A Tale of two videos

[HiBaller]

I need a little help here. I've decided to upgrade the video card in one of my computers (Compaq Presario CQ5110F) that has a really low end, on-mobo, chipset.

What I want to do is put in either:

an EVGA GeForce 9500GT (1G RAM) and PSI-E 2.0

-or-

an ASUS GeForce GT220 (1G RAM) and PSI-E 2.0

Both are comparable in price ($70-$80) and have similar PSU requirements. The box it will go in has only 1 SATA drive in it and 1 DVD player/burner and they don't draw much. The current PSU is marked as being 300W but I have been in contact with a couple of people whom I trust and they say that for such a light hardware setup that the current PSU should suffice. I can get an upgrade plug-in replacement of 400W at about $60.

What I need to know is which video card would be the best, or is it just a tossup?

Thanks

Bill

 

[saintjimmy]

If you have to choose between those cards, then get the GT 220. But, if you can stretch your budget a little further, then I would recommend a faster ATI HD 4670 or 5670. And if you want to stick with getting an nVidia card, then I would say go for the GT 240. All those cards are faster than both a GT 220 or a 9500 GT.

Links to cards I recommend (ordered from slowest to fastest):
nVidia GT 220: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125295
ATI HD 4670: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855
nVidia GT 240: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162042
ATI HD 5670: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871

True that while the 5670 only has 512 MB, it uses the newest and fastest DDR5 memory standard, which is twice as fast as the same width (128 bit) GDDR3 memory.

 

[picture]

I have the ATI HD 4670, and I must say it was well worth every penny. My brother's computer has the EVGA GeForce 9500GT. Now have used Trainz on both computers, my graphics card seems to do better by a long shot.

 

[HiBaller]

Thank you both for the replies. I must say that the 240 does indeed look better to me. I do have a concern though about my current PSU. I can upgrade it though to a 400W unit.

Bill