Video Card Upgrade Help needed, please :)

[Kitty]

Thank you, Sagath :) Right now I'm only seeing ones that are $110-ish after MIR but the up-front payment is a bit much, and I definitely can't afford that at the moment.

You all are so full of information, and I really appreciate it! I'll take some more time to look into finding the cards everyone suggested at a decent/sale price, or perhaps wait a couple of weeks in case of Christmas sales. At least now I know what kinds of cards to look for! :)

[_dangtx_]

if you look you can find ati 5770 around the 100 dollar mark, there was one or two actually on rfd, not sure here.

[_dangtx_]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

if you look you can find ati 5770 around the 100 dollar mark, there was one or two actually on rfd, not sure here.

edit yup, there was a 103 dollar gts 450. good deal

[2di4u]

I just got the MSI 460 STX Tallon Attack for 214 bucks. It blows away my old ATI 4850. And I haven't even tried to oc it yet. I hear theres cards, when properly oced, are better performers than the GTX 470 cards. Not srue of that, but I needed a new card for my home theatre setup, so I grabbed this one. Not sure if it was a great deal or if I would be better going with an ATI card again......HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[dustin1706]

$100 is a really tough price point for a new card. The best value in that range will end up being a 450 or 5770 I think.

If you could come up with $200, you would have a lot more options.

If you are strapped for cash, I would try baking your 9600 (do a search for video card baking). I saved one of my 8800GTXs that way and you have nothing to lose but some time. Especially since you really won't get much of an upgrade for $100.

[xinhang]

Get used 5770 for $90-100. It is a good card. OR wait couple of months until 6850 drop to 140 used

[Kitty]

I've considered baking it, but would I have to buy a "thermal paste" or something? I've seen it mentioned but have never handled it or seen it. I don't know too much about that stuff, since the most I've ever done is put a computer together and put parts in/take them out.

It's definitely a tough price point, but I will be pushing it by spending $100 - and it's the absolute most I can do right now, especially since the fan seems to have broken on the replacement card I was using. It's been making this awful grinding/whirring noise despite cleaning it out, reseating it, etc. My computer seems to hate video cards.

Question:

Are there some decent budget cards (not an upgrade nor equal to 9600, but good for gaming & digital art) for around maybe $40-80? I might pick up a card tomorrow if only to just replace my replacement card. I can worry about upgrading later, but I'd rather have some card than no computer (I don't think my mobo has integrated graphics, and the I/O panel doesn't have a plug for the monitor without a video card).

I'm browsing through canadacomputers and there are lots of cards in the $40-80 range but I feel overwhelmed. I don't want something completely awful, but it doesn't have to be super-great either. Just something to get me by for games and art, and until I can save up enough to get a proper upgrade.

For example: I see a Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB for $61.99, and from the numbers it seems similar to the $64.99 nVidia card on my first post. Are either of those good for what I need right now, or for a budget card is something else better?

I'm so confused, sorry for all the questions.

[_dangtx_]

dont think you'll find something in that price tag worthy of upgrade. just look for a deal on a 260,5770 or the like, as per above :)
better to save a bit more than just get something to go on the net with

[ZZLEE]

Watch Ncix at 9 PM the sale will change Thursday 9 PM. Futershop will have deals on Thursday only.

Its called black Friday there should be some major good sales on Thursday and Friday this week.
Amarcans don't Cristmas shop until Thankgiving 25 November.

[ilya]

I'd bake your video card, you'll need to replace the thermal paste but you can get some stuff dirt cheap online at places like DX. But it seems like you need something now, so I'd get the cheapest paste I could get at NCIX or something.
NCIX.com - Buy GELID GC-EXTREME Thermal Compound 3.5 Grams With Applicator - TC-GC-03-A In Canada.
The stuff linked above is really good and comes in a pretty big tube, not to mention it's way overkill for what you'll need it for, but hey it's 5 bucks.

If baking fails, you really just have 2 options, get a used 260/5770 for cheap or get a low end card. Something like the 430 should be able to manage well enough as long as you're not expecting any real performance. I'm not sure what kind of digital art you'll be doing, but you should be able to get playable framerates for most games as long as you crank down the settings.
Zotac GT430 at Amazon, PM it at NCIX, you'll get the MIR. (which is USD BTW and mailed out of BC) That's $69+tax-$20USD, well within your budget.