Best 1680x1050 card, without upgrading my CPU

[Daethwalker]

Hiyas,
My 1st time posting, though I've been browsing here for awhile.

I'm specifically looking for a video card so that I can play a few new games. So far it looks like The Witcher 2 will be my biggest Graphics hog in the near future.

Right now I'm running with a AMD Athlon II x2 250 CPU on a GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Motherboard with a 500watt powersupply, 12 MB of ram (DDR3 1,333 MHz DIMMs). My monitor is a Samsung SynMaster 2253 LW 2MS 8000:1, 1680x1050, 32 bit, 60 Hz.

I will probably upgrade my CPU in the next year or so to at least an x4. But, unless I'm mistaken I should be ok with the x2 for a little while longer.

The best I've been able to figure out, with my limited knowledge of PCs is that I'm looking for a PCIe 2.0, DDR3.

My Motherboard has 4 open slots (since I've been using the onboard ATI Radeon 4200 graphics). PCI1, PCI2, PCIEX16, and a PCIEX1. According to bit-tech.net the PCIEX16 is for graphics cards, the PCI1 and 2 are Legacy slots. So, it looks like the Ex1 and the "Legacy" slots are basically obsolete for what I'm looking for.

So that leaves the one PCIEX16 slot.

Looking at "Best Graphics Cards For The Money: September 2011" - "The Radeon HD 5670 offers best-in-class performance and DirectX 11 compatibility, along with all of the other Radeon HD 5000-series features, such as multi-display support and high-def audio bitstreaming. "

Newegg.com has a VisionTek 900357 Radeon HD 5670 2GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card for 80$ and checking both it and VisionTeks website, it seems to be compatible for my system.

Have I missed anything? Will I have any problems using this with just a dual core cpu? I'm not really worried about multiple monitors or anything else but gaming. This looks like the best I can do with the limitations of my system.

 

[farrengottu]

that card is compatable and should work fine. you can get a better card but your cpu will have trouble taking advantage of it. you start running into diminishing returns.
here is a vid of your expected performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTnuXxbnWlA
its a slightly better processor used in the vid but maybe 5% better in games.

 

[spentshells]

5770 or 6770 or5670/6670 550ti and lower for NVIDIA

 

[Jedi Mind Trick]

What brand of power supply do you have (does it have a 6 pin pci-e cable)? Because for that much I would save like $30ish for the 5770 or the 6770, and I dont think your cpu will bottleneck it that much (if it does).
This is a sapphire 5770 for $110 ($90 after MIR) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873

EDIT: +1 to spentshells except I think the 5670/6670 are a little over-priced

 

[Onus]

If your PSU is not a cheap generic or chokemax brand like Logisys, Diablotek, or Apevia; and has at least one PCIE power cable (adapters exist, but if your PSU doesn't have this cable, it may not have enough amps on its +12V rail for a decent video card), I believe you would do well to get a HD6770. Whatever GPU you buy, you'll want one with GDDR5 memory on it. The GPU does not need to have the same type as is on your mobo, and GDDR5 will probably be 10%-15% faster than GDDR3.

 

[Daethwalker]

PSU is a eXtreme Power Plus 500W (CoolerMaster) and one of the reasons I went with the 5670 was the I thought I was limited to GDDR3.

I didn't really even think about the PSU except for the watts. Luckily the guy that built this for me was thinking about it.

And the reason I didn't even look at the 6000 series was all of the ones on Newegg were PCI Express 2.1 and I figured they weren't compatible to my 2.0 Motherboard.

 

[Onus]

Well, that PSU is fairly crappy; under heavy load it wanders out of spec in manner that could kill attached parts: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-500-W-Power-Supply-Review/728/10
Still, a HD6770 won't stress it into the danger zone, so you should be ok.

 

[Daethwalker]

Money is really not the problem here, though I would prefer to keep it under $200. I was more looking at what was compatible to my MB. Best I can tell I can upgrade the CPU to a max of a Phenom II X6 1100T, which in my opinion is overkill for now. I was think of maybe a Phenom II X4 975.
Basically I figured on upgrading the GPU now, the CPU sometime next year and eventually another upgrade of my GPU in another year or so.
So, diminishing returns on a higher end GPU isn't a problem ... if I pick those back up with a CPU upgrade next year.

My biggest concern right now is compatability with my MB (hoping to get it to last another 3-5 yrs)

 

[spentshells]

If you want to try overclocking, Save 40 bucks and up the multiplyer on the 955BE
same results I bet you could get it to 970 levels with no extra voltage

 

[Daethwalker]

Well, that PSU is fairly crappy; under heavy load it wanders out of spec in manner that could kill attached parts: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-500-W-Power-Supply-Review/728/10
Still, a HD6770 won't stress it into the danger zone, so you should be ok.

Ah, well that sucks.
This PC was built around 2007 or 2008, basically when most of this stuff was consider fairly good for a cheap PC.

So, I guess I should also consider replacing the PSU eventually?

Am I going at this a$$backwards by getting the GPU 1st?

 

[spentshells]

Depends if you feel like playing now or later. Daethwalker.

 

[Onus]

For $200, try this:
1. Antec 650W Earthwatts PSU for $70 (shipped) to handle any likely future upgrade: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044
2. HD6790 GPU for $130 (shipped), or $100 if you play the rebate game and win.

You'll have a good (if not great) 1680x1050 experience now, plus a PSU capable of supporting a 125W CPU and a HD6970 or GTX570 later.

 

[Daethwalker]

Play now of course. But at the same time I don't want fry what I got by jumping the gun and buying a GPU that either my CPU or PSU can't handle.

So, what about 2.1 PCIexpress? compatible with a 2.0?

 

[spentshells]

2.1 is fine in 2.0
I wouldn't worry about the PSU the 5770/6770 is pretty light on the juice and the rest of your system can all run on a CM 500 watt
they are not the best but your system realy isn't drawing much power at all so you wont fry anything

 

[Daethwalker]

Best answer selected by Daethwalker.

 

[Daethwalker]

Thanks for all of the quick replies and most helpful knowledge.