Jump to content


Photo

Video Card Recommendation

Started By C4Tech, Nov 27 2011 01:34 PM

  • Please log in to reply
12 replies to this topic

#1 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 27 November 2011 - 01:34 PM

My son has an old Dell tower running XP. He uses it for older simulator games which don't run well on Windows 7. He;d like to upgrade the video card to improve the performance and level of details in his games.

Here are the current specs:
- Code 2 6300 1.8ghz
- 2GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 7300LE with 512MB
- XP home
- Single 19" monitor

What ATI or Nvidia card would you recommend for this system? We're hoping to keep the cost below $100

Thanks.....brian

#2 pcdoc

pcdoc

    HSS Legend

  • Moderators
  • 3,559 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, California

Posted 27 November 2011 - 03:27 PM

In that price range I would go with something like this (or any other 6770). If you can swing another $30, look at the 6790. The other recommendation I would make is to update you RAM. 2 gigs is starving any system so you are not fully exploiting the CPU. Lastly, for gaming, consider doing a fresh install of WIndows 7, it will do a better job and provide better driver support.



Good:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161387

Better:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150564

Even Better:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102908

Main Server - WHS 2011, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5 (5x3T) + 2T of Mirror + 2T of backup
Second Server - 2008R2, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5
Main Systems - Core I7-2600k, 16 Gigs DDR3-1600, 180 Gig Intel 330 SSD Max IOPS 240 Gig Vertex 3, 2T Sata 3 for local Backup
Other systems - Core I7-2600, Core I3-530's, Core I5-2500, Core I7-920, Core I3-2100, and G620 (see System List)
My Blogs - The Docs Blog and Tablet Resource
BYOB Videos - TheBYOBPodcast
For a complete system List: Computer Systems

#3 no-control

no-control

    HSS Elite

  • BYOB Podcasters
  • 1,740 posts
  • LocationSoCal

Posted 27 November 2011 - 06:58 PM

^^^
Yup
VISIT MY NEW BLOG

Main Rig - i3-3225, H60, ASRock H77 mITX, 8GB G.Skill RJX, R6970 Lighting, 256GB M4 SSD, WD 500GB, Seasonic x650, CM Elite 210, Dell U3011 w/ 2x 2007fp PLP - W7 -|-
HTPC - G620, Big Shuriken, ASRock H77M , 4GB OCZ, 128GB G.Skill Falcon, .5TB WD CB, Sony BD-R, Corsair CX400, LianLi C37B - W7 -|-
VM Server - i3-3220, Z77-D3H, 32GB G.Skill, 250GB OS, 3x3TB WD GP R5, 4x300GB WD VR R0, Corsair CX430, Fractal R3 - WS2012 -|-
Lenovo Yoga 13 | Surface RT | HTC Titan
Find me on the internet

#4 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 27 November 2011 - 07:17 PM

>> 2 gigs is starving any system so you are not fully exploiting the CPU.

He will be staying with XP since many of the games have not been updated for Windows 7. Is XP starving with 2GB?

Thanks for your suggestions. I found the same cards at newegg Canada (newegg.ca) actually with bigger rebates.
Are there any Nvidia recommendations?

...thanks again....brian

#5 pcdoc

pcdoc

    HSS Legend

  • Moderators
  • 3,559 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, California

Posted 28 November 2011 - 12:23 AM

>> 2 gigs is starving any system so you are not fully exploiting the CPU.

He will be staying with XP since many of the games have not been updated for Windows 7. Is XP starving with 2GB?

Thanks for your suggestions. I found the same cards at newegg Canada (newegg.ca) actually with bigger rebates.
Are there any Nvidia recommendations?

...thanks again....brian


Sure, I would go with a GTS 450 (any brand, I am just partial to EVGA). As for the RAM, I would still max it out under XP (3Gig) as it is more to do with the games with the OS. I have never seen a system run very well with only 2 gigs. Just my two cents.



http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130663

Main Server - WHS 2011, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5 (5x3T) + 2T of Mirror + 2T of backup
Second Server - 2008R2, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5
Main Systems - Core I7-2600k, 16 Gigs DDR3-1600, 180 Gig Intel 330 SSD Max IOPS 240 Gig Vertex 3, 2T Sata 3 for local Backup
Other systems - Core I7-2600, Core I3-530's, Core I5-2500, Core I7-920, Core I3-2100, and G620 (see System List)
My Blogs - The Docs Blog and Tablet Resource
BYOB Videos - TheBYOBPodcast
For a complete system List: Computer Systems

#6 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 30 November 2011 - 06:36 PM

Thanks gain for the suggestions. Upon further research I discovered these cards are too powerful for my son's system. He only has a 375watt PSU and these cards require 450-500watts.

Is there something less powerful which would perform significantly better than the 7300LE that he has today?
.....brian

#7 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 03 December 2011 - 12:03 PM

We decided to upgrade the power supply and purchased an EVGA GTS450 ( http://www.canadacom...&item_id=033349 )
Install went well an my son's new bus simulator finally works!
Thanks PcDoc for your help!

....brian

#8 ikon

ikon

    HSS Genius

  • Donating Member
  • 8,530 posts

Posted 03 December 2011 - 01:04 PM

Install went well an my son's new bus simulator finally works!


Bus simulator? Like in School Bus?

If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.

#9 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 03 December 2011 - 01:36 PM

My son loves buses and trucks. The gape he just purchased is Bus and Cable Car Simulator
http://www.excalibur...buscablecar.htm
I think he has pretty much every bus simulator there is. He loves this one too
http://www.omnibussi....de/english.htm
It works well but all the routes and money is German.
.....brian

#10 ImTheTypeOfGuy

ImTheTypeOfGuy

    HSS Master

  • Donating Member
  • 2,341 posts
  • LocationhOUston

Posted 03 December 2011 - 02:07 PM

You should have him try train simulators.
ITTOG


- WHS V1: Dell XPS 420; Quad Core @ 2.66 GHz; 4 GB RAM
- S2008R2: Lian Li PC-A70F, EVGA X58 3X SLI, i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz; 12 GB RAM, 2 x 250 GB WD Black Caviar in IcyDock Enclosure with Raid 1, EVGA GeForce GT 240, 12TB RAID5
- HTPC: Silverstone Lascala, Gigabyte GA-H55-USB3, i3 530 @ 2.93 GHz, 4 GB Ram, 60 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, 12TB RAID5
- Personal Desktop: Lian Li PC-9F, ASUS Sabertooth P67, i7 2600k @ 4.1 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 2 x 120 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD's in Raid 0, EVGA GTX580
- Kids Desktop: Dell Dimension 8400 Pentium 4 560, 3.6GHz, 2 GB RAM - Lets not forget this beauty!
- Other Devices: iPad, Boxee Box, XBox's, PS3, Wii, and HP TouchPad

#11 ikon

ikon

    HSS Genius

  • Donating Member
  • 8,530 posts

Posted 03 December 2011 - 05:25 PM

My son loves buses and trucks. The gape he just purchased is Bus and Cable Car Simulator
http://www.excalibur...buscablecar.htm
I think he has pretty much every bus simulator there is. He loves this one too
http://www.omnibussi....de/english.htm
It works well but all the routes and money is German.
.....brian


OK, this is a completely new category of 'gaming' for me; I would never have thought of making a bus simulator, and I'm even more surprised a kid enjoys them. Boy, am I out of touch.

If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.

#12 C4Tech

C4Tech

    HSS Member

  • Members
  • 21 posts

Posted 03 December 2011 - 05:55 PM

He has at least 2 train simulators including Microsoft Train Simulator (which doesn't seem to work too well on Win7 which is why he still has his old desktop with XP)
He also plays Horse games (Hosez and Horsez2 plus many others)

#13 pcdoc

pcdoc

    HSS Legend

  • Moderators
  • 3,559 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles, California

Posted 03 December 2011 - 11:25 PM

We decided to upgrade the power supply and purchased an EVGA GTS450 ( http://www.canadacom...&item_id=033349 )
Install went well an my son's new bus simulator finally works!
Thanks PcDoc for your help!

....brian


Congrats. I am sure your son will be happy.

Main Server - WHS 2011, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5 (5x3T) + 2T of Mirror + 2T of backup
Second Server - 2008R2, Core I5-2500, 12T RAID 5
Main Systems - Core I7-2600k, 16 Gigs DDR3-1600, 180 Gig Intel 330 SSD Max IOPS 240 Gig Vertex 3, 2T Sata 3 for local Backup
Other systems - Core I7-2600, Core I3-530's, Core I5-2500, Core I7-920, Core I3-2100, and G620 (see System List)
My Blogs - The Docs Blog and Tablet Resource
BYOB Videos - TheBYOBPodcast
For a complete system List: Computer Systems

Back to Gaming Builds


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

  1. HomeServerShow Forums
  2. → The BYOB Podcast and Hardware Forum
  3. → The Builders Forums
  4. → Gaming Builds