Good Cheap Graphics Card?
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Category: News And Views
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Topic: Good Cheap Graphics Card?
Posted By: .Ryan
Subject: Good Cheap Graphics Card?
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:50pm
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So, I'm building a PC for the first time. I think I've got most of it down, I just need to find the best components for the price. I've pretty much decided on most of it, but my budget is somewhat low, and I'm having a hard time finding a good cheap graphic card. Any help with that out there? Or any other help with the build process in general? I'm not ignorant by any means, but I know there are a lot of people around here are much more knowledgeable about this stuff than I, any info/links/tips you could share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Replies:
Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:51pm
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Are you wanting to do 1337 hXc gaming, or just the occasional game? ------------- 
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Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:51pm
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I generally recommend against it... But it seems like you're past that point already. ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:53pm
| I have an nVidia 7600 256mb.. got it for about $100 at a sale at CompUSA.. great card. |
Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:54pm
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http://www.gamespot.com/features/6173135/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;title;5 - All you need to know. They also have a "Budget Card Roundup" section for nice video cards under $100. -------------
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Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:56pm
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Microcenter's got one (not a bad card) for $69.99 after mail-in rebate.
www.microcenter.com - www.microcenter.com Search for "e-GeForce 7600 GT 256MB PCI-E x16 Video Card"... ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:56pm
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Hmm. the 7600 is $90, but the 8500, a better card, is only $85.
Time to go shopping. |
Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 5:59pm
$69.99 after mail-in rebate... ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Linus wrote:Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 6:04pm
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Grr.
Well I bought the 7600 back in November so it's all good. |
Posted By: .Ryan
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 6:08pm
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I'm trying to find something that will play most of what's on the market now and wont be completely useless in 6 months, but I'm trying to go for less than $100....Which looks to be what you're showing me, I'll check that stuff out....thanks.
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Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 6:12pm
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Then the 7600 and 8500 are you best bets.. I can run pretty much any game out right now, and only thing holding me back is my gig of ram.
Hell, I can even put every setting of AA on max and it still works fine. |
Posted By: hybrid-sniper
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 6:55pm
| The 8500 has a very low memory throughput because of it's very low stock memory clock. The 8500 may technically be newer than the 7600, but it is so crippled that it can't easily compete with a 7600GT. |
Posted By: Linus
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 6:58pm
Looks like I made a good choice then 
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Posted By: Ticalxx421
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 8:09pm
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Geforce rox my sox ------------- [IMG]http://i14.tinypic.com/73e0l8j.jpg"> Represent! |
Posted By: Dye Playa
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 8:19pm
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I have the 7900 gs and it is a good card at a reasonable price.
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Posted By: travis75
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 9:22pm
Want to have a benchmar--- er, nvm. ------------- Hey MPAA, Guess what? 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0! |
Posted By: ¤ Råp¡Ð F¡rè ¤
Date Posted: 10 August 2007 at 10:40pm
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http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/124564-best-graphics-cards-per-price-range.html - "Best Graphics Cards per price range"
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Posted By: .Ryan
Date Posted: 11 August 2007 at 12:27am
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Ok, new challenge for you. It seems that my financial situation may be changing....I may not be able to build the PC after all....My current PC isn't bad, it just lacks a good graphics card and, worst yet, the pci-e/agp slots to put one in. Yeah, Dell is awesome like that. So, my new question is, should I not be able to build the new PC, are than any good PCI cards out there? I know PCI is limited in its abilities, but I'm still looking for basically the same deal here. Plays most current games, and will do so for a while, and is also pretty cheap. May be able to break the $100 dollar mark here, since it's all I'd be buying, but still....I'm not rich. Any help? Edit: The only two games I can think of that are PC exclusive that I know I'm going to have to play in the near future are Spore and Starcraft 2, so may that can be a guide as to what I absolutely need.... ------------- |
Posted By: BARREL BREAK
Date Posted: 11 August 2007 at 7:08am
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No. There are no decent PCI cards.
EDIT: Also, SC2 and Spore aren't exactly near future. 
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Posted By: heliumman77
Date Posted: 11 August 2007 at 12:25pm
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If I understand Turbocache and Hyper memory right get one of those and have atleast a gig of memory. From what I understand they share memory and 256 with turbocache can go to 512. ------------- 
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Posted By: mn3schwartz
Date Posted: 11 August 2007 at 1:57pm
| did you try neweggs web sit thay have alot of good stuff thare |
Posted By: Darur
Date Posted: 11 August 2007 at 7:30pm
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You'll be much better off saving up for a new PC. PCI cards are a waste of money in general, unless you can snag one off ebay or someplace for very very cheap.
------------- Real Men play Tuba [IMG]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1859/newsmall6xz.jpg"> PH33R TEH 1337 Dwarf! http://www.tippmann.com/forum/wwf77a/log_off_user.asp" rel="nofollow - DONT CLICK ME!!1 |
Posted By: mod98commando
Date Posted: 13 August 2007 at 2:03am
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If you don't have a PCI-E or AGP slot then you probably won't be able to find even a decent video card, sadly. What do you currently have and how much money can you spend to upgrade? Also, Dell computers suck hardcore when it comes to ugprading. The last one I had used a backwards motherboard (mounted on other side panel) so I couldn't reuse that motherboard or case for anything. The motherboard had a useless BIOS that didn't allow you to mess with anything and the board itself didn't allow for much expansion. The power supply was also not very useful outside of that setup. I was able to salvage the hard drive, dvd drive, processor, video card, and RAM though. Used that stuff to make a HTPC for my dad. Anyway, to get a better video card you'll likely need to change the motherboard. Depending on how old your current stuff is, you may be able to do that and reuse the memory and processor but gain at least an AGP slot if not a PCI-E slot. Also, sites that I usually order from are http://www.zipzoomfly.com - www.zipzoomfly.com , http://www.newegg.com - www.newegg.com , and http://www.tigerdirect.com - www.tigerdirect.com . ------------- oreomann33: Everybody invades Poland Rofl_Mao: And everyone eats turkey Me: But only if they're hungary Mack: Yeah but hungary people go russian through their food and end up with greece on everyth |
Posted By: hybrid-sniper
Date Posted: 13 August 2007 at 2:18am
| If it's a Dell, then godspeed. |
Posted By: heliumman77
Date Posted: 13 August 2007 at 2:26am
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lol dell. My dad just gave me this dell he bid on but didnt mean to win and so far we are having nothing but problems with it and we havn't even got all of the comp. together yet. Wich is weird sense we have had a dell for about 4 years and its worked fine, the only dell I know of that isn't totally messed up. -------------
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Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 13 August 2007 at 2:38am
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I've had no problems out of any of my Dells, they're just overpriced. Don't bother with PCI-it's pointless. -------------
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Posted By: mod98commando
Date Posted: 14 August 2007 at 1:35am
Yeah, Dell computers will work fine. The problems come when you want to modify them. My last Dell worked fine but didn't have powerful enough hardware for my needs so I scrapped it and reused what I could for another purpose. The one I had before that is still working fine. I got it in 2001 and all it needed was a new hard drive a year or so back. It's far too slow for what I do but it works fine for my parents who just go online and run simple applications. As for Dells being overpriced, it's true except when it comes to budget setups. At the low end they tend to have pretty good prices because they have so many customers that they can afford to sell stuff dirt cheap. When it comes to the gaming computers or even some of the mid-range ones though, they rape you on prices. You could probably build something like one of their XPS desktops yourself for about $1000 less. ------------- oreomann33: Everybody invades Poland Rofl_Mao: And everyone eats turkey Me: But only if they're hungary Mack: Yeah but hungary people go russian through their food and end up with greece on everyth |
Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 11:36am
Everyone always says they're overpriced, but then when I go to buy a computer I can configure a Dell online for much cheaper than I can get a comparable PC off the shelf. And yeah, rock solid reliability from my experience. ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: FROG MAN
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 11:46am
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do you have PCI-E or AGP 8x? I doubt you got anything lower, but its hard to pick out a card if I dont know what kinda mobo you got.
------------- <1 meg sig = bad> |
Posted By: vipergts222
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:05pm
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Yes! I love computer talk. Anyway, Dells are definitely cheaper than other OEMs if you use the secret coupons they have online. I would recommend building the computer, especially if your motherboard doesn't even have a pci-e slot. I would also recommend buying from tigerdirect. That's where I get most of my computer stuff and it's probably the cheapest place to buy whatever you need. ------------- A-5 ~Flatline ~E-Grip ~Palmer Stabilizer ~Double Trigger ~20oz SP on/off and anti-siphon Soon: ~Comp-Air ~CP Razor drop 
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Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:09pm
True, but mainly I'm comparing Dell to building my own. Dell is great as a family/long term home PC, but as a gaming machine I wouldn't recommend it at all unless you've just got money to spare.
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Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:49pm
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I also can build my own... Have been doing so since 1990... And everytime I look at them, I don't save anything in building my own over buying Dell unless I buy extremely low end components.
*shrug* ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: FROG MAN
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:51pm
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then you have no idea what your doing. ------------- <1 meg sig = bad> |
Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:51pm
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If you buy from the right places, you can save a ton, but you have to know the market, which I don't. I know a small buisness where I used to live that built PC's straight from eBay, and could build a very nice PC very cheap. Of course, that opens up the eBay quality discussion, but nonetheless. -------------
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Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:57pm
Hmmm... Easy for you to say... How many years have you been an IT professional? Here's a challenge if you're so smart... You come up with a log of components and where to get them to build a complete system with at least middle of the road quality components. Give me a final price, add on a copy of whichever version of Windows you want, then PM this log to me. If "I have no idea what I'm doing", then there's no way I could configure an equivalent Dell for the same price or less, right? I guess we'll find out. That is, if you have the guts to put your credibility on the line. ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 12:58pm
ZING -------------
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Posted By: FROG MAN
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 1:01pm
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sorry, im not going to spend hours of my life, sifting through sales, mail in rebates, and pirated software to come up with an equivalnt comp that is much cheaper. ------------- <1 meg sig = bad> |
Posted By: SandMan
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 1:18pm
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Figures. Guts enough to say I don't know my own industry but not guts enough to back it up.
*shrug* ------------- Real Men Love Cheeses |
Posted By: FROG MAN
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 1:22pm
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no, just not wasting my time to prove you wrong. go on any computer forum with people who know what there doing, and everyone will agree you can make a better, higher quality, cheaper computer if you built it your self. nuff said. and no, i havnt been building comps since 1990, i was 2 then, and while i dont have the experiance as you do with your cave man computers, I obvously know more then you now. go back to fixing peoples email kthnxbai ------------- <1 meg sig = bad> |
Posted By: stratoaxe
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 1:39pm
Dude, that was completely uncalled for. A simple disagreement would have sufficed. -------------
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Posted By: hybrid-sniper
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 2:53pm
Whoa, jackass alert. |
Posted By: FROG MAN
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 2:59pm
unless of course i said it to ghost rider, but you know, mods are off limits. ------------- <1 meg sig = bad> |
Posted By: Jack Carver
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 3:03pm
| In my experience, you may be able to build a faster computer for the same price as a Dell, but on that type of budget you're not gonna be able to get stuff like a nice case, good power supply, aftermarket CPU cooler, etc. |
Posted By: BARREL BREAK
Date Posted: 15 August 2007 at 4:49pm
| Main advantage to building your own, IMO, is in getting exactly what you want in your computer. I couldn't find a single off the shelf PC that had every single componant that I wanted, so I built mine. |
Posted By: mod98commando
Date Posted: 17 August 2007 at 2:26am
Not necessarily. I've been building computers for a few years now and when it comes to gaming computers I absolutely saved money by making it myself. I priced a really nice Core2 computer for a friend and it came out literally about $1000 cheaper than an XPS with nearly the same specs. And this was months ago when Core2 was fairly new so prices were much higher. Another important point, as BB mentioned, is that you get exactly what you want when you make your own. If you get a prebuilt, especially from Dell, you'll get a gimped motherboard that won't let you do jack in terms of overclocking and will give you limited upgrade options. If you make your own, you know exactly what your upgrade path will be and that should be a large part of the reason you choose certain hardware. For example, get a motherboard that supports quad-core but start out with a cheap dual/single core chip and spend that money on a better power supply or something. That way you can just buy a new part or two to keep up with your needs instead of basically rebuilding the computer every time. Also, I will curse Dell until the day I die for making that backwards case....dear god did that piss me off. ------------- oreomann33: Everybody invades Poland Rofl_Mao: And everyone eats turkey Me: But only if they're hungary Mack: Yeah but hungary people go russian through their food and end up with greece on everyth |
Posted By: BARREL BREAK
Date Posted: 17 August 2007 at 2:32am
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