Reasonable card to replace a X1950XT with

[Skote123]

Hi,

Having spent quite a few years away from PC gaming (I turned traitor and went XBox, but have seen the error of my ways!) I have built myself a system from scavenged and second hand parts. Having recently emigrated from Europe to Canada I am on a budget! For $150 I have put together:

Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz
2 GB DDR 2 800MHz RAM
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard
ATI Radeon X1950XT 256MB PCI-E graphics card
Soundblaster Audigy 2 PCI sound card
500GB WD SATA HDD
480W generic PSU (I don't know the voltage specs for each output unfortunately, but it is made by 'Orion')

I've been really surprised and impressed with the performance of this machine in games like Fallout 3, L4D2 and CS:GO, but naturally I want MORE POWER!

I am considering upgrading to Windows 8 from XP and taking the RAM up to 4GB which is all the motherboard allows. There is no driver support for the X1950 under Windows 8 and of course the card is DX9 only. I have therefore been considering upgrading it and have been looking at the ATI 6750 or 7750. I don't know that much about Nvidia cards, but would consider one of those as well.... a GT630 maybe?

What would you recommend on a price / performance basis that won't eat up my generic PSU? I have looked online at sites like this one and gpureview.com and don't want to end up with something that supports DX10 / 11 but has less grunt than my X1950. Oh, and I am sure you'll all say 'Upgrade that crappy PSU!'. I am intending to, but want to get the graphics card and RAM at the same time to save postage.

Thanks!

 

[ASHISH65]

Get hd 7750 with eyes closed.

hd 7750 just consumes 43w at peak.so it will work with your psu.hd 7750 can play most of the games at 1368*768

anything above hd 7750 will be big bottleneck to your cpu

see here power consump of hd 7750- http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7750_iCooler/24.html

and also get 2gb ram more.in todays gaming 4gb ram is needed

 

[rambisco]

Get hd 7750 with eyes closed.

hd 7750 just consumes 43w at peak.so it will work with your psu.hd 7750 can play most of the games at 1368*768

anything above hd 7750 will be big bottleneck to your cpu

see here power consump of hd 7750- http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7750_iCooler/24.html

and also get 2gb ram more.in todays gaming 4gb ram is needed

^ Can't agree with this guy more. Although, I will say 'Orion' is kind of a name that HEC puts on their bad line of products, so please don't try to go too far with that PSU.

 

[ASHISH65]

^ Can't agree with this guy more. Although, I will say 'Orion' is kind of a name that HEC puts on their bad line of products, so please don't try to go too far with that PSU.

dude i know better psu brands are always better.but in practically it can work.and also he have no bugdet to buy new psu

 

[Skote123]

I appreciate the advice guys. I think I'm looking at about $100 for the card then from newegg.ca, and if it uses 45W, this is less than the 75W that my X1950XT chews through. My PSU may yet live a little longer. The X1950XT is a monster with about a pound of copper for a heat sink, and it is LOUD.

I notice from the benchmarks on the link you game show frame rates in newer games about the same as I get in L4D2, Black Mesa and Oblivion when I play at 1600 x 900 with high detail turned on (or CS:Go at the same res with details on low). I take it the extra power of the 7750 is used to make newer DX10 / 11 games look so much nicer?