GPU Upgrade for MW2

[shan1784]

Hey everyone,

Here is the deal, my son has a gaming computer from a couple of years ago. The specs are below -

AMD X2 64 5000+ (2.6 GHZ I believe)
2 Gig Memory
8600GT 512 MB
Corsair 750 Watt PSU
WinXP 32 bit


Nothing is OC'd and all is at stock speeds .. He just got MW2 and plays it comfortably at high settings with resolution set to 1024 x 768. For Christmas we will be getting him a new monitor, SCEPTRE X226W-1920 Black 21.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor...

I really want him to be able to take advantage of this bigger monitor since right now he has a little 17 - 18" monitor. It's pretty old and not that clear, not good for gaming at all. So he has about $90 to spend on a new video card and I'm trying to find him something that he can play MW2 at a higher resolution with the same settings he is running now, 2x AA and everything else on high.

It doesn't have to be a maxed out res just higher than 1024 x 768 that he is running right now.

I'm partial to Nvidia and was looking at a 9800GT 512 MB. Will that do the trick? If there is a cheaper option that would be great as well as he doesn't really want to blow all his money on a video card.

Any help is appreciated.. Thank you all...

 

[Yami]

That will do the trick; you might want to look into the HD4770 though, it's better and over here is cheaper, so it probably is there too. If not, the 4830 is equal in performance to the 9800GT and is probably cheaper.

 

[newbiebuilderguy]

At 1920x1080 (that monitor's resolution) , it might be nice to spend an extra few bucks on something like a 4850 XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 pci-e 2.0 x16 hdcp ready crossfire supported video card (retail) Double Lifetime Manufacture Warranty from mwave.com
You can find used ones for cheaper occasionally ($50-$75)

 

[james.wired]

I would suggest a 1gb card for larger res monitors, unless I'm wrong?

 

[shan1784]

I would suggest a 1gb card for larger res monitors, unless I'm wrong?

That's what I was thinking as well. Could someone clarifiy?

 

[newbiebuilderguy]

I agree...I was just thinking of price. He said he had $90 to spend and I went a little over that.
For 1gb , it's gonna be a few more bucks. http://www.google.com/product_url?q...imhqNT1PFO7XHnSPjJXhESAAAAAAAAAAA&gl=us&hl=en

 

[Hefemeister]

At 1920x1200 1gb will net you around 3fps from 30fps on Crysis.
for 1920x1080 it should be similar. 10% increase. If you can get the 1gb card for less than 10% of the 512 version then go for it.

Keep in mind that the OP is partial to Nvidia cards so in his price range the 9800 is his best bet.

 

[bkolk]

gettin a 1gb memory card over the standard 512mb card is only useful at playing resolutions of 2560x1600.

The 9800 gt or 4830 (512mb versions) will be plenty.

 

[shan1784]

I like Nvidia but if there is an ATI card that out performs in the price range I'd be ok with that... I like the 4850 that someone posted. It is 512Mb but if that won't matter at his res that good deal. I can wait for that to come down in price or go on sale...

 

[Fat.Clown]

HD 4770 if you want performance
SAPPHIRE 100277HDMI Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
9600GT if you want affordability
XFX PVT96GYGF3 GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

9600GT 38 FPS with settings maxed out with 4x aa 16x af@ 1920x1200

It's pretty old and not that clear

btw, good call on getting new monitor
monitor you can replace, eyes you can't

there is laser surgery..... but risks involved...