Video Card Compatibility Question

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scoutnj19

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Hey Everyone!

I've got a self-built PC that needs a video card. I build the thing last summer with a Phenom II Quad Core and it seems to be a decent little PC for my first time.

The motherboard is a simple little MSI 785GTM-E45. It has a PCI x16 slot (I believe) and I'm trying to find a solid video card to temporarily complete the build while I'm completing med school.

I'm not entirely sure what specs, beyond that I need a video card to fit a PCI 2.0 x16 slot, I need to fulfill in looking for an appropriate card.

I would appreciate any help and/or suggestions for my trip to Tiger Direct later this afternoon!
 
Yes. I mean, with the integrated graphics processing of the motherboard and the quad core, I can play COD Black Ops on minimum settings with no difficulty.

But I'd like to utilize it for gaming and some graphic design software.

I appreciate your help!
 
Any PCI-E x16 will work in the slot. The main thing you will have to do is make sure you have the wattage to power any card you get. If t=you go with a new PSU get a good one (Antec, Corsair [not the builder series], Seasonic, PC Power, FSP Group...not Ultra).
 
I'm not too worried about the PSU. I intentionally got a unit too powerful for what I needed at the start so I could just upgrade without worry later on.

I know I can use PCIe 2.0 in the slot. Can I use 2.1? Because of the motherboard, I'm restricted to DDR2 RAM, so that limits it a little.

Again, just curious if there are any suggestions? I'd like at least 1GB of RAM on the card, but I'm sure y'all have significantly more experience and opinion on the matter.

Thanks!
 
I'm up in Illinois for the week, away from my build (taking a much needed break after year one of med school). But I think the following is an accurate list of my components thus far:


AMD Phenom II x4 965
Cooler Master V8 Cooler
MSI 785GTM-E45
OCZ 700W Power Source
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB HD
24x DVD-RW Combo Drive
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
 
Cool. I think you'd be well off with a XFX 5770. It's not the highest nor the lowest. I play SC2 on mine at ultimate.
 
As I said, ANY PCI-E x16 card will work. They are all inter-compatible.
 
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