Good, Cheap GFX Card?

[deathsupport]

Hey guys, sorry to anyone who wanted to offer advice about powerful, expensive and kick-ass cards cause I'm working on a budget :)
Just returned from another semester at uni and for the next 4 months will be doing a coop and living at home. I don't have a desktop anymore (waiting for Sandybridge to buy all new parts) but have been craving gaming for a very long time lol.
I've got the 'home computer'- something shitty I put together for my mom before I left. It's got an E2160, 2x512MB DDR2 RAM (can swap 1 512MB DIMM for a 1GB but will lose dual-channel) and some miniATX ASRock motherboard. A gaming beast as you can see.
So I just need a card to tide me over. Not planning on playing anything too intense and the resolution isn't high either. Want to spend as little as possible since after I'm done with this card the hardest thing it will see is Tetris.
Considering: used 8800GT from forums (listed at $60), 9800GT from TD ($60 after rebate), GT 220 from DirectCanada/NCIX pricematch ($30 after rebate, and if anyone wants to explain the benefits of pricematching with NCIX instead of ordering from DirectCanada I'm all ears). Very open to suggestions.
Thanks

[Zero82z]

An 8800GT would be considerably faster than a GT 220, so that would be my choice out of the options you listed. Since you didn't mention a budget, there's not much else I can say, although it's unlikely that you'll find anything substantially better than an 8800GT for under $100. The next real step up would be a GTX 260, which will run you ~$120-130.

[deathsupport]

The 9800 is a rebranded 8800, right? I might as well buy from forums and save on tax then..

[Zero82z]

The 9800GT is a rebranded 8800GT, except with a 55nm GPU instead of 65nm. They tend to consume slightly less power and overclock slightly better.

[_dangtx_]

what power supply do you have in there? 8800gt doesn't requite much at full (gaming) load but still a no name 300 watter wont do :)


get another 1gb stick or source a cheap arse 2x2 667 or 800 mhz. you wont oc anyway. e2160 not oc'ed will be a bit of a pain..but youll manage. what asrock board is that? you might want to consider an fsb mod if it indeed dont oc fer crop!

[technix]

Originally Posted by Zero82z

The 9800GT is a rebranded 8800GT, except with a 55nm GPU instead of 65nm. They tend to consume slightly less power and overclock slightly better.

I'm pretty sure the 9800GT series has both 55nm and 65nm cards. I'm wondering how would one tell. There's 512mb and 1gb cards, too, so does that matter at all?

What if the monitor being used has a res of 1680 x 1050? Does going to a 1gb card give a better chance of it being a 55nm card and significant boost at performance or just moderate compared to a 512mb version?

[_dangtx_]

usually by p/n but even then, used best bet would be gpuz or something. the difference doesnt seem much, at least in the first samples i saw.

later pci-e connector less cards are undervolted and such and those will see lower power consumption, at least measurable

[Kilauea]

You'd also need to check what the PSU is and how much room you've got for a GPU. I got a GT240 DDR5 for my gf and it does the job... Its not too big, its power requirements is only a 300W PSU, with no 6pin power connector. In terms of performance, its a little below an 8800GT I believe.

[technix]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

usually by p/n but even then, used best bet would be gpuz or something. the difference doesnt seem much, at least in the first samples i saw.

later pci-e connector less cards are undervolted and such and those will see lower power consumption, at least measurable

I also read if you take off the heatsink and thermal compound, you can locate the serial number that indicates which one? I wouldn't go to that much trouble though!

I was just wondering if there were benchmarks that many people know by now indicating whether 512mb or 1gb makes any sort of difference with 1680x1050 resolution. I figure HD or 1080p / 1920 x 1080 will for 1gb but I don't know whether 16:10 res does or not.

I was also wondering about folding. I know this is veering off topic but a 9800GT is fine for folding, right? Whereas, a comparable ATI card or even a newer Evergreen card isn't so much?

I even read that I could use a Nvidia card in Linux for folding but not an ATI card?!? Although, I could perhaps use VirtualBox and I could fold in a virtual Windows OS?!? Anyone know??? lol

Originally Posted by Kilauea

You'd also need to check what the PSU is and how much room you've got for a GPU. I got a GT240 DDR5 for my gf and it does the job... Its not too big, its power requirements is only a 300W PSU, with no 6pin power connector. In terms of performance, its a little below an 8800GT I believe.

My PSU is a Corsair HX520. You can just search my posts as I'm asking a lot about video cards recently and provided this info. :)

[_dangtx_]

too much hassle
at that rez i would have to say not, but maybe a game or two will show some improvements
folding seems to make good use of extra ram, even o na lower end card