A buddy of mine is kicking around the idea of buying a gpu for his pc. He is currently USING the onboard video. I hellped him build this pc a couple years ago and these are his specs I think.

ASUS M2NBP-VM CSM Socket AM2 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 210S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
SeaSonic S12-330 ATX12V 330W Power Supply
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
OCZ Gold 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
PHILIPS 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner – Retail


He is running Vista also I think. He is going to add 2 gigs of memory also.

My first thought was to make sure he gets a directX10 compatible card. I don't know if that is necessary or not, but as he is using Vista, I thought it would be a good idea. I am sure he will want to keep the cost below $75 for the card.

My next thought was WHY did we use such a small power supply??? It is a good quality ps, but I am not sure if 330 watts is going to cut it.

Any suggestions?

ps: the MB does have a PCI Express x16 slot available.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125253
That seems to be a decent ATI card. Not really an ATI FAN though, so I might be wrong.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121274
There's another.


I forgot he has an Nvidia MoBo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130410

Not sure if he likes the idea of re-certified, but thats a very good deal if he wants to chance it.Those cards are both pretty good for the price, and not very power-hungry. The 4670 is the better choice, and the best card you can get below $75.
However, I really do think you'd be better with a new PSU too - a dedicated graphics card might be pushing the power output of that Seasonic, and even if it can cut it you'll have little or no headroom.I was wrong. He has a 500w ps. That should leave a little more head room.

What do you think of this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121093Sure. Thats a good one too. I must have missed it. A little cheaper too.

If he's wanting a DirectX10 card, and upgrading the memory too, I cant help but assume he might be gaming. All those cards are good, but they may struggle playing newer, more graphics/processor intense games.Yea, he knows he is limited. He is not a hardcore gamer. If he was, I would have helped him spend some more of his MONEY when we were building it What games/applications does he want to run and at what resolution? That kind of determines the card that would be best.

The cards posted above are all great for the price but it really depends on what applications he wants to be running. Sorry if that info was included, I read the first post but may have missed it.Quote from: hejlik on January 11, 2009, 02:51:06 PM

I was wrong. He has a 500w ps. That should leave a little more head room.

What do you think of this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121093