HTPC(dvd HD playback features)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102794

This will give you an idea of the performance of all (or most) of the cards you have been recomended.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_4670_IceQ_Turbo/6.html

I personally prefer the HIS 4670.


Mactronix
 


I think you need to go read teh guys specs again .......Power isnt a problem

Mactronix
 

z999

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get the 4670, it will be driver-supported longer and by the kind of games you play you won't have a real problem.
@mamw93: UR SO SUPPER GAYZZZ!!!1
 

brienvw

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Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions. This was super helpful.

Mactronix... i really appreciate the link to the performance listings... as well as jtt283's tier listing... made it easier to get all these models straight in my head.

I think I'm going to settle one of the 4670's (that Mactronix and jtt283 suggested) both come to 70 after a 10 dollar rebate and seem like very quality cards for the price. The Saphire looks like it will be a little bit faster with the DDR4, but i like how the HIS comes with 2 DVI's (i've considered adding a second monitor)

Decisions, decisions... but now its only between 2. Thanks again!
 

brienvw

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hmm.. that does look like a top quality card and has no rebate to worry about. Does anyone have experience buying open box?
 

Euphoria_MK

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Lol I did the same posting ten posts above.. I guess people dont really read through the threads.

AS I said before Newegg tests their products before they ship them, even the open box one.

Cheers
 

brienvw

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hey Eurphoria.... i saw your link also. Thank you. I guess the open box scared me a bit at first :) I have nothing right now and am in the middle of the job hunt.