Looking for advice/confirmation on this setup.

[edulis]

I'm looking at the Radeon 6770 graphics card, and was wondering if it would fit my system, and what I need. I will need to upgrade the power supply, but I'm hoping to do the whole thing in under $150. Any advice before buying would be greatly appreciated.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This month

BUDGET RANGE: Would like to keep everything below $150

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:Will be playing SC2, Diablo 3, would like to play on more than just the minimum settings

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: I'm currently running a 300w power supply with a NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 graphics card

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Using AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Proccessor 4200+, using 3 GB of RAM

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Amazon or Newegg, (Amazon prime member though, so shipping may be cheaper with amazon)

PARTS PREFERENCES: Was looking at the Radedon 6770, but if something else will do just as will at a lower price....

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, Probably not anytime soon.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Will also need to buy a new power supply was looking at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152028&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=4176827&SID=h945egw7xsqw

 

[hang-the-9]

The 300 watt psu is a bit marginal for the 6770 depending on it's brand. If it runs solid, you will be OK, if not, you will have crashing.

If you want a decent card that will match your CPU and will not need a power supply upgrade, check into the Radeon 7750, it's almost as fast as the 6770 but uses half as much power.

Many games you will want to play at higher settings, newer ones at least, will have issues running well due to the CPU as much as the video card. I think a 7750 in your case will be fine to use with the CPU.

 

[edulis]

I looked at the requirements for the 7750, and it recommends a 400w power supply. I have no qualms about upgrading the power supply as well, as long as it won't cost as much. (The power supply I was looking at is mentioned in the original post)

 

[edulis]

Also, the games don't have to run flawlessly on the highest settings, but at the moment, the computer doesn't even run SC2, or most other games more graphics-intense than WoW. Would I like it if I could run them on the highest settings, yeah. But it isn't necessary.

 

[hang-the-9]

A 7750 will run just fine on your power supply. It's not that much slower than a 6770 so really won't matter much for lower settings.

Here is some info http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-5.html

As you can see, a 5770 which is the same speed as a 6770 is withing 5-10% of the 7750, and is even a bit slower in some cases.

 

[Deemo13]

If you were to not upgrade the power supply, the best choice for you would be the Radeon HD7750, as it does not have much of a power draw.

If you were to upgrade the power supply to say something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=CX430

and run a 6770, that would be the more performance-oriented option. But is the extra power supply cost worth the 5-10% that hang-the-9 mentioned? Thats up to you.

What is your budget. Anything more than a 6770 is going to be overkill for your system.

 

[edulis]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate everybody pointing out that the 7750 would be almost as good for a much lower cost. I've decided to go with the 7750. Again, I really appreciate it.

 

[edulis]

Best answer selected by edulis.