Need a temp video card ~100

[cc130doc]

I need a new system, old one is dead, but can't afford what I want right now. So the suggestion is to buy it in two parts. First the basic system then upgrade the video later.

Screwysqrl pointed me towards the combo deal at newegg.ca

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.473030

And suggested an inexpensive GT 240 for now to use with my 19" Benq (Max res is 1280X1040) then buy a new monitor and video card later when money is available. I don't play FPS just RTS and City of heroes for now. Later I can make this card a Phsyx card, the mother board has 3 pciE x16 slots.

I'm looking at either

XFX Core Edition GS250XYSL4 GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150478&Tpk=gts%20250

ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121354&cm_re=gt_240-_-14-121-354-_-Product

The 250 is about $30 more than the GT 240 and from what I've read online a GTS 250 = 9800GTX > gt 240, but is it worth the extra 30 bucks? I'm still not sure about the differences between video cards yet. It's a lot more complicated than the last time i bought one.

Any suggestions?

Charles

 

[borisof007]

The 30 bucks more would be noticeable in performance. You're getting another 128 bits in the memory interface, which gives more bandwidth, plus:

- 130 mhz core clock speed more
- 32 more stream processors
- Better cooler (Zalman fansink vs Asus fan)

 

[Helltech]

It would say its worth the extra 30 dollars, that a pretty big performance difference.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

yeah, but if your going to get another card down the track, its better to get the cheaper card and put the $30 toward a better card later. OR, you could save up a little extra now, not waste your money, and get a ati 5770. How long would you say it will be till you get another card?? maybe just get the cheapest card you can find for now, just to get the PC up and running. Also you say your old system is dead??? im sure all of it isnt dead... is the vid card any good??

 

[megamanx00]

Yup, it's worth the extra $30, but you may also want to consider a 4850 considering they are rather cheap right now while they last. If you plan to get a pair of GTX 460s or something down the line, then it makes sense to look at a 4850 now, but if you think you won't be getting two shinny new cards anytime soon then you may as well get one GTS250 now since you know you can add another one latter to run in SLI. As for the GT 240 it gets no SLI love and yeah the gap between that and the GTS 250 is pretty big.

 

[PoignantJ]

You're links don't work.

First of all, how long is this interim solution going to be? Are you getting the monitor anytime soon? Second, what are the prices? The links don't work. Third, make sure you find a good deal. Newegg, Tigerdirect, Amazon, they all have deals very frequently for quite a few cards. For example, I recently purchased a Geforce GT 240 512mb DRR5 for $45 total from amazon. A decent deal. But they had a superclocked (don't be fooled by wording, they only overclocked the memory on this, not the core clock) version for $35 after rebate. I didn't make the deal in time, sold out. A good site for this is Slickdeals. So your Geforce GTS 250 could be double, or triple as expensive or more, making it not very good deal for its price. Look around. These are just a few things you should consider.

 

[cc130doc]

I think i fixed the links. They should work now although I find I that I have to right click and open in a new tab to get the page up right, otherwise it goes to the newegg home page instead.

I just reread the spec's on the motherboard again and noticed that it has an on board NVIDIA GeForce 8 series chip set. I'm planing to play Starcraft 2, mass effect 2, dawn of war 2, city of heroes and dragon age on this for right now. If I just go with that for now I could have another 500 dollars before next year saved up. Enough for higher end card and a 23" monitor. I know that on-board is never as good as a dedicated card but as a short term money saver would that chip-set allow me to play those games on my 19" monitor? Even if the graphics need to be dropped a bit in the interm, saving the $100 now would save me a month of waiting to upgrade. And I really hate the idea of buying a card only to junk it later.

iam2thecrowe: im sure all of it isnt dead... is the vid card any good??

The video card is an AGP x8, there aren't even any AGP slots on the mother board. And the old motherboard finally gave up on me. It owes me nothing though, lasted me 5 years.

megamanx00:

but you may also want to consider a 4850 considering they are rather cheap right now

Holy crap. I think the last time i checked out a 4850 last month they were over $250 weren't they? Those were the "get this card if your buying a card or your stupid" cards weren't they?

Going with the on-board for a month or two just got a lot more attractive.

Charles

 

[decode]

I'd say use onboard graphics atm until you can get a new, better(I.E 5770, 460, 5850+) graphics card.

 

[cc130doc]

Best answer selected by cc130doc.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey