New Cheap Graphics Card Suggestions?

Vic Vinegar

Hi, i'm looking to get a graphics card for our PC, we're currently just using the onboard graphics, which are a bit crap. The PC isn't used for any high end gaming (got a 360 and PS3 for that)

This is for sale on adverts anyway, is it any good? a ten year warranty is nice anyway

http://www.bfgtech.com/BFGR96512GTOC2E.aspx

The asking price is 100, which i think might be a little steep, how much is it worth?

Can anyone recommend a good solid card for about €80ish?

Cheers!

darconio

I think the 9600GT it's quite a decent card and if you are not much into gaming I would say go for it. Regarding the one you linked I wouldn't buy it for the simple reason that you can get a 9600GT brand new (delivery included) for that price. I'm not bothered by the fact that those BFG cards have 10 years warranty: who is gonna keep the same GPU for 10 years ? By that time they will probably sell a 2GB 295 gtx for a tenner!!

Vic Vinegar

Cheers!

How much should i offer for that one on Adverts you think if i were to put in an offer?

darconio

The problem is that those bfg are expensive on their own, that's the reason why the seller is asking 100 euro for it. For a lower price you can get a 8800 gtx on adverts or if you dig a bit you can get a 7800 (that in my opinion is still a decent card for your purposes).
If I had to offer an amount on that BFG I would go for 80

requiem1

I might be putting my 8800gts 640mb on sale in a bit just after I test it to make sure its still in working order.:D

I've been pimping the ati 4770 card as its pretty great bang per buck at under €100 (I think its around €89) so that could be an option.

Vic Vinegar

requiem1 wrote: »

I might be putting my 8800gts 640mb on sale in a bit just after I test it to make sure its still in working order.:D

Let us know if you do! i'll more than likely put in an offer. How old is it?

Solitaire

Isn't this all a bit OTT for a non-gaming system? HD4550 would suffice, €45.50 is a lot less than the prices above! If the system is used for some older games then maybe a GDDR3-based HD4650 (can be OCd painlessly in CCC to act like a cheap HD4670) would probably be enough - €56.50 in Komplett (and these are new prices)

If a gaming-grade card is really needed (i.e. newer games, and the OP didn't state that) then a brand new HD4770 is still better, not just in terms of value but also because all three have eff-all power consumption, unlike most of the second-hand cards listed.

That said, now isn't the time to get one - as usual with a hard-launch that upsets the status quo the initial stocks sold out fast and all the new stock is either delayed or hideously overpriced (all €95+) while retailers desperately try to ditch all their remaining HD4830s

Vic Vinegar

The only gaming it will see at all is The Sims 3 when it's out (GF, not me! )

We will be using it for some basic graphics work too, there's that many cards out it's hard to tell what's what!

Cheers for info guys!

requiem1

No problem dude, I'll PM you if i put it up and I won't be selling it for much, best of luck

Solitaire

Bombleswizzum wrote:

We will be using it for some basic graphics work too

What programs? Most graphics packages prefer raw CPU power but a few can utilize CUDA for a bit of a boost. Only heavy rendering work and other 3D apps that can utilize OpenGL/DX9/10 really need a graphics card the same way games do.

I tentatively recommend the HD4550. Cheap and no messing around with supplemetary PCIe power connectors you might not have

Vic Vinegar

Solitaire wrote: »

What programs? Most graphics packages prefer raw CPU power but a few can utilize CUDA for a bit of a boost. Only heavy rendering work and other 3D apps that can utilize OpenGL/DX9/10 really need a graphics card the same way games do.

I tentatively recommend the HD4550. Cheap and no messing around with supplemetary PCIe power connectors you might not have

It'd just be Corel Painter/Photoshop and some video editing software, not 3D Max or anything...

She would like to Play The Sims 3 on maximum settings she said. So if it's possible with that (HD4550) then i'll be happy enough.

darconio

These are the minimum system requirements for The Sims 3:

System Requirements for The Sims 3

FOR WINDOWS XP
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1.5 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA X3000 or above.
2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
0.5 GB additional RAM

NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280

ATI Radeon™ series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900
3450, 3650, 3850, 3870,
4850, 4870

Intel® Extreme Graphics
GMA X3×00 series

The 9600 you were looking for should do the job

Solitaire

darconio wrote:

The 9600 you were looking for should do the job

... and so would that much cheaper and more efficient HD4550 :P

cherryghost

Solitaire wrote: »

... and so would that much cheaper and more efficient HD4550 :P

+1 on that.

Vic Vinegar

Went for a Sapphire HD 4670 1GB DDR3 in the end for €70, should be here in a couple of days. Probably overkill a bit for what's needed, but what the hell!

Cheers for the advice guys!

TerrorFirmer

You could have saved a few euro by getting the 512mb model, 4670 will see exactly about 0-1% gain by having 1GB memory. But at that price it's not so bad, usually they charge extortionate amounts for cards with large memory, regardless of how well it does or doesnt work. Maplins at the moment have a 9600GSO with 1.5GB DDR2 memory - that actually makes me angry.

Solitaire

... If its a CUDA-enabled card that 1.5GB DDR2 might make it a good photo editor with Adobe CS4 (image editors prefer big framebuffers to fast ones when playing with huge RAW files in a 2D environment regardless of CUDA )

But yeah, if a gamer is tricked into buying it then its sacrilege alright