Good graphics for under $80?

[Guest]

Hi again,

last time i came here was when I was building my new pc, well, I sold it, and thought xbox would be better, but I was wrong, anyways, this time i have a limited budget, I'll be going with a amd athlon II x3, so can someone point some good graphics out there, last time i had a 5770 but this time i dont know which one to go with, I just want Battlefield Bad Company 2 with Med-High graphics with full 1280x1024 resolution, I also do a little photo and video editing,

oh another thing, can someone also tell me some good motherboard,

I have also salvaged the following parts from my past PCs:

500 Watt Antec Power with 36 amps on 12 volt rail (2004)
Antec Outside Case (very old got it from a friend but looks to be big enough)
an old CRT 1280x1024 monitor (dont ask)
mouse and keyboard
7.1 sound card D)
2 TB 7200 RPM in RAID 1 (bye home server)

anyways, I need the following in short,

1. a good graphics card
2. a good mobo
3. memory (preferably ddr3 but ddr2 is okay)
4. a good processor

My total budget as of now is $330, but can go upto $350 but no higher than that

All replies appreciated,
Razor.

 

[jryan388]

I would think that a 5770 should be more than enough to play BFBC2 on max, especially at that res. I guess you could get a GTX 460 1GB...
I would recommend just going to a good computer parts website (I like newegg.com) and searching for am3 motherboards. Find one with good specs from a good brand, it should be 75ish for a basic microatx am3 motherboard.
I just looked on Newegg, they have kits of 4gb of ddr3 1333 ram for only $60, some less.

Here's a sample setup:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568&cm_re=gtx_460_1gb-_-14-130-568-_-Product - EVGA GTX 460 1GB for $180 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130295&cm_re=am3_motherboard-_-13-130-295-_-Product - MSI 880gm-e41 microatx for $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134792&cm_re=4gb_ddr3_1333-_-20-134-792-_-Product - Kingston 2 x 2gb ddr3 1333 for $55

That only adds up to $310... You could spend that extra $20 on getting a Phenom II x3 instead of tha Athlon II triple core.

 

[cjl]

That's a pretty low res for any modern graphics card. Many of them, even lower end ones, should play many games just fine at that resolution.

 

[Guest]

I would think that a 5770 should be more than enough to play BFBC2 on max, especially at that res. I guess you could get a GTX 460 1GB...
I would recommend just going to a good computer parts website (I like newegg.com) and searching for am3 motherboards. Find one with good specs from a good brand, it should be 75ish for a basic microatx am3 motherboard.
I just looked on Newegg, they have kits of 4gb of ddr3 1333 ram for only $60, some less.

Here's a sample setup:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568&cm_re=gtx_460_1gb-_-14-130-568-_-Product - EVGA GTX 460 1GB for $180 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130295&cm_re=am3_motherboard-_-13-130-295-_-Product - MSI 880gm-e41 microatx for $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134792&cm_re=4gb_ddr3_1333-_-20-134-792-_-Product - Kingston 2 x 2gb ddr3 1333 for $55

That only adds up to $310... You could spend that extra $20 on getting a Phenom II x3 instead of tha Athlon II triple core.

I meant $350 including the processor, thats why im so limited

 

[Guest]

btw thanks for the replies

 

[Guest]

I checked on Newegg.com, there are no retail AMD Phenom II x3s? anyways are there any chances of unlocking Rana's 4th core? ie turn it into a propus?

 

[Guest]

check again..

Did but its only AM2+ CPU won't fit in an AM3 board which means no DDR3/that msi board, + i would have to buy a separate cooler, and i don't think I will get any warranty.

 

[Guest]

delete double post

 

[jerreece]

Oooh.. a six year old Antec PSU. Antec makes some pretty rock solid stuff. I just replaced two (2) Antec True Power 480W PSU's within the last month. Both were about the same age as the one you're looking to use. One of them finally melted down and failed. The other was turning on/off (it kept working). You'd hear my wife's computer make noise like it shut down, but it had not actually done so. Then it'd make noise like it turned back on.

To be safe, I replaced her PSU. My point is, keep in mind that if you push an old PSU like that, it may eventually fail just due to its wear n tear factor.

 

[jryan388]

I meant $350 including the processor, thats why im so limited

Then I would say you should downgrade that 460 to the 768mb version, which is like 40 bucks cheaper, and spend that 40 bucks plus the original 40 bucks left over (assuming you want to spend $350) on an Athlon II x3 for about $75.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562&cm_re=gtx_460_768mb-_-14-130-562-_-Product - EVGA GTX 460 768mb for only $140 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872&cm_re=athlon_ii_x3-_-19-103-872-_-Product - Athlon II x3 445 3.1ghz for $74

 

[Guest]

Oooh.. a six year old Antec PSU. Antec makes some pretty rock solid stuff. I just replaced two (2) Antec True Power 480W PSU's within the last month. Both were about the same age as the one you're looking to use. One of them finally melted down and failed. The other was turning on/off (it kept working). You'd hear my wife's computer make noise like it shut down, but it had not actually done so. Then it'd make noise like it turned back on.

To be safe, I replaced her PSU. My point is, keep in mind that if you push an old PSU like that, it may eventually fail just due to its wear n tear factor.

I Pulled that power supply out of a REALLY old but working PC, I had a ATI 9800 Pro back then. I actually downgraded to 480 Watt psu because this power supply isn't 80 PLUS and eats ALOT of electricity, but I think I will use it until it dies, about a year from now, I'm planing to SLI or Crossfire and get a new mobo, but till then I will require a new power.


Which reminds me, although this is a future upgrade, will a 380 Watt Power supply alone handle a card like 5850 or GTX470? using the paperclip trick to, this Antec Outside case has options for 2 power supplies.

Another thing, I ordered that 880 MSI board with 2x2 GB DDR3, from newegg, still haven't made my mind to buy which processor or Graphics,

Current expenses: $138.19 tax included.

left: 173 approx. (wasted a few bucks on buying Medal of Honor xD)

 

[Guest]

anyone??

 

[Guest]

Well 5850 has a TDP of 151 Watts, if one power supply is ONLY running ONE card (not like mobo+cpu+gfx together), so I think 380 watts should be good for 5850 or even 5850 xfire? (151+151+10(10 just in case)=312 watts?)

Btw this is the paper clip trick:
http://www.overclock.net/faqs/96712-how-jump-start-power-supply-psu.html

 

[jyjjy]

With that budget you really should have tried working the sales and combos with all the components. A cheaper motherboard and/or living with 2gb or ram for a while would have been a good idea as $173 for a processor and video card ain't much.
At least your resolution is low so a high end card isn't required. However if you are going to SLI/crossfire the card in the future you have to plan for it with a card that does so well. With that in mind I'd recommend a GTS 450 because it scales extremely well in SLI and you should be able to give it a very high overclock as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125342
Doesn't leave much for the processor though... Scrounge together $20 more and try to unlock an Athlon II x3 is the best I can recommend.

 

[purple stain]

Why not go for the 5770? It's cheaper than the 460 and performs around the same area.I've seen some as low as $140=$120 after MIR

You could even try to go with a 5670(at that resolution it shouldn't have any problem keeping up) and go for the Phenom ii's but if you are planning to crossfire in the future and that wouldn't be a good card.