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QB

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My computer is quite old, but I don't feel like shelling out for a new system yet. My existing graphics card is a real dinosaur: an ati x800xl. Like the rest of my system, it's almost 5 years old.

Given this, does anyone think I would get a noticeable FPS increase in TF2 from a very inexpensive video card like an ati 4650? These can be had extremely cheaply, and it seems like it would serve this computer fine once it gets retired to secondary PC status. I'm not going to shell out $100 for a video card for a computer that I don't intend to be using for a lot longer.

Before anyone suggests that I might be better off buying more memory, know that I already have 2 GB of RAM and don't really have any need for more.
 
*laughs* The NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT is working great for me, and its under $100 look into it :)

It's good for the price, and should improve your FPS in TF2
 
1st off, do you have a PCIe slot?

It looks like the big yellow one in this picture:
30-pcie.jpg


(note: yours may be a different color)
 
Yes I have a PCIe x16 slot. Since the motherboard is old, it's a PCIe v1.0 slot, but the 2.0 standard is backwards compatible with 1.0 on both motherboards and add-ins. I went ahead and ordered the 4650 for several reasons:

1. Newegg had one for $48 this weekend. It also comes with a $10 rebate.

2. The 4670 is the most powerful card you can buy that doesn't require a connection from your PSU (or one of the most powerful). The 4650 is a bit weaker, but not a ton. For nearly $30 less, it looks like a pretty good price/performance bargain.

3. I don't care about most new games. All I play right now is TF2, and I'm just looking for a more playable framerate. I MIGHT buy SC2 when it comes out, and again I'm just looking for playable.

I don't intend to get into the much hated process of buying upgrades to support upgrades for a computer that is too old to justify it. $50 seems like a decent amount of money to spend to achieve higher FPS, lower power consumption, less noise and less heat.

Thanks to Plox for suggesting a look at the 9500gt. It made a great comparison point, but since it's in shorter supply the price/performance doesn't seem as good.
 
did you get the DDR2 or the GDDR3 one? the DDR2 one is not so great, while the GDDR3 one is pretty good.

They also make the following cards that dont require a PCIe power connector:

5670
9800GT
GT 240

all of which are faster and dont require a PCIe power
 
QB said:
Yes I have a PCIe x16 slot. Since the motherboard is old, it's a PCIe v1.0 slot, but the 2.0 standard is backwards compatible with 1.0 on both motherboards and add-ins. I went ahead and ordered the 4650 for several reasons:

1. Newegg had one for $48 this weekend. It also comes with a $10 rebate.

2. The 4670 is the most powerful card you can buy that doesn't require a connection from your PSU (or one of the most powerful). The 4650 is a bit weaker, but not a ton. For nearly $30 less, it looks like a pretty good price/performance bargain.

3. I don't care about most new games. All I play right now is TF2, and I'm just looking for a more playable framerate. I MIGHT buy SC2 when it comes out, and again I'm just looking for playable.

I don't intend to get into the much hated process of buying upgrades to support upgrades for a computer that is too old to justify it. $50 seems like a decent amount of money to spend to achieve higher FPS, lower power consumption, less noise and less heat.

Thanks to Plox for suggesting a look at the 9500gt. It made a great comparison point, but since it's in shorter supply the price/performance doesn't seem as good.
Click to expand...

I would say stay away from Mail-in Rebates, go with free shipping instead. I've sent in 50$ in mail-in rebates to Asus a year ago and have heard nothing since.
 
Yeah the rebate was meaningless to me. I always go for the lowest bottom line (including shipping) for the specific product I'm looking for. There are other cards that are around the same price once a $20 or $30 rebate comes, but like you I hate waiting for those.

Reflex: Those DDR3 versions are better yes. However, my computer is SO old that I'm afraid the extra memory bandwidth would be wasted. A 5-10 FPS (ideal) increase for $20 extra isn't that great to me. For only slightly more, one could find a 4670, which is a better card all around. Most of the lower end 5000 series cards aren't worth buying IMO, since they will never be good enough to play the newest releases that would take advantage of their DX11 capability.

Once the 4000 series cards are all gone and the prices drop on the low end 5000 series cards, that would be different of course.
 
Psh, i still love the graphics card im running, it works quiet well :)
 
Yes, but you won't see that much of an increase. TF2 is CPU bound, I went from a 8800 to a 5870 and saw about a 5 fps increase. Yet when I oc'd my quad I gained about 20+.
 
QB said:
Yeah the rebate was meaningless to me. I always go for the lowest bottom line (including shipping) for the specific product I'm looking for. There are other cards that are around the same price once a $20 or $30 rebate comes, but like you I hate waiting for those.

Reflex: Those DDR3 versions are better yes. However, my computer is SO old that I'm afraid the extra memory bandwidth would be wasted. A 5-10 FPS (ideal) increase for $20 extra isn't that great to me. For only slightly more, one could find a 4670, which is a better card all around. Most of the lower end 5000 series cards aren't worth buying IMO, since they will never be good enough to play the newest releases that would take advantage of their DX11 capability.

Once the 4000 series cards are all gone and the prices drop on the low end 5000 series cards, that would be different of course.
Click to expand...


5-10FPS>any $........
/epic troll.


But yea, it will be way better than the 800XL.

Don't worry I'm skipping $200 worth of PC upgrades for this laser:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-36.html

It makes me sad that nothing for my pc is coming out of that $200, but burning things from 30ft is better in my mind.
 
reflex99 said:
5-10FPS>any $........
/epic troll.


But yea, it will be way better than the 800XL.

Don't worry I'm skipping $200 worth of PC upgrades for this laser:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-36.html

It makes me sad that nothing for my pc is coming out of that $200, but burning things from 30ft is better in my mind.
Click to expand...

"Warning: Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power. It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts, use with extreme caution and only when using the included eye protection. Customers will be required to completely read and agree to our Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form."

That made me laugh, damn dangerous indeed.
 
reflex99 said:
did you get the DDR2 or the GDDR3 one? the DDR2 one is not so great, while the GDDR3 one is pretty good.

They also make the following cards that dont require a PCIe power connector:

5670
9800GT
GT 240

all of which are faster and dont require a PCIe power
Click to expand...

im not quite sure of the difference between there being power connected into it via the pci-e power connector & there not being, but im sure the motherboard can read the video card 1 way or another. i have a 9800gt & have it connected to power just for safety & assurance.
 
reflex99 said:
5-10FPS>any $........
/epic troll.


But yea, it will be way better than the 800XL.

Don't worry I'm skipping $200 worth of PC upgrades for this laser:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-36.html

It makes me sad that nothing for my pc is coming out of that $200, but burning things from 30ft is better in my mind.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah, seen that laser before. It's pretty cool. But yeah, lasers are pretty damn dangerous. I worked with a 200W (Not mW) IR laser during one of my previous jobs. Invisible beam that melts concrete instantly is pretty dangerous. :P They use lasers much much MUCH weaker to weld metal and such. But yeah, from that experience, you really need to be careful. If you really want to take precautions, there are these safety glasses you can buy that are specially made to protect eyes against high powered lasers.
 
pillar said:
im not quite sure of the difference between there being power connected into it via the pci-e power connector & there not being, but im sure the motherboard can read the video card 1 way or another. i have a 9800gt & have it connected to power just for safety & assurance.
Click to expand...


Most cards that have an external power connector absolutely require it for operation.

The reason power seems like such a concern to me is that going JUST beyond what your PSU can supply will result in frequent random system restarts under load.
 
pillar said:
im not quite sure of the difference between there being power connected into it via the pci-e power connector & there not being, but im sure the motherboard can read the video card 1 way or another. i have a 9800gt & have it connected to power just for safety & assurance.
Click to expand...

They have a 9800GT EE, which does not have a PCIe powerconnector
(like this)


GBear said:
Haha, yeah, seen that laser before. It's pretty cool. But yeah, lasers are pretty damn dangerous. I worked with a 200W (Not mW) IR laser during one of my previous jobs. Invisible beam that melts concrete instantly is pretty dangerous. :P They use lasers much much MUCH weaker to weld metal and such. But yeah, from that experience, you really need to be careful. If you really want to take precautions, there are these safety glasses you can buy that are specially made to protect eyes against high powered lasers.
Click to expand...

Yea, it is dangerous, but really cool at the same time. They give you a pair of the goggles so you dont burn your eyes.
 
get a 240 takes less power supply .. 9800 take at least 350 watts power supply on most cards ..240 will keep up with newer games until u wanna upgrade to new pc
 
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