looking for a low-end (read: cheap) gaming card

[WiglyWorm]

I'm building an HTPC, and I'm interested in being able to do some gaming on my new 50" TV. So I'm looking to buy a card that will run some current and future games at 1080 resolutions.

Current games are TF2 (I know this is mostly processor bound), WoW, and a couple other's like Spore or CoD 4, Assassin's Creed, and Supreme Commander.

Future games are likely to be StarCraft 2, possibly Diablo, and Left4Dead 2, or whatever else catches my fancy.

Would either a 4770 or a 4830 be likely to run these games with settings on high (and hopefully last for 3-4 years), or should I look for something a bit more high end?

[White_Pawn]

4830 512mb is "cheap" and decent and usually can be found for $75~80 on newegg. Otherwise the 4770 is a great card for ~$100. These two cards should be able to play all of these games on decent settings at that resolution.

[Froggy]

didnt the 4850 fall to the 90 mark this weekend?

[Quailane]

Get a 4870. Newegg has it new for $124.99 now. At the very least get a 4850 as it is a couple dollars more than a 4830.

[vixro]

What is cheap to you?

The price difference of a $50 range gives you like 6 different options.

[jobrien2001]

Define whats cheap, because in the $80-130 there are too many cards to choose from.

The cheapest I would go for is a 4770 or 4850... if you feel like spending 40 more pick up a 4870.

[WiglyWorm]

Define whats cheap, because in the $80-130 there are too many cards to choose from.

The cheapest I would go for is a 4770 or 4850... if you feel like spending 40 more pick up a 4870.

Well I spent $300 for my main rig's card. I am willing to spend half that for an HTPC, however I would like to get away for much less.

I plan on playing games at a relatively low resolution with hopefully "high" to "very high" settings. Basically, whatever will get me by on my current games, and hopefully games 2 years down the road at > 30 fps.

Within the above conditions, any pricepoint will do, but I'm looking for the cheapest that can do it.

Power consumption is also something I'd like to keep to a minimum. I may get a motherboard with an integraded card for hybrid crossfire to take care of that for me, though I'm not 100% sure yet.

[vixro]

4870 hits that price point nicely with deals and runs fantastic. As for power consumption though, it will be a bit higher. If you are genuinely worried about power consumption levels, a 4770 is bar none the best video card for performance, price, and power. You can snag one for under $100 and OC faster than a 4850 and near the speed of a 4870 for hardly any power usage.

[Quailane]

You can snag one for under $100 and OC faster than a 4850 and near the speed of a 4870 for hardly any power usage.

No, you can't, and using a little less power doesn't make it "hardly any."

[jobrien2001]

Well I spent $300 for my main rig's card. I am willing to spend half that for an HTPC, however I would like to get away for much less.

I plan on playing games at a relatively low resolution with hopefully "high" to "very high" settings. Basically, whatever will get me by on my current games, and hopefully games 2 years down the road at > 30 fps.

Within the above conditions, any pricepoint will do, but I'm looking for the cheapest that can do it.

Power consumption is also something I'd like to keep to a minimum. I may get a motherboard with an integraded card for hybrid crossfire to take care of that for me, though I'm not 100% sure yet.

The only problem is that you have conflicting interests. Low power consumption and a card that can play at high for 2 years is not in the market today... or has never been in the market.

My recommendation to you is to pick up a 4770, it has very low power consumption and pretty good frame rates + its very cheap... it wont last you 2 years but for a 100 bucks it will hold you for another year at high settings.

Integrated graphics + a decent gaming card can be also the way to go.

I was under the impression that once PCIE 2.0 was introduced the motherboard could use the integrated video for low 2D/3D and turn off your PCIe card saving you lots of power... in heavy 3D apps/games it would turn on the PCIe card and use it. In other words it would only use the PCIe card when it was needed.

I dont know why I havent seen any of these boards do this yet. I cant imagine someone liking to pay for a Xfire power bill when watching youtube videos.

If someone else can please clarify why these motherboards arent in the market to day?

[Badbonji]

Video cards don't use much power in idle from 2d speeds.

[WiglyWorm]

Video cards don't use much power in idle from 2d speeds.

That's good to know, thanks.


Does anyone have any input on if Hybrid XFire might be the way to go for what I'm trying to accomplish?

[ratbuddy]

4770 gets my vote, excellent performance for how little power it uses.