Upgrading from 8600 GT

[imspecial]

Hi guys, my friends' graphics card crapped out a few days ago. He is looking for a new graphics card between $80-120. Read below....

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Very soon

BUDGET RANGE: $80-120 (rather not mess with rebates, but if it's a good deal we'll consider)

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (WoW, KoTR [basically any mmo coming out soon], and Dragon Age/Awakening [Doesn't need to be maxed out]), Surfing the net, watching movies, and other simple things.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: GeForce 8600 GT and a generic 400w PSU. Might be 450w, but it does have a 6-pin power adapter.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Model - Gateway GM5446E (The psu listed on gateways support website is wrong, it is more than 300w), 2gb ram, and Windows Vista x32.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: XFX. I do like their lifetime warranty, but it isn't a necessity.

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: He plays mmo's constantly, so I'm assuming he doesn't need anything overly expensive. I was looking at the Radeon HD 4850 or the Geforce GTS 250, no specific brand.


Thank you guys for all your help!!

Imspecial

 

[wa1]

Any cards for just $80-120 are still strugle for 1920x1200 resolution...

For that range i want to suggest GTS250 or HD4850, but the PSU is just "generic" 400-450W, i doubt it will run those card, even it has 6pin power connector...

 

[squallypie]

Well, i was in the same situation as your friend and after searching for a while, decided on the 5770 ( 150$ ). But when i went to the store, my bro ( who had the cash ) decided it was too expensive.. so i asked for the 4850 and the guy said they dont have the 4xxx series as it is too old! Had to just take a 5670 1GB and go home.

The good thing was that, my power supply had 17A on 12V rail.. it cant handle either of the 5770 or the 4850. The 5670 on the other hand requires sooooooo less power, it doesnt even need the 6 pin connector. So i just had to plug it in the slot.

Its giving pretty good results. its more than twice faster than 8600 GT. I couldnt even think of going upto 1680 x 1020 in Battlefield : Bad Company 2 with the 8600GT, but the 5670 gave playable frame rates there.
Im planning of just sticking with this graphics card for an year until, hopefully, i get to build a new PC altogether.

As for the games you mentioned, they might do good at 1680 at pretty high settings. Since ur friend has an 8600GT, assuming he put the card in when he built the PC, he might have a core 2 duo. i had to OC my E6750 about 20-25% to get the max out of the graphics card. Its fine either way, but u r just leaving the extra juice behind without an OC.

Altogether, the 5670 is a pretty good upgrade from 8600 and it also sips less power. GG

 

[englandr753]

You can get a cheap 9800GT that will smoke that 8600GT and should work on your psu although I'm no fan of using premanufactured psus for anything but recycling. It would be a nice upgrade for a price that may allow you to also get a decent psu:

Video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130535&cm_re=9800gt-_-14-130-535-_-Product

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-008-_-Product

It's a little over what you wanted to spend but after the rebates (I know, I hate dealing with rebates too) you get out with a total of 85.00 spend for a decent upgrade.

This isn't the best out there but what do you expect for this price? But I do think its the best out there for what you get for the price you end up paying.

 

[pepperman]

The HD 5670 would be a good card for that system; as squallypie said, it performs better, and it doesn't need much power (it actually uses less than the 8600 GT).

Personally I wouldn't go any higher than that with that system, assuming its close to the base specs (i.e. Core 2 1.86 GHz, etc.), as you would see a cpu bottleneck.

Short story is your friend will see better performance with the 5670, it fits your price range, and it should tide him over until he's ready for a new system.

Edit:

The 5670 performs on par with the 8800/9800 GT, but you wouldn't need a new psu (saving you money). Here's a link to one (XFX):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150466

Edit # 2:

Correction: the 5670 actually uses a little more than the 8600, but by a negligible amount.

 

[englandr753]

The 5670 is a great choice card for that price. I don't really like the reviews on this card as it appears several people are having random blue screen problems but theres a couple of bad reviews on the 9800GT as well so pick your poison.

If you want dx11 and are running vista you can, if you haven't already, download the dx11 update and enjoy the 5670's features.

Choice 1:
new 9800GT
Dx10.1
new power supply

Choice 2:
new 5670
Dx11
old power supply should work but could crap out

Both options are within 5 bucks of each other after the lovely rebates. Either are good choices, its up to your friend...

 

[imspecial]

I was definitely worried about the psu to begin with. Especially after looking back over the 4850 and GTS 250, they would be pushing it to the max.

Issue is, with his monitor resolution so huge (just like wa1 said), its tough to find a good graphics card that works with his current psu.

Thank you guys for the input, I will give him the overview of both these cards (9800 GT and 5670).

I will report back with his choice of card and go from there.

 

[jyjjy]

The 5670 is a great choice card for that price. I don't really like the reviews on this card as it appears several people are having random blue screen problems but theres a couple of bad reviews on the 9800GT as well so pick your poison.

If you want dx11 and are running vista you can, if you haven't already, download the dx11 update and enjoy the 5670's features.

Choice 1:
new 9800GT
Dx10.1
new power supply

Choice 2:
new 5670
Dx11
old power supply should work but could crap out

Both options are within 5 bucks of each other after the lovely rebates. Either are good choices, its up to your friend...

That 9800GT is actually one of the low power cards that doesn't need a power connector so it would be ok on his current PSU as well. That said the HD5670 is the better card IMO.
If he is going to bother upgrading the PSU it should be so that he can buy a card that is more suited for his resolution such as this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102901
Still not great for 1920x1200 but much better than either the 9800GT or HD5670.

 

[Timop]

Heres a DDR5 HD4850, comes out to be $80 AR and will smoke the HD5670/9800GT and even GTS250 in terms of performance:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102901&cm_re=HD_4850-_-14-102-901-_-Product

 

[jyjjy]

That's what I just linked
Not so sure it will smoke the GTS 250 though. How much the DDR5 helps performance of that card is a nebulous subject until I see it properly benchmarked.

 

[squallypie]

OP! tell us which card u got

 

[okini55]

the GTS 250 would be really nice. And it can run any MMO out now even at 1920x1200. but on the other hand heres a very cheap and amazing HD 4850 because it has DDR5 !!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102901&Tpk=hd%204850%20ddr5 Thats the BEST card you can get in that price range

 

[englandr753]

Unfortunately its sold out already...

 

[englandr753]

I also don't trust the HD5670 on his 250 watt psu. That 250 watter probably barely qualifies as a 250 watt psu. The bottom line in my opinion is if you get a new video card you should get a new quality psu to go along with it so you dont take a performance hit running your system on too low a voltage or burn something out. The specs for that card calls for a 400 watt or greater psu so I think you are back down to the original choices I suggested originally...

 

[jaguarskx]

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: GeForce 8600 GT and a generic 400w PSU. Might be 450w, but it does have a 6-pin power adapter.

HD 5670 is your best option. Do not spend more money for the 1GB version, there is virtually no performance increase.

As you rightfully assumed, the HD 4850 consumes too much for your PSU.

The HD 5750 fit the screen resolution and the power supply, but is out of your price range. However, the HD 5670 should be fine. I played Crysis at 1920 x 1200 with medium gfx quality using a 9600GT (a little slower than the HD 5670) with not many issues except the final battle which can even bring more power video cards to their knees.

 

[jyjjy]

I also don't trust the HD5670 on his 250 watt psu.

Where did you come up with 250w?

 

[englandr753]

Lol, from two other threads that have the same issue that I was posting in at the same time.

This is what happens when you do things too late when you should be asleep. =P

 

[imspecial]

I have yet to talk to him, planning on doing this Thursday or Friday. However I do know that there is a shell shocker deal that's out another 15 minutes that takes off another $12-22 (depending on rebate) for the xfx HD 5670...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150450

I will contact him now regarding this card.

Thanks again for all of your input!

 

[jyjjy]

That is an HD4670, not an HD5670. Furthermore it is a DDR2 HD4670 and should be avoided.

 

[imspecial]

Well guess I cannot read haha. I would have figured it out sooner or later.... Thanks for the heads up. Was wondering why it was so cheap. Wow, I feel dumb now

 

[imspecial]

Best answer selected by imspecial.

 

[imspecial]

Talked it over with my friend. He decided to go with the 5670 till he gets a new system. Thank you everybody for your input, we weighed all of our choices and the 5670 came out on top.

imspecial

 

[pepperman]

Glad we could help. I hope your friend enjoys his new graphics card!