Budget Card

[Silent Tristero]

What is, generally speaking, the cheapest ATi card I can buy that's still capable of reasonable gaming performance? I've seen 4670's, 4730's...maybe a 4770 at a stretch?

Since I won't be playing at particularly high resolutions, and my system budget is pretty low, I'm thinking about picking up a card for £50-65 to get me by for a while, before looking at a 4890, or possibly even a 57xx. There's also the possibility of Hybrid Crossfire with the integrated 4200 on the 785G AMD chipset, I believe.

 

[Banshee]

Are you using your curent system if so would be useful to see all the specs including power supply and its make. I would reccomend getting no less than a 9800GT for gaming and if your budget can stretch to it a 4770 is a good buy. I'm guessing 9800GTs may be available at a good price second hand these days too. I know you said ATi only but don't dismiss nvidia out of hand so easily you should get whatever is best for your budget.

 

[Sindri]

I currently use a 4670 and its plays cod4 at 1440x900 no problems (70+ fps). Also it draws a little amount of power as it doesn't require a 6 pin PCI-E cable.

 

[paininlife]

how about 8800 gtx???

 

[cmndr_andi]

Personlly, I wouldn't limit myself to ATI cards, Nvidia cards will work perfectly fine with an AMD chipset. Plus hybrid crossfire would only give marginal gains at best.

At that price range I would not look for a new card as they are all HEAVILY cut down versions of cards that currently cost £80-90. If you can't afford a 4850, GTS 250 or 9800gt then look for these cards second hand:

Nvidia

8800GTX
8800GTS (must be 512MB version)
8800GT
9800GTX
9800GT
9800GTX+
GTS 250

ATI

4830
4850
4870 (may be tough to find for your budget)

Pretty much all of these cards are regularly sold second-hand for prices within your budget (the 4870 may be a bit more). I suggest you keep a look out for these, and get one. They will be far better than any of the retail solutions in your budget.

 

[ZXSpectrum]

I agree.. look for a second hand 4850 or 88/9800 GT. You may even get a second hand GTS250 for that money?

If not surely cant be hard to save up another week or 2 to get a new GTS250 or 4850?

 

[Silent Tristero]

...

Well my aim was to have a system built in time for the release of Dragon Age: Origins, on Nov 6th. It's something I've been waiting for, for quite a long time. I'd prefer to be playing it on release day, on a PC, rather than settle for the console version

Many thanks for the recommendations, I'll start checking ebay and stuff.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Just had a look at the the OCUk clearance section, this caught my eye.

It even says it comes with the premium 2 year warranty, but you would have to check with OCUk if it is valid.

 

[b3aker]

I've got a 4670 and it works well for most of my games (Fallout3, Bioshock, Witcher) at 1680x1050 - having most stuff maxed out, also works fine with the psu that came with my pc so if you have a low powered one it's great!

 

[Silent Tristero]

...

Hmm that 4850 looks like a tempting purchase - and if not, then I think I've been suitably assured over the capability of the 4670, especially with games like Bioshock and Fallout 3 being mentioned (The sorts of games I'll be looking to play).