graphics card recommendation sought.

[jimmy_lazers]

Bonjour. I've just got my 939 3400+ based setup working again after one year and am looking for a gfx card to run left4dead2. That and oblivion and the fallout 3 expansion pack will be my total gaming for the next year.

So cheapest gfx that'll run this lot nicely on the samsung t220 that I plan to get. My mobo is nvidia sli but I don't fancy sli'ing cuz of the noise.

Obviously my cpu is not the newest so no point getting a card that makes me suspect its a massive (small?) bottleneck. I will get an x2 if I see one around.

I know F'all about pixel shaders and all taht jazz.

Anyway, many blessing on those who advise.

 

[pcpietrek]

I have played Fallout and Oblivion on 8800gt. You can have second hand 8800gt for around 40.

 

[kerrgreg]

4870 prefered option

48501gb cheaper

4770 cheaper still if you can find them

 

[jimmy_lazers]

That's perfect thanks.

 

[reflux]

4870 prefered option

48501gb cheaper

4770 cheaper still if you can find them

This basically. Avoid X2s as your PC is likely to slow to take any advantage of one, plus you need a beefy power supply. Any of the above cards will be good to run any of the games you've mentioned quite nicely.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

Thanks for the heads up reflux. I see Fx55 are appearing on the market i'll wait for those. My psu is 580w that's fine for those ati's right?

 

[Sasahara]

No more than a 9800 GT or HD4770 Both would be slightly bottlenecked.

BUT given the price of the HD4770 you might as well get a 4850.

Before you buy any new card make sure your 939 Mobo can take PCI-E 2.0 cards, there are a few old boards that won't run them.

If that's the case, your best option would be a nice 2nd hand 8800 GTX.

 

[reflux]

Ah by X2 I meant Radeon X2..... as far as the CPU goes an Athlon X2 would definitely be a good idea although socket 939 X2s are very thin on the ground these days I believe. T

A 580w PSU should be good for any of them although bear in mind the 4870 needs two PCI-E connectors.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

My mobo is a gigabyte ga-k8n-sli. Having trouble finding info on its compatibility with pci-e 2.0...

 

[jimmy_lazers]

My mobo is indeed compatible with pci-e 2.0 cards. Which is nice.
Thanks for the advice. Blessings conferred.

 

[fizzle-187]

Look for a 2nd hand 8800GTX.

 

[jimmy_lazers]

Well I got a 4850 1gb in the end. And it plays everything beautifully at 1980x1050 except oblivion which is a bit jumpy outdoors but perfectly playable.