Cheapest possible cards for the performance I want?

[getajob92]

Alright, I'm getting together an I7 build, but I can't afford everything right now. I've decided to hold off getting a new monitor, and I've also decided that I'll get a great graphics card sometime next year (probably the 5870 x2) In the mean time, I'd just like to have max settings for 1280 x 1024 resolution. Do you think a 4650 will do it for me? I'm trying to be as cheap as possible until I can get the rest of my dream machine.

 

[getajob92]

Bump

 

[vjcsmoke]

4670 or 9600GSO should do fine as an interim video card.
With the 9600GSO, you can dedicate it as a physx processor once you get your real GPU.

 

[rockyjohn]

It depends both on the games you play and the rest of the system

Here is a review on the 4650 card that shows performance in some games. You might get similar play if nothing else in your system affects play, such as a slower cpu.

http://www.elitebastards.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=647&Itemid=27

Note that the 4650 comes in many flavors. One variation is DDR2 vs. DDR3 memory - the later is faster and what was used on the card in the review. If you get one with only DDR2 it will cost less but be slower. Another variation is 512MB vs. 1 GB of memory - the later is faster but the 512 MB was used in the above review.

You can google more reviews if you have not already - especially if you want to focus in on the a specific model given all the different combinations.

Have you checked to make sure your PSU can handle the faster card?

 

[getajob92]

4670 or 9600GSO should do fine as an interim video card.
With the 9600GSO, you can dedicate it as a physx processor once you get your real GPU.

Only problem with using the 9600GSO as a dedicated physx processor is that I'm probably going to use an ATI card, and I'm not tech-savvy enough to be tricking my machine. However, thanks for the info, and I'll look at both of them.

 

[getajob92]

It depends both on the games you play and the rest of the system

Here is a review on the 4650 card that shows performance in some games. You might get similar play if nothing else in your system affects play, such as a slower cpu.

http://www.elitebastards.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=647&Itemid=27

Note that the 4650 comes in two flavors - DDR2 and DDR3 memory - the later is faster and what was used on the card in the review. If you get one with only DDR2 it will cost less but be slower.

You can google more reviews if you have not already.

Have you checked to make sure your PSU can handle the faster card?

Thanks for the site. My system (which has yet to actually be ordered) will be fine. It won't have the bottlenecks you're thinking of and the PSU will be fine. It will by a high-end machine otherwise, I'm just shaving off some costs for now in order to get it up and running sooner than later.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121320