$80 PCI-E card?

[orionlion82]

dont need a fancy gaming card, just maybe something to shift the graphics footprint off the integrated.

looking for ram minimum of 128 and really cant use more than 512 because the machine is a basic rig - so 256 would be in the ballpark.

so how about a basic model?
i havnt followed video cards for so many years i wouldnt know where to look.
low power consumption would be a plus too, i like me my 45W idle at the plug. :D

[DavidJa]

probably 2400 or 2600 so "not that you would but you could" have a future basic htpc card if anything?
else for $80 you can get old gen top class stuff in the classifieds.

[Moto7451]

A Radeon HD2600 or 3600 series card with DDR3 is probably a good bet.

[Neuromancer]

2900 xt in the classies :)

EDIT: oh missed low power requirement

[orionlion82]

classies deals are out. i do not comply with the rules and haven't for several years.
(not to say i would rip anyone off, but, yall know how ol sam is, rightfully so-)


the onboard is a geforce 6100 /nvidia 200 i gave it 256 in bios but its not enough.
rather avoid ATI this time around - nothing against them, but wanna stay in the brand zone.

HD is useless to me , i still do VGA 1024X768 on a flat panel. (burn the witch... i know...)

we are talking 90NM hardware from wally world that can upgrade to PCI-express -

(its an AMD3100+) and a gig of ram. PSU is a stock delta and its very efficient for a 300W. (rather not have to pull out my old fortron bluefart 520 just for a vidcard)
i want it known that even gaming 800MHZ gets me by (rightmark+speedfan) and i STILL have to wait on the disk.

underclocking sacrilege - i know, but i can game just fine at PIII speeds and pay less in power.

no sense in speed if i wait on the disk - juist need some non-DDR ram on a vidcard!

all clear?

i dont even understand the numbers on most posts now i am so far behind

so keep in mind i dont know what an "adc 35,000" is or might be.

perfer nvidia but not a fanboy or nuthin.

appreciate the help.

[Neuromancer]

classies deals are out. i do not comply with the rules and haven't for several years.
(not to say i would rip anyone off, but, yall know how ol sam is, rightfully so-)


the onboard is a geforce 6100 /nvidia 200 i gave it 256 in bios but its not enough.
rather avoid ATI this time around - nothing against them, but wanna stay in the brand zone.

HD is useless to me , i still do VGA 1024X768 on a flat panel. (burn the witch... i know...)

we are talking 90NM hardware from wally world that can upgrade to PCI-express -

(its an AMD3100+) and a gig of ram. PSU is a stock delta and its very efficient for a 300W. (rather not have to pull out my old fortron bluefart 520 just for a vidcard)
i want it known that even gaming 800MHZ gets me by (rightmark+speedfan) and i STILL have to wait on the disk.

underclocking sacrilege - i know, but i can game just fine at PIII speeds and pay less in power.

no sense in speed if i wait on the disk - juist need some non-DDR ram on a vidcard!

all clear?

i dont even understand the numbers on most posts now i am so far behind

so keep in mind i dont know what an "adc 35,000" is or might be.

perfer nvidia but not a fanboy or nuthin.

appreciate the help.

Waiting on disk will always be an issue thats what hdd space is made for

You obviously are not playing anything serious, since you are on IGP now and runnign an 800mhz cpu (how do you handle flash? ) Funny my 750Mz duron system plays HD video great, upscaling with ffdshow (cpu upscaler) but when it comes to flash stuff it gets killed :S)
(running 768mb of ram and winFLP though)

pcie? 8600 series will be fine. I prefer ati and my ati 2600 is low power runs cool and yet plays most games at low res (no crysis at 1024x768 with 8xaa nad 16xaf though) and at those res you need AA/AF

[orionlion82]

Waiting on disk will always be an issue thats what hdd space is made for

You obviously are not playing anything serious, since you are on IGP now and runnign an 800mhz cpu (how do you handle flash? ) Funny my 750Mz duron system plays HD video great, upscaling with ffdshow (cpu upscaler) but when it comes to flash stuff it gets killed :S)
(running 768mb of ram and winFLP though)

pcie? 8600 series will be fine. I prefer ati and my ati 2600 is low power runs cool and yet plays most games at low res (no crysis at 1024x768 with 8xaa nad 16xaf though) and at those res you need AA/AF


i handle flash (memory) just fine
flash video and whatnot i can allways re-clock to full-speed.

youtube is fine at 800MHZ anyhow. only a tiny chop on a bad day, usually just fine.

some of the news websites get a bit choppy on video, but im just a few clicks to change 800MHZ at 1.1V to 1800 at 1.35V - Vi-ola!

i game C&C genreals, FREESPACE O, farcry, flightgear, FS2004, painkiller, lincityNG and its not so bad when i unleash the hardware.

(many years earlier painkiller MELTED and SMOKED my old wilamette dell with that funky rambus junk darned near caught fire back in college.)

and here my humble e-machines does fair with it and no smoke to be seen.


its allmost decent but could be better (hence the upgrade)

but for surfing or whatnot i keep it pinned down to 800 and get by just fine.
here in 2008 a PIII (or equiv) is still good for the basics and we got 4 of them on a chip now running 4 times the speed for peanuts.

lookin into the 8600 as we speak,
thanks.

[ChinStrap]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3592053&sku=P450-8826

[White_Pawn]

no point even spending 80 bucks when u aren't even going to play games. Just get something cheap like a 8600GT or a 3650.

[Enablingwolf]

i game C&C genreals, FREESPACE O, farcry, flightgear, FS2004, painkiller, lincityNG and its not so bad when i unleash the hardware.




I played them same games on my cheesy 7300GS ok. The passive model I have, hasn't given me issues at all. Though I have a 512 variant. It still does what I ask of older games, when I do ask. Plus it don't need a lot of power to use the card. Another nice perk. It is dirt cheap. The 7300GS starts out around $40 and as you add RAM/bit it gets a tab pricier.

Another cheaper card would be the 8500GT. Running around $50 or so.

There is plenty of budget low draw cards that supports 128bit memory. Don't mix 128megs of RAM with the bit. If you get a 64bit 128 meg card it is going to sort of suck, even on older games.

[.Drift]

This is the one for you.

No extra power connections needed, and free shipping. :D

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085

[AsusLover]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261021

Would suit your needs just fine and is cheaper than the 8600

[orionlion82]

ive thought about this and decided ill hold off.


its a DX9 rig with XP and never will be anything else.

after some very careful thought, graphics power is allready plenty, so i might look at ram.

only time i ever suffer is thrashing - and so why would i fix a ram problem with a graphics card?

when you think about it i wasn't after the right tool for the job.

[Caviman2201]

I've seen reviews stating this is quite a card for $80

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102792

or there's this which will spank the 4670

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150276&Tpk=8800gs