Graphics Card Options *BOUGHT*

[Max]

:/ Lol is this one ANY better? EVGA GeForce 8400 GS

I doubt it, due to this spec: "256MB DDR2, Supporting 512MB with TurboCache".

You were better off spending $20 more for a card (like the one I suggested earlier) that REALLY has 512MB DDR2....

Someone on my CoD4 team has that card, and he gets 100-125 FPS with everything on low. I would def go with that one PP.

[BFM_LËÕ]

well i don't know the minimum specks but i have a radeon 1650 pro iv only playd the demo but it seems to run it fine

[waterboy65]

this is a little late but ill say it anyway...
you can get the hd 3850 512mb for $56.99 after rebate which pretty good considering i paid $200 when it came out.
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=AS-385_512&c=fr&pid=9e6f0a27ed00407f2b71c1f67e376b794c620522803cda8efa17924ff8e3ce79


this card is faster than these cards, which were recommended above:
GeForce 7200 GS
GeForce 6600
Radeon 9800
GeForce 7800
ATI Radeon X1800
geforce 8600 GT
radeon 1550
geforce 7800
geforce 7600
geforce 8500

[Ben-BSH]

this is a little late but ill say it anyway...
you can get the hd 3850 512mb for $56.99 after rebate which pretty good considering i paid $200 when it came out.
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=AS-385_512&c=fr&pid=9e6f0a27ed00407f2b71c1f67e376b794c620522803cda8efa17924ff8e3ce79


this card is faster than these cards, which were recommended above:
GeForce 7200 GS
GeForce 6600
Radeon 9800
GeForce 7800
ATI Radeon X1800
geforce 8600 GT
radeon 1550
geforce 7800
geforce 7600
geforce 8500

Nice find!!

[waterboy65]

yea the only other card listed in the price range that may perform better than what i recommended is the 8800gs; and i think that is coming awful close to breaking the budget and might require a higher power supply. every other card recommended cant come close to the 3850 and some even cost more than the 3850.

[Danger]

Has to need 300W or less as well.

[waterboy65]

Has to need 300W or less as well.

300w isn't saying very much. do you how the amps on the 12v rail? the only way to find this is if you know your power supply model or if  you look at your power supply it usually has a table on it that will tell you.

[Danger]

I don't have that "sticker" Cool told me about or that "table" waterboy mentioned. Looked it up at support.gateway.com and my model PC comes with any of three different power supplies. All say 300W, but one specifically mentions 12V at the end of it. Didnt even see a serial number on the power supply box when i opened up my PC so i have no way of knowing which one of the 3 possible power supplies it has, just that it has 300W and MIGHT be the one that specifically mentions 12V.

[waterboy65]

here's a picture of mine :
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/2628/psubk9.jpg
usually it's on the side of your power supply. if you checked one side you might want to check the other side of the power supply. you can see its mine has 2 12 volt rails labeled as +12(1) and +12(2). You can see the combined amps is 25.

[ToMaHaWk]

Waterboy, did you build your computer or was it pre-made?

Danger (PurpleP...) might be out of luck with a sticker because Gateway might possibly not have put one on it.

Just an idea though.

[waterboy65]

mine is home made, but i repair pcs for my job and I know that hp's compaq's and dell's have the label. I cant imagine why gateway wouldn't. IMO if the power supply doesn't have a label its probably a cheap brand with low amps.

[MoNsTeR]

I don't think  any card that uses under 300W in a machine will play CoD4....

and Max, if 125 fps is what Cod4 recommends, I'd like to see a monitor company that can make something run at 125 hertz, because thats the only way you would see the 125 fps take any effect. ie. you have a monitor that runs at 60hz, any fps higher than 60 will make no difference in the smoothness of the game. I think something above 30 is almost required for a twitch fps, something like mid 50's to low 60's, but a 125 standard is way too much. Maximum refresh rates for most CRT's are 85hz, and most LCD's are 75hz(depending on resolution and size).

Now as for this graphics problem, go for the Quadro FX 5600. lol j/k, I think you may be out of luck. But most 500watt power supplies are free after mail in rebates, check places like newegg.

[waterboy65]

Its not watts that matter as much as amps you can get a cheap 600 watt psu with 15 amps on the 12v and it will EXPLODE if you put in a high end gfx card. If the 300 watt psu has 18 amps it can run the 3850.

on another note the higher fps the better. 120+ is pretty good, but by no means a standard. I would say 30 fps (which is what tv's use) is the unwritten quality standard. anything below 30fps will look choppy.

Also, my lcd went to 200hertz and so did my crt no problem.

[Danger]

I found an 8500 GT for $50 AFTER shipping costs >>HERE<< It only requires the 300W so that checks out. But is this a reliable brand for graphics cards?

[Ediseye]

PNY is actually a good brand for the money. By no means is it a gamers choice or anything, it does a good job for the price. Most people that work with computers would rather go with EVGA, XFX, BFG, or others, but a PNY card isn't bad. I personally wouldn't buy the brand if I had the choice, but if I was looking for a low cost solution for a computer that wasn't my main, I possibly would. But disregarding my personal taste, you can trust the brand PNY.

And by the way, the card states that it requires a minimum of 300W. It doesn't only require 300W.

I also found it at Newegg, for a little more than the site that you listed. But obviously, they give you 3 day shipping, which is free right now.