Hey everyone! I'm looking for a graphics card thats under 75 bucks, and has DECENT graphics capabilities. I currently have onboard graphics, so anything is better than what i have, but i still wish to make it somewhat good for games. I wanna be able to run Gears of War or HL2 Ep. 2 well enough to enjoy. I'm not expecting miracles, but i'm sure anything would greatly aid my current gaming situation. My specs: LOW PROFILE (SLIMLINE) PC!!!!! XP Pro/Vista (dual boot) AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (2.3 Ghz per core) 2 GB RAM Onboard Video (Nvidia Geforce 6150SE) I've narrowed it down to 2 choices myself, but feel free to suggest things too!! THEY MUST BE LOW PROFILE! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127301 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103055 which would be more beneficial for performance? It seems to mostly be a choice between whether i want 512mb/64bit or 256mb/128bit...which would be better for me/make the most difference? THANK YOU!!!!!
Out of those two the 8500 would be better I believe. If you could get a 8600GT you could play those games even better and have a slight performance boost.
Unfortunatly your trying to upgrade a proprietary slimeline machine. There are options for video cards but heres the problem. Your slimline most likely only has a stock PSU around 150W. Most video cards even LP like to have Wattage around 250. You can upgrade your PSU if you really wanted to. Your other problem is cooling. Video cards run hot and most likely will drastically increase your current temperatures. Finally the two card you have looked into arent going to work with your system as they are not low profile cards. The two you have listed are standard size video cards. Heres a link to a few LP cards but you have to also make sure you get a card that goes with the correct slot type in your computer.
GET THIS U CAN PLAY ALL THE NEW GAMES WITH A DECENT FRAME. HURRY UP THIS SALE END ON THE 31. RATEhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3287892&sku=B52-8606&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1589C
Thanks for all your replies! Thanks Waymon for the observation! NJman, Are you sure the ones i have listed arent low-profile? I know it doesnt say it in the title, but, people have commented that its low profile and takes a low-profile backplate addon for it to fit their comps. Thanks for the search criteria on it though =) What should i do about the PSU issue? Is it cheap to upgrade/fix? How neccessary is it, or moreso, how much of a difference will it make? What other options do i have or would you suggest? I guess as far as cooling, i'm hoping that i get a card with sufficient cooling capabilities :-/ Trying to stick to a budget =( Crysis, I dont believe that is a low-profile card, but thank you though =( Ugg, i regret not looking into this slimline computer more =(
uggg...gay spam. Would anyone be able to answer my questions without video card spam? =) hehehe I guess another question i should ask... Is a Low-profile card in my price range even going to make a diff or make Gears of War look/play decent? Or am i just wasting money =(
how is it spam. what the hell. im showing u a good card for a low price and everybody is saying its a gay spam. WTF!
I guess they are saying its spam because i'm looking at low profile cards, and its not a low profile one
i thought u wanted one that plays gears of war. ok never mind. here u go. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129108 or just get a 8500gt.
lol, i appreciate the help crysis, but thats not a low profile card either, lol. Low profile ones are the smaller ones that can fit in the HP Slimline models (not sure why anyone else would need one, so i'm shocked to find as many as there are) Yes, i'm an idiot for getting the slimline...i didnt think it would hinder upgrade capabilities this much =(
Low profile PCs come in two types. Are you certain the cards you've picked out are the correct one? Some slimline PCs only require the PCB of the card to be half-height as in the examples you've outlined, but many require the entire card including the metal backplate to be half-size, like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129073 Which sort do you have? I have to warn you though, you're not going to get stellar performance from either, but you stand a much better chance with the cards that have full height backplates.
Thank you for the reply sammorris! I see what your saying...eh, this just keeps becomign more and more of a pain in the ass...lol. By the LOOKS of things, i think any low profile card is ok, but it definitely is something i should further investigate Here's a link to the upgrading and servicing guide of my PC, its the HP s3223w Pavilion Slimline: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00877796.pdf If there's any other information you need, i'd be glad to provide it, i'm just not sure how i can determine what would or would not fit, its hard to judge without the hands-on :-/ I'm gonna take a look inside and let you know what i find. As far as upping my performance...what dollar amount should i realistically be looking at to notice a decent increase? Don't worry sammoris, i'm not expecting miracles =). I figured ANYTHIGN would be a good step up from what i have now since its integrated. I dont want a "gaming pc" by any means, but i would like ot run things like Gears of War at a playable level...maybe at mid-to-high settings if possible within my budget range. I realize the problem is, low-profile cards aren't stellar performers by any means. I am looking at a max budget of 70 bucks (simply because i just want to play fairly recent games, but not brand new games or extremely demanding ones). Cheaper is still better, but i understand that choices in this matter are limited. Last but not least sammorris, could you help me in recognizing why 1 card is better than the other? Such as, my previous problem on my first post on this thread of the 512mb/64bit or the 256mb/128bit, why would one help me more than the other, and also, what stats are better in a card and make the most difference? I ask this because i don't want you to have to do all the searching yourself, and i'd like to know for future reference as well! =) Thanks again Sammorris!
The manual inidcates that the PCI backplates are half-size, therefore you are limited to the genuinely low profile cards. That's a downer because not only are you limited to cards like the X1300, but also they're pretty damn expensive. Realistically, I think you may have to make a serious decision about whether or not to sell this PC and buy (or preferably build) something more suitable, if you want to play GoW etc. well. As for stats on a card, I don't look too much into them. A card with a higher amount of memory or higher clock speeds may not necessaeily be faster, and to a lesser extent that's true with how many bits a card's buses have as well. I've learnt the graphics card market on a card by card basis - time consuming, but the only real way to do it.
