In need of video card under $100 for $500-600 gaming rig

[jasonpf1123]

hello there again, i'm am in the midst of building a decent $500-600 gaming rig. i wanna be able to run some games i've been deprived of lately, consisting of l4d2, half life 2 episode 1 and 2, battlestations pacific,red faction guerilla, and maybe gta 4 maybe. my problem is i just dont know what video card to go with. i'm looking under $100 for a card but not sure which one to pick. i'm going with am3 and ddr3 so in the future i wont have to build a whole new rig. here it goes

mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx Item=N82E16813138182
cpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688
ram:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148196
hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
psu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148041

please help as to finding a video card for this system. if you have any other suggestions or parts to swap out let me know. your input is very well appreciated.

oh yeah and 1 more thing. is it true that directx10 doesnt work in xp? i could've swore it did. so this means if i get a directx10 card, the directx10 on the card wont work in xp? thank you so much

 

[-Fran-]

I will answer the DX10 part: yes, that's true. DX10 is meant to be used in Vista and Seven and you won't be able to use it under WinXP.

Now, if you wanna give us screen resolution you will be using, will help us tell you more accurately wich card is the best fitted for your rig. And in simple sight, your PSU might be a little overkill for the card you might be end up using IMO.

Cheers!

 

[jasonpf1123]

I will answer the DX10 part: yes, that's true. DX10 is meant to be used in Vista and Seven and you won't be able to use it under WinXP.

Now, if you wanna give us screen resolution you will be using, will help us tell you more accurately wich card is the best fitted for your rig. And in simple sight, your PSU might be a little overkill for the card you might be end up using IMO.

Cheers!

hello sorry for taking so long. i'll be using a regular old crt tube monitor for now. i just wanna play the games man. my resolution is going to be 1280*1024 on this monitor, for now at least until i upgrade to a new one. oh yeah if you would please pick me out 1 that i can also run batman arkham asylum. do you think i will be able to run gta 4? do you think it matters if i'll only have xp and dx9. will it matter with these games?

 

[-Fran-]

Don't worry about answering "fast", hehe.

I don't have fact wich tell me that you can run B:AA in DX9c + PhysX, but it should be possible. I'd need confirmation on that one 8(

And since you're on XP might want to look for a 4850, GTS250 or 9800GTX+ for an entry lvl and 4870/4890, GTX260(216) or GTX275 at most.

Either of those cards will do an excellent job in giving you high FPS'es at 1280x1024 and everything high under WinXP. If you want PhysX, then you need an nVidia card (GTS and GTX'es from above).

Also, do you want to keep the PSU down the road and change the video card alone or you can have a lesser PSU, but a "bigger" card?

Cheers!

 

[okini55]

GTS 250!

 

[jasonpf1123]

Don't worry about answering "fast", hehe.

I don't have fact wich tell me that you can run B:AA in DX9c + PhysX, but it should be possible. I'd need confirmation on that one 8(

And since you're on XP might want to look for a 4850, GTS250 or 9800GTX+ for an entry lvl and 4870/4890, GTX260(216) or GTX275 at most.

Either of those cards will do an excellent job in giving you high FPS'es at 1280x1024 and everything high under WinXP. If you want PhysX, then you need an nVidia card (GTS and GTX'es from above).

Also, do you want to keep the PSU down the road and change the video card alone or you can have a lesser PSU, but a "bigger" card?

Cheers!

my only problem there is i just didnt wanna spend over $100. for now. i think dx11 will be great in a couple beers i mean years and then i was gonna upgrade to a 5870 or one of those 4 series nvidia when they hit along with my cpu more ram. i just wanted to be able to play l4d2, episode 1 and 2 from half life, battlestations pacific, red faction guerilla and maybe just maybe b:aa and gta 4. heck if you can build me a rig for 5 to 6 now that could run all of those + b:aa and gta 4 that would be awesome

 

[jay2tall]

Fix your Newegg links. Most times we can usually tweek your items to squeeze in a better graphics card. If you want a gaming machine you want to make sure you get the best bang for your buck in the graphics departments. I'd say 4850 or GTS250.

Here is a good buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824&cm_re=4850-_-14-102-824-_-Product

 

[-Fran-]

+1 to jay2tall.

Cheers!

 

[jasonpf1123]

Fix your Newegg links. Most times we can usually tweek your items to squeeze in a better graphics card. If you want a gaming machine you want to make sure you get the best bang for your buck in the graphics departments. I'd say 4850 or GTS250.

Here is a good buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824&cm_re=4850-_-14-102-824-_-Product

hey jay what about this one from newegg its under 100 its gts 250 1gb think it suites me just fine what do you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134095&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-095-_-Product

 

[jay2tall]

I'm not an ECS fan. But to each their own I guess. There are no reviews on it which always makes me leary. If you want a GTS250 I'd go for the Palit. It's $110 with free shipping and they are good stuff. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261057&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-261-057-_-Product

I'd still like to see your links fixed so we could look at your whole system.

 

[-Fran-]

That GTS250 looks very good. Could work in higher resolutions thanks to that 1GB FB also. That would be a very good buy IMO.

Cheers!

EDIT: Here are the links fixed:

mobo
cpu
ram
hdd
psu

 

[jasonpf1123]

I'm not an ECS fan. But to each their own I guess. There are no reviews on it which always makes me leary. If you want a GTS250 I'd go for the Palit. It's $110 with free shipping and they are good stuff. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261057&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-261-057-_-Product

I'd still like to see your links fixed so we could look at your whole system.

mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138182

cpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134095&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-095-_-Product

ram:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134095&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-095-_-Product

actually going with 2 gb of ram

hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

psu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073


i seriously think i might just go with this one you told me about : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824&cm_re=4850-_-14-102-824-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

it seriously looks better anyway than that ecs gts250 1gb

 

[jasonpf1123]

That GTS250 looks very good. Could work in higher resolutions thanks to that 1GB FB also. That would be a very good buy IMO.

Cheers!

EDIT: Here are the links fixed:

mobo
cpu
ram
hdd
psu

hey how do you get the links to like that? mine look all big and bulky and yours just has the part of computer. thats a different topic though i think. i just replied to the reply jay2tall wrote see what you think get with him and then give me a final verdict thanks bud.

 

[jasonpf1123]

I'm not an ECS fan. But to each their own I guess. There are no reviews on it which always makes me leary. If you want a GTS250 I'd go for the Palit. It's $110 with free shipping and they are good stuff. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261057&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-261-057-_-Product

I'd still like to see your links fixed so we could look at your whole system.

mobo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138182

cpu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134095&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-095-_-Product

ram:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134095&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-095-_-Product

actually going with 2 gb of ram

hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

psu:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073


i seriously think i might just go with this one you told me about : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 63938&SID=

it seriously looks better anyway than that ecs gts250 1gb. what do you think?

 

[jay2tall]

It's kind of to each their own really. So yoru budget is 500-600, what does that all NEED to include? just curious. You mentioned XP, I assume you will reuse that. Do you have a case? Opticals? keyboard, display, everything? I might try a throw something at you just to churn it up a bit

 

[jasonpf1123]

It's kind of to each their own really. So yoru budget is 500-600, what does that all NEED to include? just curious. You mentioned XP, I assume you will reuse that. Do you have a case? Opticals? keyboard, display, everything? I might try a throw something at you just to churn it up a bit

yeah 500 to 600 i'm at 390+25 for shipping in my shopping cart at new egg it consist of everything marked there plus this

dvd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147001

headset:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826193037

fans:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200045

keyboard:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109178

thats it in my shopping cart 390 + 25 for shipping. thats everything. i think that sapphire will suit me good, unless you think i should just go ahead and get my xfx 5770 1gb then i wont have to worry about for years. if not the 5770 which one? when will games require 1gb ram on the gpu?

 

[jasonpf1123]

It's kind of to each their own really. So yoru budget is 500-600, what does that all NEED to include? just curious. You mentioned XP, I assume you will reuse that. Do you have a case? Opticals? keyboard, display, everything? I might try a throw something at you just to churn it up a bit

i'm sorry maybe i shouldnt of put the question of when will games require 1gb on the gpu. i think i shouldve asked whats a good card in this case that will last me for a few years so i dont have to upgrade it for a while. i know bad company 2 requires geforce 260 plus quad core cpu and like 3gb of ram. i'm not a bad company fan because the first one wasnt on pc so i didnt care i was just making that game a point. other games will require this much in the future, but how long from now?

 

[-Fran-]

On the "links" answer:

[url="URL"]name for that url[url]

And on the rig specs: You must aim for 3GB at least. That's my recomendation now, since getting the same pair of DDR in a few years might not work for you. And getting the 5770 sounds like a good plan, but keep in mind that it might be a good card for around 2 years or so.

Cheers!

 

[jay2tall]

1) Dump your fans, case, and PSU and get this combo It's a little more but has free shipping which make is a good deal. The case has all the fans and the Antec 500w is a GREAT PSU. Combo saves you $25 on its cost
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345208

2)Dump your mobo and memory and get this combo. It is a better mobo and 4GB or memory. Combo saves $15 off the actual cost and has a $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.353988

3)Dump your CPU and get the AMD Phenom IIx2 555 BE. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846
THEN read this article on how to turn on the Advanced Clock Calibration on the ASUS motherboard. All x2 and x3 Phenom II's are really quad cores with cores disabled. At the start they used chips with defective cores, however now the fab is so good most can be unlocked to quad cores. My buddy JUST did this and took 10 seconds to do. Now you hav a $100 AMD Phenom II quad core at 3.2GHZ: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3730 If you don't believe me look at all the Newegg reviews.

4) If you are going to spend the money, JUST get the 5770 and be happy. These are ROCKIN cards and will suit your new system much better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product

This puts me at $660 + $3 shipping because EVERYTHING except one thing is free shipping. And this is with keeping your drives, headset and keyboard. This machine is FAR FAR FAR better than the one you have put together (please take no offense. I just like seeing people happy). And in my mind would be well worth the extra money even if you have to eat Ramen noodles for a week or two

Another suggestion would be to get Windows7 so you have DX10 and DX11 support. XP needs to be put to rest.

 

[-Fran-]

Nice build, Jay2tall. +1 to it.

Cheers!

 

[jay2tall]

Budget machines are way more fun to build than expensive rigs that you can throw $2000 at. They are cut and dry. But a low budget you have to look for the deals and all the tricks. I have a few buddies upgrading recently, 2 of which went the 5770 route and it really is the mainstream card right now. The ATI drivers coming out should help them out alot to.

I still say throwing Windows 7 at this machine will be awesome to enjoy all the goodies it has to offer. It will last him for a number of year with maybe a video card upgrade down the road. If you build a solid gaming system, all you should need to do it upgrade the graphics every so often until it is time to build again. The Athlon II is a nice little CPU, but the 555BE that can be unlock is a FAR CRY from lowend. And i figure spending $60 over budget for a system that blows the other away will make his joystick happy.

 

[jasonpf1123]

1) Dump your fans, case, and PSU and get this combo It's a little more but has free shipping which make is a good deal. The case has all the fans and the Antec 500w is a GREAT PSU. Combo saves you $25 on its cost
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345208

2)Dump your mobo and memory and get this combo. It is a better mobo and 4GB or memory. Combo saves $15 off the actual cost and has a $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.353988

3)Dump your CPU and get the AMD Phenom IIx2 555 BE. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846
THEN read this article on how to turn on the Advanced Clock Calibration on the ASUS motherboard. All x2 and x3 Phenom II's are really quad cores with cores disabled. At the start they used chips with defective cores, however now the fab is so good most can be unlocked to quad cores. My buddy JUST did this and took 10 seconds to do. Now you hav a $100 AMD Phenom II quad core at 3.2GHZ: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3730 If you don't believe me look at all the Newegg reviews.

4) If you are going to spend the money, JUST get the 5770 and be happy. These are ROCKIN cards and will suit your new system much better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product

This puts me at $660 + $3 shipping because EVERYTHING except one thing is free shipping. And this is with keeping your drives, headset and keyboard. This machine is FAR FAR FAR better than the one you have put together (please take no offense. I just like seeing people happy). And in my mind would be well worth the extra money even if you have to eat Ramen noodles for a week or two

Another suggestion would be to get Windows7 so you have DX10 and DX11 support. XP needs to be put to rest.

wow there buddy, took a nap got on the computer and wow. so your telling me or that article is telling me that all i have to do to unlock those other 2 cores is change 2 things on my bios? i dont have to mess with ram volts and timing, or cpu adjustments? i dont know much about overclocking but that seems to easy to be true. and i dont have to change nothing else except for ec firmware selection to hybrid and and acc to auto reboot and it will show it as a phenom x4? please tell me this is true.

 

[-Fran-]

Good odds, actually for that. Yes.

Some Phenom II X2s are Phenom II X4s with disabled cores waiting to be turned on

Cheers!

 

[jay2tall]

so your telling me or that article is telling me that all i have to do to unlock those other 2 cores is change 2 things on my bios? i dont have to mess with ram volts and timing, or cpu adjustments?

That is what I'm telling you. Read that article. My buddy has an AMD 550BE x2 and I showed this to him. Worked like a champ. If you aren't comfortable with overclocking, don't even worry about it. This is simple as pie to do. You may want to run a bench test like OCCT or something just to make sure its stable, but then again I do this with all my system regardless.

Think of it as a perk to researching things before you buy

 

[jasonpf1123]

That is what I'm telling you. Read that article. My buddy has an AMD 550BE x2 and I showed this to him. Worked like a champ. If you aren't comfortable with overclocking, don't even worry about it. This is simple as pie to do. You may want to run a bench test like OCCT or something just to make sure its stable, but then again I do this with all my system regardless.

Think of it as a perk to researching things before you buy

well i'm gonna pray to the god of skinny punks that this works. i know a little bit about my bios, you know, how to get in, where stuff is. and thats all i gotta do is change those 2 things huh? no messin with volts and timings and whips and chains? well and another thing once i threw in a new copy of windows 7 and xfx 5770 1gb my total was over $800!!! well i guess thats the price i gotta pay to have a bad ass rig. lol one more question and i'll leave you alone. i want the 5770 ok i noticed that it is only 128 bit interface vs say the hd 4850 1gb which is 256. is this card better than the 5770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351&cm_re=hd4850_1gb-_-14-150-351-_-Product. the only thing is i know that the 5770 already supports dx11 which i wouldnt have to worry about down the road