Which card to buy

[distantlander]

hello. i am going to buy a grapics card that is anywhere from 100-140 usd and i need help deciding which card to buy. i was thinking of a ati radeon 4770 but i have lost the link to the site (it looked cool) and now i dont know which one to buy. what is the best card in that range price?

 

[treefrog07]

Here is great place to compare price and performance! When you find one you like, google it and at least some of the returns will be vendors.

 

[distantlander]

well lol i was looking for a specifec awnser im wanting a good graphics card that can run games like world in conflict empire total war and maybe crysis on good settings. i would like a graphics card from nvidia such as a gts 250 but idk if thats good.

 

[jonnyboyC]

to me it comes to this break down, either a gts 250, an hd4850, or a hd5750

performance wise, it would be the 4770<250~4850(<~)5750

really they are all pretty close the 4770 is probably the weakest of the bunch, but also on the 40nm process so it'll sip power

next is the 250 or 4850 which are darn close performance wise, they're pretty much interchangeable, if you like nvidia or ati you could go with either one of these

finally you've got the 5750 which is dx 11 which is nice and also 40nm process so it'll be light on power heat just like the 4770, it's a tad faster then the 4850 and the gts 250, but also 20 30 bucks more,

 

[jaguarskx]

You can buy a HD 5750 with your budget. It's performance is basically the same as the HD 4850, but with less than half the power consumption (about 43w vs 110w under typical gaming conditions).

 

[SushiG]

Newegg has a PowerColor 5770 for 139.99 after MIR factory overclocked which will definitely outperform any of the cards listed above as seen here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_465/29.html

Here is the card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131327

Sushi

 

[distantlander]

my mobo only has one pcie slot so i am not going to be able to install double wide cards

 

[jonnyboyC]

if you only have 1 expansion slot then that might be the case but dual slot card don't need two pci-e lanes it just the cooler hangs over a 2nd slot

 

[jyjjy]

The card Sushi linked is the best you can do for $140 after rebate. If you initially cannot afford more than $140 then these two cards are your best choices;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121376
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10012196&prodlist=froogle

 

[distantlander]

lol wow thanks for the fast reply !!!!

 

[jyjjy]

Make sure your power supply can handle whatever card you end up choosing.

 

[distantlander]

well i have a f690vgm mobo and i have my sound card and something else near the pcie slot. so i do know that i can fit an asus gt 220 1 gig in there but i was also wondering is a ati radeon 4770 a single slot ? and also is a radeon 5770 a power hog ?

 

[distantlander]

and are all of the radeon 5770s single slot ? *pray*

 

[distantlander]

here is a graphics card that i will buy if it is single slot http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-5750-Graphics-HD575XZNFC/dp/B002SOX9W2

 

[jyjjy]

All of these cards(and almost all decent video cards) use dual slot coolers. Usually the cooler will cover the PCI slot directly below it. I'm not seeing any useful info on your motherboard online but the vast majority of motherboards have more than one PCI slot. If yours does you will still be able to use your sound card.
From looking up the board I believe you have an OEM Acer computer. The included power supply is likely quite poor and should be your main concern with regards to choosing a video card. Look at the side of the PSU. There should be a chart with information. Tell us the brand/model and the number of amps on the +12v rail if possible.

 

[distantlander]

its a asus 250 watt psu LOL im going to get another psu and i know which one i dont have a gameing comp i have a amd athlon 4800 + 2.50 ghz processor 3 gigs of ram and a 18 inch moniter so ital be down below 400 watts and im not going to push the gpu or cpu over 80 %

 

[distantlander]

i think it is an oem but im not at my house right now to look but lets just say it is an oem will i be able to fit a 400 watt psu in the tower ?

 

[distantlander]

this is the psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

 

[jyjjy]

That is a nice PSU and a good choice.
The problem now will be your processor, which is pretty poor for gaming by today's standards. With that processor I would recommend something more along the lines of a HD5670;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007320%20600007609&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%205670
Anything more powerful will likely be wasted on that CPU.

 

[distantlander]

what do you mean by wasted ?

 

[jasonpwns]

Couldn't he just upgrade his processor then? Distant, what socket is your processor?

 

[jonnyboyC]

what do you mean by wasted ?

he means your cpu will essentially hold your gpu back, for your gpu to render a frame it need information from the cpu, such as your character moved this way, or a physics calculation, or AI script, and if you cpu can't feed it enough info your gpu just sits and waits for info, so you may only reach part of it's potential

 

[jasonpwns]

Even if the GPU isn't at the full potential why spend money on a lesser GPU when you could just get the graphics card you want then upgrade the processor later. Or he could get a decent 80$ card and upgrade his processor with the remaining money depending on what socket he has.

Edit: Ok, his processor is a AM2 socket processor. What is your motherboard distant.

 

[distantlander]

lol so it will be bottlenecked O: mmm well i have an amd socket number 2

 

[distantlander]

i will buy a 4770 if the bottleneck isnt to much.