Recommended Video Card - Athlon 6000

[chermo12]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my aging PC's integrated graphics to a dedicated card while keeping it cool and quiet as possible. (maybe RAM as well) I would like to start using this machine for light to moderate gaming. (ie: Starcraft 2, NFS: Shift, Dirt 2, GTA IV, Batman: AA - not really into that many FPS)


My specs:

MB: Asus M2A-VM HDMI
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ (3.0 GHz)
RAM: OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) Dual Channel 800MHz
Video: Integrated ATi x1250 256MB
Monitor: Acer G245H 24" LCD 1920x1080
Case: Sonata III
Power: Antec 500w
OS: OEM Windows Vista Basic 32-bit (I'll probably be upgrading to Win7 Home Prem 64-bit)


A couple computer stores recommended an ATi HD 5670.
I've searched a few other forums/sites where people would prefer the HD 4850 or HD 5750 but I'm thinking these may bottleneck because of my CPU. I'm thinking maybe an HD 4670 would be a cheaper alternative.

My budget is between $50 to $150. My main concern is that I want to get a card that would best match my CPU/system without bottlenecking.

Do you guys think any of these cards would be suitable for my system?
If not, any recommendation would be great. Thanks!

 

[jerreece]

Gaming at 1920x1080 really calls for an ATI 5850 or GTX 470 if you want to max your graphic settings and have high FPS. As a less expensive alternative, the new GTX 460 is looking pretty decent.

However, with your $50 to $150 budget, I'd recommend the ATI 5770. You can get them at the $150 price point through NewEgg.com quite often. It's a great performer for a mid range single GPU option. Plus they are a lot more power/temp friendly than nVidia's most recent offerings. It'll play at 1920x1080 with settings at say Medium or so.

Sapphire ATI 5770 (1GB) $155 - $10 MIR = $145 (Free Shipping) - [External Venting]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858&cm_re=ati_5770-_-14-102-858-_-Product

Make sure you get a 1GB video card for your monitor resolution. Personally, I would not get anything less than the ATI 5770, simply because you'll already have to play with reduced settings with even that card.

 

[jerreece]

BTW: The Batman game may be crippled a bit with your older CPU and your high resolution. You'll have to turn off some of the eye candy. And if you do an ATI 5xxx series card, stay away from using DirectX 11 (i.e. play your games in DX9 or DX10 mode) as that won't perform well unless you get something like an ATI 5850.

In an unlimited budget world, a CPU/Motherboard/RAM/Videocard upgrade would be in store for serious gaming. But what you have should work decent with something like the ATI 5770 so long as you don't mind not having all your graphics settings turned up/on.

 

[rolli59]

Go with the HD5770 because of your resolution. Even this 512Mb one is worth it in raw performance (no AA no AF) over the lesser cards http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131328

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

The other thing I'm wondering, and I'm actually at this point too, because I've got a 9600gt but 2 gb of memory, and running a 5200+ x2....but would it give him better results to possibly pick up a 5750 and another 1 or 2 gb worth of ram?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

he would still be better off with at 5770 and no more ram