Video Card Question

apocalypsefu

apocalypsefu

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Jun 17, 2008
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Ok im looking for a new card for my PC since my current one is arround 5 years old. I was looking at Radeon HD 3450 512MB PCIe Graphics Card at walmart because its within my budget and can handle my amazing 305w power supply. The thing about it is that it says its PCI Express 2.0 x16. But CUPz says i have a PCI-E x16. So can my computer run it or not? If not can someone recommend a card that i would be able to run with a PCI-e x16 slot and 305w and is under $200?
 
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8800GT is possibly still the best card out there for the price.
 
1. Yes, you can use the card you list.
2. The card you list runs, at Wal-Mart about 70 bucks. Then you say your budget goes up to 200. So...that's quite a range. Even if you "narrow" things down to PCI-E x16, there's still dozens upon dozens of cards from which you can choose.

Can you be a little more specific on what you want? Memory size? Crossfire? No Crossfire? Any manufacturer? Do you want to stay with ATI? Do you want to switch to nVidia? Don't care?
 
ok thanks for letting me know i can run it. The reason its a big range is that im trying to get it as a "gift" and if i can get a good cheap one that can run some of the newer games im just fine with that (and more likely to get it if its cheap =D)
 
Candidly, you aren't going to be running newer games with that card for very long. The card is not "futureproof" in other words. It will have a hard time with current games like Call of Duty. The card is an "entry" level card as of Jan 08 so ... I'd likely point you to a different card.

If you're just playing TF2, the card should manage OK if the rest of your computer is up to spec.
For another thirty or so bucks (about 100 or so), you'd do much better.
 
the kind of games i would like to play are COD4, bioshock, Orangebox (of course), fallout 3, and farcry 2. I don't really care for the real high end games like crysis or COD5 (just another WWII game to me)
 
If you want to play COD4 (or 5), Fallout, and Far Cry, I'd recommend spending another thirty to fifty bucks for a card in the 100 to 150 range.
 
just be careful to check that your power supply has the amperage/wattage to power the card. otherwise you are gonna run into serious problems. trust me i learned from experience. :)
 
Yea i've checked my power supply, its just a mere 305w =[, but thanks for answering my questions and stuff =D
 
PCI-Express 2.0 x16 are backwards compatible with PCI-Express x16. So it would be a good idea if you plan on upgrading the motherboard and cpu down the road to go with a good PCI 2.0. Gotta go eat but ill see what I can dig up when I get back.
 
I would like to get a new motherboard cuz my current on is just a stock one from Dell but i probably wont cuz I would like to build my own custom pc but i won't be able to do that till the summer when i can get a job =D and when i do that i plan on making it just for gaming.
 
how about the GeForce 8600 GT, its the best card my computer can run from nVIDIA and it had some good reviews and a good $80 from newegg. And best of all it wont require me to upgrade my computer so i can save some money for that custom pc i wanna build =P So does anyone have this card or know about it?
 
The 8600 GT is a step up from my 8500 GT and I get 120+ fps in CSS on all settings high at 1440x900 resolution. PM me if you want to keep looking, its possible I could get you set up with quite a few things for $200 or for maybe $100 more, few weeks of chores maybe and you could get alot more. I paid ~$320 and got a AMD 5000+ BE, a motherboard, 2gb OCZ ram and my 8500GT.

EVGA 512-P3-N971-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130397

Broadway Com Corp Okia-black-650 650W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817162014

$180.85 to have that shipped to me. Maybe thats what you would need just for now till summer. But there are lots of other options.
 
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ok well cross of 8600 GT cuz that needs a 3350w power supply =( . You said that the 8500 GT does you good. Can that card run fallout 3, far cry 2, or bio-shock?
 
-=Punisher=- said:
The 8600 GT is a step up from my 8500 GT and I get 120+ fps in CSS on all settings high at 1440x900 resolution. PM me if you want to keep looking, its possible I could get you set up with quite a few things for $200 or for maybe $100 more, few weeks of chores maybe and you could get alot more. I paid ~$320 and got a AMD 5000+ BE, a motherboard, 2gb OCZ ram and my 8500GT.

EVGA 512-P3-N971-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130397

Broadway Com Corp Okia-black-650 650W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817162014

$180.85 to have that shipped to me. Maybe thats what you would need just for now till summer. But there are lots of other options.
Click to expand...

That would be perfect for me. Get some money from random things arround house, money from xmas, and money from my b-day and i can be playing some good old games. All i got to do is save 180.85 + sum for games. Thanks for the help Punisher :D
 
The 8500GT would meet the Minimum requirements of those games and on 2 of them it would meet recommended specs. But if your looking at spending maybe $200 check out the previous post.
 
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