Upgrading Geforce 8200 Budget 50-150 $

[Zippy0277]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: next 2-3 weeks BUDGET RANGE: 50- 150 $

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (WoW, EvE, and other high-res games) Movie's

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: (GeForce 8200, Corsair 400w )

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: (CPU: Athlon 64 X2 5400+ black edition MoBo: Micro-star international CO LTD. Model # MS-7511. 4 slot memory, in use. Total memory 4096 MB )

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com, but It really doesn't matter so much as they are reliable. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Nvidia, but I am open to other suggestions

OVERCLOCKING: Not sure what overclocking is.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (1360x768)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want to run on high graphics smoothly, also I'm willing to upgrade any addtional part's to meet that goal. A HDMI port would be nice.

 

[jpardo2]

550ti.

 

[riceazns]

Are you only going to be using 1 monitor? If you aren't, the Geforce 550 ti should work like a charm.

 

[dudewitbow]

the hd 6850 recently dropped down from 150 to 135. which is probably the best at its price at the moment.

the nvidia alternative would be the gtx 460 or the nerfed gtx 560SE, but i believe the 6850 should be better in general.

 

[oxford373]

AMD 6850 faster than 550ti and have the same power consumption.
any thing faster than 550ti from nvidia you have to consider a new power supply

 

[Zippy0277]

well the only thing that worry's me is that I don't want to buy a part that does not fit, my cuzin told me a radon would most likely not be compatible with my MoBo. I was looking at a ASUS Geforce GT520 is that any good? I know it won't push the graphics I want, but I need something to hold me over until I can better look into a GPU
It's sad when my screen tear's playing wow on low setting's.

 

[dudewitbow]

what is your mobo and how long of a card can you fit(measure out the distance between the back plates to the first obstuction blocking the card(usually the HDD cage)) wait mobo is in op post, brb


can i make the assumption that this is your mobo

so really, it has a pci express 2.0 so the only thing really stopping you is.

Case size
PSU
CPU bottleneck, but at your budget it wont be as apparent unless you play on higher resolutions.

 

[quilciri]

I'd recommend the 7770. It's about 2% slower than the 6850, but only uses 75 watts at max load.

Both the 550 ti (138w load) and the 6850 (118w load) will be pushing you PSU too hard. You want to stay under 75% load on a PSU for best efficiency, and safety as the PSU ages, so 300w cap for your system under that PSU

64 x2 5400 @ load: 89w
Mobo: 50w
case/cpu fans: 5w each (guessing 15w total here)
HDD reading/writing: 30w
Optical reading/writing: 25w

total w/6850: 327w
total w 55ti: 347w

numbers taken from here:

Athlon 5400
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2624

Video cards:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7770_iCooler/26.html

 

[quilciri]

Card lengths are different even for the same model card made by different manufacturers. ASUS's 6850 is a different length than, say, Sapphire's 6850. You'll have to measure your space and then look at each maufacturer's card 'til you find one that fits. Newegg has the dimensions for each card.

That having been said, lower end cards like the 7770 are pretty short, so If your 8200 fits, the 7770 will likely fit as well.

*edit
MSI has a 7.6" 7770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127687