New graphic card?

[DZimmy]

Hey guys,
I've bought PC like 2 years ago and it's starting to be a bit old.
Anyways, I don't think that it's THAT bad, except graphic card (btw. causing me a problem with graphics in GTA IV and so on).
So what do you think, is good idea to buy only new graphics card (Which one would you recommend? Just something under $300. Ideally with PhysX.) or is it sutch a rubbish PC that I should throw away?
Right now I'm in a bit of financial crisis (summer holidays trip is coming) and I don't wanna buy whole new PC.
I'd like to enjoy games like GTA IV, Crysis, Left 4 Dead 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and stuff. (I can enjoy alrady but not maxed out or at least smooth with some reasonable detail level).
So here's my spec.

MB: Asus M2N-E - nForce 570 Ultra
PROC: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
RAM: Kingston DIMM 2048MB DDR II 800MHz
GC: HIS Excalibur X1950Pro IceQ3 512MB

Thanks for further reply.

DZimmy from Czech rep.

 

[pcsluzba]

I would go for some SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4670 512MB PCIE DDR3 Ultimate (around 60€ here in Slovakia).
Better will be one with 256 bit memory bus like Gigabyte GV R485ZL 512H 512MB PCX but they are about 100€. More powerfull will not be worth it since the rest could not feed it and use its power.
I hope I did not miss anything.

 

[zedman3d]

I would go for some SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4670 512MB PCIE DDR3 Ultimate (around 60€ here in Slovakia).
Better will be one with 256 bit memory bus like Gigabyte GV R485ZL 512H 512MB PCX but they are about 100€. More powerfull will not be worth it since the rest could not feed it and use its power.
I hope I did nto miss anything.

Great advice.

As stated the 4670 would be a good card for you, they can be picked up for around $75, or you can get a 9800GT which has more performance at around $95.
Anything else would be overkill for what you have and most likely require a PSU upgrade too.

What i suggest you do though is save up and get a new pc. $600-700 will get you something that will destroy what you have.

 

[DZimmy]

Hmm and what do you guys say about Radeon HD 4870 Toxic, 1Gb, I guess it's uselessly too mutch power, huh? Or not?

Can you plase send me exact links to those cards you mantioned? I'm a bit disoriented when I try to find it.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Yami]

It's not too much power if you're playing GTAIV, it won't max it out. 4870 is a good choice.

 

[DZimmy]

Another tip of mine is Sapphire HD 5770 (21163-10-20R) 1GB, PCI-E. What do you say about that?
I know, I know, it'll be overkill, but I'll try to buy new MB later and so on.

 

[DZimmy]

**** of a hard choice 4870 seems more powerful than 5770, but 5770 has DX11, and pixel shaders 5, which is good for future I guess.
But as I said 4780 seems better to me + my father-in-law has it, so I have oportuinity to get my PC there and test it.

So it's up to you guys (hehe), which one is better?
PLEASE help.

P.S. My power supply has 450W.

 

[Yami]

If your PSU only has 450W then it might not take a 4870; it would need to have 2 PCI-E 6-pins, I believe.

 

[Whirlwind]

I would never let my decision on a video card come down to a Direct x 11 feature.

Remember Direct X 10

This is just me personally....i know most people would.....

 

[RichM499]

The 5770 and the 4870 are **** near identical in terms of performance. The 5770 just has more features, and is more future friendly. I would go with 5770 over the 4870 any day.