Decent cheap video card

J

Jokel317

Member
I seen there`s tons of video card topics. But nothing on decent cheap ones. I currently got a Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT 1 GB and I believe it`s dying. I get minor to moderate artifacting and crashes once in a while. I was wondering what you would suggest around the $60-70 range? Preferably if possible something that is bit better than the 9500 if that`s even possible for the price range. My current system specs Computer: Acer T180, Windows Vista Home Basic 32 bit, 2.5 GB DDR2 ram, AMD Athlon X2 4000 dual core 2.3 GHz. EchoStar 450 watt PSU. Please bare with me. I'm definitely aware it`s a older system my friend gave me. To replace a non upgradeable HP Pavilion S135 Slimline mini tower. Since I did not have the resources to replace it with anything better. I currently run Trainz 2009 SP4 on the system now.
 
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On a side note the artifacts don`t alway`s stay they usually seem to appear in certain parts and like certain camera angles seem to cause them. I can turn the camera and make them go a way till I go back to the certain spots and angles again. I don`t have a AGP slot only PCI-E. Ive monitored the GPU temperature in a few games. In Trainz alone it does`nt seem to really peak over 65 C. The highest it`s ever really registered is 71-72 C. But that`s not in Trainz. Do you think the thermal paste would be worthwhile trying in that case? thank`s for the response.
 
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When you say you have 2.5 GB RAM do you mean you have 4GB but only 2.5 GB showing? The ACER specs for your PC say
Memory
256MB DDR2 533/667/800 SDRAM expandable to 4GB
 
if the cooler can be removed without much hassle its sure worth trying , i bet the paste has dried out or is hardened like toothpaste .
 
I have 2.5 GB of system ram installed 3 512 and 1 GB chips. Ill take a look at the card. I noticed on the sides of the GPU there was a excessive layer. I took some of it and spreaded it out to cover the whole GPU instead of just the sides.
 
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Jokel317 said:
Thank you John for the response will look into that.
Click to expand...

Be aware if you switch from nVidia to AMD or the other way round you will either have to reinstall the operating system or take some action to remove all traces of old drivers from the system otherwise you won't get good performance.

Cheerio John
 
Check out the GT430 cards at newegg.com. They have around a dozen different brands to choose from. My MSI version has no problems with TRAINZ 10 (no stutter, no lag). You may need more RAM though. I have 4+ GB of RAM and it does make a difference in overall performance
 
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Jokel317 said:
Thank you I been eying the GT430 cards. They seem to be decent do you think there better than the 9500 series ?
Click to expand...

Thing to watch out for is the power consumption. If your power supply is brand name then you can probably trust its power rating, if not it could be a bit optimistic. The Max TDP value in the Toms review is important, you want to keep this value as low as possible for a given performance which means typically looking for lower process value. I note your power supply is available for around $15 so I wouldn't take its rating too seriously.

I'd look at the Radeon HD 5770/6770 cards or the Radeon HD 6670, the latter would seem to be about the same price as the GT 430 but with very low TDP.

Cheerio John
 
Since you have a nvidia card presently installed, it is best to stick with nvidia drivers to avoid potential conflicts. My Gt430 uses 30W under full load as measured with a watt meter. You cannot get much lower and still have a viable graphics card. As I stated previously, no stutter, no lag. If the OP has any problem running TRAINZ, it will due to insufficient RAM, not the GT430.

tomurban
 
Ill probably go with the GT430 since im very familiar with Nvidia products. Ill also work on upgrading the ram to the max 4 GBs as I plan on upgrading to TS2010 in the future. If it can run other games on low and medium settings im very fine with that as well. Thank`s for the responses.

@Tomurban Is this like your card ? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Video Cards-_-ASUS-_-14121471&AID=10440897&PID=3962334&SID=
 
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Nope, This is my card. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-nVidia-...+FICS+UFI+IIUM&otn=10&pmod=300667115612&ps=54

Note that it is factory OC. Using the nvidia software I have it OC @ 800MHz. It has been running that way since last April. I would stay away from the 64 bit cards. 128 bit are only a few bucks more. NOTE: The card I have referenced is a low profile version (which I need for my Lenovo SSF desktop). I got mine from newegg, but I see it is no longer listed there. NOTE the 3 year warranty. If you decide to purchase be sure to get the latest drivers direct from nVidia. (295.73 I believe)

tomurban
 
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Great: Let us know how it goes. Note: I had to remove the fan shroud from mine due to tight clearances in the SSF case. Probably runs cooler that way anyhow.
 
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