Recommend a video card to me...

[Malux]

I have an ATI x1300 and i've been pretty happy with it until i got a new monitor whose resolution is 1920x1080. My only gripe is I can't watch hulu full screen without lag some video.

I know it's not my internet connection (i get about 12-17megabit) and I can see some chop on the video. So, I think I need a new card. It's odd though, you'd think a card with 256 meg would handle video just fine.

I'd like a quiet card, ati preferrably and something with the added oomph (that word so should be in the dictionary). Any recommendations? Noise is really the most important factor for me.

I don't play a lot of games and I don't mind buying an "older" card to get what i need.

Thanks!

[Radiator]

The X1300 card is REALLY weak and 1920x1200 resolution is OVERKILL for it .
And what do you mean by hulu , a game or what ? As for video playback , that's strange... even a weakling card should have no problems playing videos .
PCI-e or AGP ? Either way , I'd suggest a HD 3450 , quiet , good for a HTPC .
You don't do ANY gaming at all , right ? 'Cause that card is RUBBISH , when it comes to gaming .

[Malux]

The X1300 card is REALLY weak and 1920x1200 resolution is OVERKILL for it .
And what do you mean by hulu , a game or what ? As for video playback , that's strange... even a weakling card should have no problems playing videos .
PCI-e or AGP ? Either way , I'd suggest a HD 3450 , quiet , good for a HTPC .
You don't do ANY gaming at all , right ? 'Cause that card is RUBBISH , when it comes to gaming .

hulu is a video site with TV shows (see hulu.com). I've been researching the hulu issue and it seems to be an issue with the flash player rather than the video card. Lots of folks seem to have a problem.

As for gaming, I play america's army and i get around 30fps at 1280x1024 with the x1300. is the 3450 the right card for me in that case?

[-RK]

Well, for your uses the 3450 or 4350 should do just fine.

Is it PCI-express or AGP? The 4350 will outperform the 3450, but I don't know that they are making them for AGP.

[Malux]

Well, for your uses the 3450 or 4350 should do just fine.

Is it PCI-express or AGP? The 4350 will outperform the 3450, but I don't know that they are making them for AGP.

Here's my rig
Pentium D 3.0 Ghz
2 GB RAM
x1300 PCIE 256 mb ram
SB audigy 2 sound card

[Radiator]

Well , since you do SOME gaming , I can't recommend that card...
Get yourself a HD 4670 or something then ... or a HD 4770 , if you can find it for a good price .

[entropy13]

If you want to stick with ATI go with 4670, 4730 (coming soon?) or 4770, depending on the price. If you'll go to the other side you can get either a 9600GT or a 9800GT.

[Malux]

What do you think of:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009359

or

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009884

the second one seems silent (i don't even see a fan). Is HIS a good brand ?

tx

[entropy13]

Would your case be well ventilated? I don't think silence is worth it for THAT much of a difference in price. I mean, $30 for silence?

I see that this might be a good deal:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009503

Also, don't you want to try a different e-tailer? There's not much choice at your price point in zipzoomfly.

[Malux]

What do you think of:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009359

or

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009884

the second one seems silent (i don't even see a fan). Is HIS a good brand ?

tx

or the 4850! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161259

i like the silent 4670 even though less performance, but I htink that 4850 has a zalman cooler on it...seems like a faster card, but 512mb vs. 1gb on the 4670 you'd think the higher model card would have more ram...i think the 4670 would do for my needs. what do you think?

[entropy13]

or the 4850! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161259

i like the silent 4670 even though less performance, but I htink that 4850 has a zalman cooler on it...seems like a faster card, but 512mb vs. 1gb on the 4670 you'd think the higher model card would have more ram...i think the 4670 would do for my needs. what do you think?

How about this then? 4670 from Powercolor, quite silent cooler as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131128

[Malux]

that's a good deal too

What's up with the first comment on that one:

"onboard HDMI sound prevents my Sound Blaster X-Fi gamer card from being detected"

must be talking about his mobo.

So, should i go for the 4850 with 512 or the 4670 with 1gig?

[-RK]

Go with the 4850 or 4770 (I would go with the 4770 since it's so close in performance to the 4850 and it's got a slightly better price with lower power requirements.) if you want something in the upper midrange. Also, the 4670 won't use 1gb vram effectively so you would be better off going with a 512mb version of the card rather than spending the extra money.

[entropy13]

Go with the HIS 4850 then. 4770 availability is still a problem though.

[Malux]

Go with the 4850 or 4770 (I would go with the 4770 since it's so close in performance to the 4850 and it's got a slightly better price with lower power requirements.) if you want something in the upper midrange. Also, the 4670 won't use 1gb vram effectively so you would be better off going with a 512mb version of the card rather than spending the extra money.

i think i'll go with the 4850 since i'm doing 1920 x 1080. I'm seeing tearing with hulu flash videos when i'm doing fullscreen using my x1300

Strange thing is I don't see any tearing when i fullscreen windows media player. Go figure.

[-RK]

Tearing isn't caused by a lack of graphics power, it's caused by a discrepancy between the monitor's refresh rate and the rendered frame rate. I'm guessing Hulu runs videos at either 30, 28, or 24 frames per second. Try changing your refresh rate to an even multiple of those. (2x30=60hz, 4x24=96hz, etc.)

This would have the same effect as turning on vsync in a game, it's just synchronizing the frame rate with the refresh rate.

Seriously man, for your apps you don't need the extra horsepower. You would be just fine even with a current generation low end card unless you're going to pick up gaming.

[Malux]

well, i'm going to go with the 4850 but, guess what, I have a 430 watt psu. Any recommendations on a 550W PSU. Quiet is what I'm looking for :)

by the way, i do plan on doing some gaming and i run at 1080p constant...

I can't believe i have to upgrade a psu for a video card, that's just nuts

[Radiator]

well, i'm going to go with the 4850 but, guess what, I have a 430 watt psu. Any recommendations on a 550W PSU. Quiet is what I'm looking for :)

by the way, i do plan on doing some gaming and i run at 1080p constant...


Fortron makes good PSU's , I'd look into their products , if I were you .


I can't believe i have to upgrade a psu for a video card, that's just nuts
What's so bleeding hard to believe ? Decent video cards require ELECTRICITY .
Mid-low end cards do not require a lot of energy , mid-high end cards do , let alone high end cards .

[Malux]

Fortron makes good PSU's , I'd look into their products , if I were you

How about coolermaster:
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=23&product_id=2730

[-RK]

For a decent PSU at a decent price I'd have to recommend looking at Rosewill or Kingwin PSUs, with Rosewill winning out slightly (in my experience) in quality.

Really... you shouldn't skimp on the PSU, it's the one place in a PC you just can't afford to cut costs on. The worst case scenario in a bad PSU is that it fries ALL of your other components.

Coolermaster makes some excellent PSUs, and it looks like that one isn't an exception.


A list of good PSU manufacturers... in order best quality to lowest from my experiences. (It's subjective - I know)

Silverstone - Absolutely top quality in everything they seem to make - but extremely expensive.
Thermaltake - pretty close for a better price usually.
Corsair - about on par with Thermaltake for PSUs.
FSP Group (Fortron) - Usually pretty good for a damn good price.
Rosewill - same deal as FSP group.
Kingwin - I've still got a Kingwin PSU powering my old 939 rig... it's been going strong for more than 3 years with pretty heavy overclocking. They're usually a little below Rosewill PSUs from what I've built/replaced.

[Malux]

For a decent PSU at a decent price I'd have to recommend looking at Rosewill or Kingwin PSUs, with Rosewill winning out slightly (in my experience) in quality.

Really... you shouldn't skimp on the PSU, it's the one place in a PC you just can't afford to cut costs on. The worst case scenario in a bad PSU is that it fries ALL of your other components.

Coolermaster makes some excellent PSUs, and it looks like that one isn't an exception.


A list of good PSU manufacturers... in order best quality to lowest from my experiences. (It's subjective - I know)

Silverstone - Absolutely top quality in everything they seem to make - but extremely expensive.
Thermaltake - pretty close for a better price usually.
Corsair - about on par with Thermaltake for PSUs.
FSP Group (Fortron) - Usually pretty good for a damn good price.
Rosewill - same deal as FSP group.
Kingwin - I've still got a Kingwin PSU powering my old 939 rig... it's been going strong for more than 3 years with pretty heavy overclocking. They're usually a little below Rosewill PSUs from what I've built/replaced.

thanks for the extremely helpful post.

[-RK]

You are quite welcome sir, I hope it helps.

[deanoman]

Hey All,

I'm new in the confusing area of video cards, I just want to make sure that I'm getting value for money and an actual upgrade.

Can I please get some recommendations for a new GPU?

I'm needing a new GPU, I currently have an Nvidia 8800GTS. The box I have says "Winfast PX8800 GTS TDH".

The specs for my current card are in this screenshot:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CCcumxCV7iRgXxSJba7gog?authkey=Gv1sRgCM3vwsXsj9fOH Q&feat=directlink

I've always used Nvidia cards in the past but am interested in making the switch to ATI as I've heard good things.

My budget is around 400 Australian dollars (~322.96 U.S. dollars).

Cards I'm looking at:
--------------------

http://www.amd.com/uk/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/hd-4890/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-4890-overview.aspx

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Review/147763,ati-radeon-hd-4890-superb-performance-at-a-reasonable-price.aspx

http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_D-4890OC-DT-1024D5-AC_proddesc_Amaze_ATI_HD4890_Overclocked_PCI-E_2.0_1GB_256-bit_GDDR5_900_4000MHz_Dual_Link_DVI_HDCP_HDT.html

http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_D-11150-04-42R_proddesc_Sapphire_HD4890_1G_DDR5_OC_1G_256Bit_ GDDR5_PCIE_2_DVI_TVO_HDMI_HDCP_Dual_Slot_OC.html

Replies will be much appreciated :D

[hdantman]

Bud, start a new post/thread. It'll get more attention, and it won't clutter up this fellow's post.

[Malux]

You are quite welcome sir, I hope it helps.

Sigh, my PSU just died (i think). It's either that or the mobo. I've noticed recently that when I power the PC down it has a difficult time powering back up. But if it's on it stays on.

Well, the other day it powered down and now it won't post. I think (and hope) it's just the PSU. The fans come on, the hard drives sound like they're spinning up, but that's all that happens. It never makes it to the bios screen...no beeps, nothing.

Sometimes, I'll press the button, the fans spin up and then shutdown. I noticed this scenario happens only when I unplug the computer for a while, plug it back in and press the button..

Hoping it's the PSU...I ordered a new PSU and video card (i've been wanting to upgrade the video card anyway). Here's what I got:

Thermaltake 700W PSU (link) (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010190&prodlist=celebros)
HIS Radeon 4850 (link) (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009207&prodlist=celebros)

I really don't want to get a new mobo...

[-RK]

That sucks man, but those are some pretty good choices. You might be paying a bit too much for that video card, you can get 4850s for $100 if you look around a bit, otherwise they should do you just fine.

[Malux]

That sucks man, but those are some pretty good choices. You might be paying a bit too much for that video card, you can get 4850s for $100 if you look around a bit, otherwise they should do you just fine.

there's a $20 rebate on the HIS card (forgot to mention that). Also, i liked the HIS version because it's overclocked to 650 and it has the ICEQ cooler which keeps the noise under 40db even under full load. Noise was a big factor for me.

[Malux]

as it turns out, the PSU's 4-pin 12V connector that plugs onto the MOBO was fried.

Strange, I unplugged and plugged the connector and the computer came up. I'm replacing the PSU anyway.

I brought the computer up and did an internal and external backup (i'm fanatical about backing up and my last backup was 2 days old).

Should be in good shape until the new equipment arrives.