Need a new Graphics Card: One good for movies and games.

[Dante_Ven]

Okay, my graphics card of four years crapped out on me like two months ago. Due to laziness, I just dealt with the failing nuisance over that period of time, but now I'm finally sick of it.

What I want is simply a card that can handle 720P movies, and play games at probably a medium to high setting. Knowing nothing of what to look for, I'm asking you. Any suggestions? Max I'll probably spend is $120

 

[buzznut]

From the best graphics card article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,2935-3.html

I think the HD 6770 (or 5770) is a nice mid grade GPU for you. Since you haven't had a card in a while, most of the new ones don't have a TV out. Most of them do however have HDMI, so if interested in watching movies on TV you'd probably need an HDMI ready TV or a digital to analog converter.

The other question is if your power supply can handle a new card. These cards can probably run on 400W, but I'd recommend 500W.

Or, if you have an anemic PSU, the HD 5670 does not require an extra PCI express power connector and would be fairly good for gaming.

 

[Dante_Ven]

From the best graphics card article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,2935-3.html

I think the HD 6770 (or 5770) is a nice mid grade GPU for you. Since you haven't had a card in a while, most of the new ones don't have a TV out. Most of them do however have HDMI, so if interested in watching movies on TV you'd probably need an HDMI ready TV or a digital to analog converter.

The other question is if your power supply can handle a new card. These cards can probably run on 400W, but I'd recommend 500W.

Or, if you have an anemic PSU, the HD 5670 does not require an extra PCI express power connector and would be fairly good for gaming.

Sweet thanks. Just a couple of questions. How do I check my power supply, as you say, on my computer? And how can I be sure that the graphics card I'm buying will in fact even work on my computer? I ask this last question, because in the past I have purchased a graphics card, and when I attempted to install it, I was told it was not compatible with my computer. Major disappointment as you might guess.

 

[Darksent001]

Did you buy the whole computer 4 years ago and have you added any new parts since ?

 

[k1114]

Tell us the specs and/or model number of your pc.

 

[jaguarskx]

If the motherboard is 4 years old, then I suspect it has a PCI-e 1.x slot, not the more recent PCI-e 2.0 slot. This makes a big difference. PCI-e 1.x slot have compatibility issues with PCI-e 2.1 cards, but there will no issues with a PCI-e 2.0 card.

All Radeon HD 6xxx cards are PCI-e 2.1 cards. Therefore, they should be avoided. Initially, all Radeon HD 5xxx cards were PCI-e 2.0 cards, but AMD switched over to the PCI-e 2.1 standard in the middle of the production cycle. Most remaining Radeon HD 5xxx are PCI-e 2.1 cards.

Before actually buying a video card, you need to determine how much power your power supply can provide and the brand and model as well.

For $125 you can buy the following HD 5770 PCI-e 2.0 card. It can run on a good quality 400w power supply (PSU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129150

For $115 you can buy the following HD 5750 PCI-e 2.0 card. It can run on a good quality 350w power supply (PSU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129146

For $63 (after rebate) you can buy the following HD 5670 PCI-e 2.0 card. It can run on a good quality 300w power supply (PSU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870

The HD 5770 is $5 above your budget, but the performance increase compared to the $115 HD 5750 is worth it. The HD 5670 represents the best performance/value due to the low price, but the gap in performance compared to the HD 5750 is rather significant.

 

[jaguarskx]

You need to open the PC case and look at the sticker on the PSU to determine how much power it can provide. Knowing the brand name and model can also help determine if it is a good quality PSU.

Here's an example of the info provided on the sticker:

Brand Name: Seasonic (Excellent PSU)
Model: SS-400FB
Watts: 400w
Amps on the +12v rail(s): 22A


The amps on +12v rail(s) is pretty important since most of the power drawn by the computer come from there. This particular PSU can provide up to 264w on the +12v rail; 12v x 22A = 264w.

 

[youngblood1017]

Okay, my graphics card of four years crapped out on me like two months ago. Due to laziness, I just dealt with the failing nuisance over that period of time, but now I'm finally sick of it.

What I want is simply a card that can handle 720P movies, and play games at probably a medium to high setting. Knowing nothing of what to look for, I'm asking you. Any suggestions? Max I'll probably spend is $120

do you mean movies from your computers hard drive or just from like blu-ray because if your just playing it from blu-ray you dont need much of a graphics card but if its from file you want one with plenty of memory like the 5770. but if you want to play games its a different story sounds like you dont really want performance parts so just go with last gen hardware its cheep id say its a tossup between the ati 5770 option and the nvidia 9800gt option.

 

[k1114]

do you mean movies from your computers hard drive or just from like blu-ray because if your just playing it from blu-ray you dont need much of a graphics card but if its from file you want one with plenty of memory like the 5770. but if you want to play games its a different story sounds like you dont really want performance parts so just go with last gen hardware its cheep id say its a tossup between the ati 5770 option and the nvidia 9800gt option.

720p videos don't matter if its off a cd/blu ray/dvd/hdd. It can still play on a 5 yr old 128mb laptop gpu (which can actually play 1080p). And a 9800gt is a whole lot more than 1 generation old, so not recommended and is around the same performance/price of a 5670, which also has a much lower power consumption.

Without knowing the rest of your specs it's hard to suggest a card and know if it won't be bottlenecked. Most of what I've seen of 4 year old computers are around a dual core ~2.4ghz, so would not recommend anything higher than a 5670. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=621465&CatId=3669

 

[Dante_Ven]

Did you buy the whole computer 4 years ago and have you added any new parts since ?

yes and no

Tell us the specs and/or model number of your pc.

Model: XPS XPS_630I
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz 3.16 GHz
Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB
System Type: 32-bit Operating System

If any of that helps.

You need to open the PC case and look at the sticker on the PSU to determine how much power it can provide. Knowing the brand name and model can also help determine if it is a good quality PSU.

Here's an example of the info provided on the sticker:
http://www.dansdata.com/images/seasonic/label640.jpg

Brand Name: Seasonic (Excellent PSU)
Model: SS-400FB
Watts: 400w
Amps on the +12v rail(s): 22A


The amps on +12v rail(s) is pretty important since most of the power drawn by the computer come from there. This particular PSU can provide up to 264w on the +12v rail; 12v x 22A = 264w.

Brand Name: Dell
Model: H750E-01
Watts: (here it says Max Output Power: 750W)
Amps on the +12v rail(s): (All I see after 12VDC is 732W)

do you mean movies from your computers hard drive or just from like blu-ray because if your just playing it from blu-ray you dont need much of a graphics card but if its from file you want one with plenty of memory like the 5770. but if you want to play games its a different story sounds like you dont really want performance parts so just go with last gen hardware its cheep id say its a tossup between the ati 5770 option and the nvidia 9800gt option.

I'm talking about files on my computer.



You know what... My computer might just only be three years old. It's hard to really remember when I got it.

 

[k1114]

Looking for a pcie 2.0 card on newegg I came across these 2. gtx 260 at $100 and 5770 at $125. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125380
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129150

 

[buzznut]

Your PSU should be able to handle any video cards in this price range. Me, I'd stay away from the 9800GT. That was the old 880GT rebranded, and that tech is a t least 3 years old.

I still think the 6770/5770 is gonna be good for you.
Although if you had just a little more, the HD 6850 is a beast at $160-175.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600083901%20600083830&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%206850

With rebates your right at $150.
Some are even approaching $140 with free Dirt 3.