Cheapo PCI-E Graphics card

fozzybear · 30 Jan 2007 at 15:38

I'm downgrading from my 7800GTX and just need a cheap £20-£30 PCI-E card to allow me to run my TV Tuner. I very rarely play any games now hence my sale of the 7800GTX.

I've been looking at a Leadtek 7100GS for around £28.

What would you recommend?

Tute · 30 Jan 2007 at 15:58

You're best off just getting the cheapest card you can if you're not doing anything remotely intensive on it.

I'd say the 7100GS fits the bill pretty well.

fozzybear · 30 Jan 2007 at 16:01

Something like the 7100GS would still run Football Manager 2007 ok wouldn't it?

Aren't some budget cards better than others to use with Tv tuners?

tereu5 · 30 Jan 2007 at 20:43

Hi,
yesterday i bought on popular auction site 7300gt ddr3 from Galaxy and paid 33quid

is much better then 7100

Bennah · 30 Jan 2007 at 21:50

FM07 would be fine using a 7100GS. Im using a TI4200 atm on this rig and the other one Im using a X300 256MB to play FM07

Im in the same boat as you really, just wanted to get something that displayed a picture, got the X300 for £16 (£21inc

)

Cob · 30 Jan 2007 at 22:22

I got an x300se for £15 from the purple-shirted brigade just before Xmas and it was fine for FM2007. Even ran Vistas Aero.

It did the job fine while I waited for my X1950 Pro to arrive.

fozzybear · 31 Jan 2007 at 11:42

Right, i'm just getting a bog standard one for £22.

These are the same price, but which is the quicker?

64Mb (256Mb) XFX 6200LE Turbocache 333MHz GDDR, GPU 350MHz, 2 Pipes

or

64Mb XFX 6200 TurboCache Mem 700 MHz, GPU 350 MHz, 4 Pipes.

Or shall i toss a coin and get either?

oweneades · 31 Jan 2007 at 11:46

The second one is *quicker* as its not a LE (light edition read as cut down).

However the X300 would still be better.

Lanz · 31 Jan 2007 at 11:48

X300 wont be better, not for watching TV. As the 6200 can use Purevideo.

fozzybear · 31 Jan 2007 at 12:00

oweneades said:
The second one is *quicker* as its not a LE (light edition read as cut down).

It's like saying that a snail is faster than a slug!

So, i should definitely go for the non-LE then?

Lanz · 31 Jan 2007 at 12:07

Yeah, it'll be like a young, fit slug, compared to a old, deseased slug that's trying to slither through some salt.

fozzybear · 31 Jan 2007 at 12:13

Lanz said:
Yeah, it'll be like a young, fit slug, compared to a old, deseased slug that's trying to slither through some salt.

OK, cheers for the advice.

oweneades · 31 Jan 2007 at 14:01

fozzybear said:
It's like saying that a snail is faster than a slug!

So, i should definitely go for the non-LE then?

Yup, they are both slow for gaming purposes but should be fine for normal use. (I didn't realise the 6200 has purevideo)

fozzybear · 31 Jan 2007 at 15:07

I've got the 64Mb XFX 6200 TurboCache Mem 700 MHz, GPU 350 MHz, 4 Pipes in the end. It just seemed silly having the 7800GTX in there when i very rarely play any graphic intensive games anymore.

oweneades said:
(I didn't realise the 6200 has purevideo)

It definitely does. It says so on the box anyway. That was why i didn't really want an ATI.

It's also passively cooled so i can't wait to how much quieter my machine is.

melbourne720 · 31 Jan 2007 at 15:16

Lanz said:
Yeah, it'll be like a young, fit slug, compared to a old, deseased slug that's trying to slither through some salt.

Quote of the week. 1 vote

Bennah · 31 Jan 2007 at 17:39

How much system memory you got?

The 6200 that you've got will take some of it for it to be able to run.

Thats the reason I didnt go for the turbocache cards.

fozzybear · 1 Feb 2007 at 16:59

Bennah said:
How much system memory you got?

The 6200 that you've got will take some of it for it to be able to run.

Thats the reason I didnt go for the turbocache cards.

I've got a gig.

Something strange is happening when i'm watching Sky Sports News. Before, when using the 7800gtx, the horizontal SSN scroll bar scrolled smoothly. Now with the 6200, it's really jerky and flickery.

Any ideas why this could be?

Lanz · 1 Feb 2007 at 20:33

That is to do with your refresh rate. Pal is 25fps, so for that scrolly to run smoothly you need your screen to run at either 50hz or 75hz. Most HDTVs run at 60hz on their DVI or HDMI, they rarely work at 50hz unless you use powerstrip or the nvidia advanced timings bit.

fozzybear · 6 Feb 2007 at 18:25

Lanz said:
That is to do with your refresh rate. Pal is 25fps, so for that scrolly to run smoothly you need your screen to run at either 50hz or 75hz. Most HDTVs run at 60hz on their DVI or HDMI, they rarely work at 50hz unless you use powerstrip or the nvidia advanced timings bit.

Sorry to not get back sooner.

The freeview is on my CRT and was fine when using the 7800gtx. It's just since i changed to the 6200 that it's started looking a bit dodgy.

Dureth · 6 Feb 2007 at 19:44

It might still be that with the 7800 you had your monitor refresh rate set to 75hz and now with the new card its at 60 or 85hz. It's worth checking.