I want the cheapest possible graphics card

[SGT.MARCO]

1)for my computer i have 2 gb ram of ram which is carp and an intergrated graphics card. i am low on money and will be for a while, what kind of graphics cad can i get that is cheap and can run the game smoothly. or what eles can i do. also right now there are only a few maps which the lag is bearable but other maps are so laggy i cant bare it. smoke also kills my fps and jdam almost freezes it. people tell me i just need a new graphics card.

also my PC is a AMD athlon(tm) 64 X2 dual core processor 4000+ 2.10 Ghz

2)also what would i need for a game like arma?

[LithiumFox]

1) Depending on your resolution. I barely run smooth (around 29 FPS, but steady) with my AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3ghz and 3 gb of ram (ddr2). And i have a pretty high-end ATI GPU, the ATI HD4890 1gb.
Though that is $200. You will not get "smooth" unless you turn down the graphics at least to medium and run at about 1024 x 768. You're not going to get away with anything less than 100 unless someone here knows some tips.

I'm pretty pissed that i can barely handle stuff with mine buuuut I'mma be fixing that here shortly

2) More than my system even.

[soldierofharcore]

For arma you need a beast.

The arma II engine is bad designed.

I play crysis on highest with x8 and get 30-40 fps.

When I want to play arma I can only play it on medium and it's still laggy.

[Exonar]

Arma 2 is more CPU, RAM and Hard drive oriented. Of course more demanding graphical settings like post processing and anti aliasing will call for a higher end card, but the majorty of the performance depends on those 3.

Your processor there doesn't seem like it will do too well... Either Overclock it or upgrade it. It doesnt hurt to try however, so go download the demo.

[soldierofharcore]

Well to play on recommended, I tought you had to have a quad core at 2.8Ghz.

Luckely I overclocked my I5-750 to 3,2 so I can play it good.

But what's being said above you need a amount of ram too.

[DenvH]

Can't say much about PR, but Arma 2 is a ***** to run smoothly. I got a decent system;

Manufacturer: Home Build
Mainboard: ASUS P6T
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 12278MB DDR3-1600 RAM
Hard Drive: 1024 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Monitor: SyncMaster 2494HM/2494HS/2494HSI(Digital)
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio 2nd output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Operating System: Windows 7™ Home Premium 64bits

And it still can't run smooth on the highest settings after tweaking the settings I get a decent result at about 50fps 4km view range ,with the grass disabled..

PR runs at about 100fps steady, depends on the map and location though. Not sure about ATI, my cousin built a low-costs system with an ATI HD4850 1GB card but had some problems playing PR. Colours started leaking all over the place and some other bad stuff, could be due to drivers or settings, but the normal BF2 runs good on his pc, so does BFBC2.

[Not_able_to_kill]

I got ATI 5970, and processor is E8400, not the best processor of course, but still, ArmA 2 OA runs at 10-30 fps -_-, and its all on medium

[0331SgtSpyUSMC]

I got ATI 5970, and processor is E8400, not the best processor of course, but still, ArmA 2 OA runs at 10-30 fps -_-, and its all on medium

Are you sure you got 5970? That thing cost close to 700 bucks! If you actually did purchase 5970, you made a huge mistake. You should balance your video vs processor. With the money you spent on a video card, you would've gotten a new processor, video and then some ram( considering it is 5970 that you have)

P.S. Sorry for some reason I thought this was OP's post

[0331SgtSpyUSMC]

Can't say much about PR, but Arma 2 is a ***** to run smoothly. I got a decent system;

Manufacturer: Home Build
Mainboard: ASUS P6T
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 12278MB DDR3-1600 RAM
Hard Drive: 1024 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Monitor: SyncMaster 2494HM/2494HS/2494HSI(Digital)
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio 2nd output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Operating System: Windows 7™ Home Premium 64bits

And it still can't run smooth on the highest settings after tweaking the settings I get a decent result at about 50fps 4km view range ,with the grass disabled..

This is very odd, I'm running OC'd i-5 at 3.2 and one 5770 and 4 gig's of ram on 1920x1080 screen with absolutely no lag, maxed out video settings and 10k view. Something doesn't seem right with your setup

[soldierofharcore]

Arma II has the worst engine ever
Everybody knows that.

[Bob_Marley]

Thread moved to the correct forum section.

[Brainlaag]

I got ATI 5970, and processor is E8400, not the best processor of course, but still, ArmA 2 OA runs at 10-30 fps -_-, and its all on medium

If you have really bought that over-expensive piece of hardware, yeah well, your frames speak for itself xD. With that card you should top my system pretty much, but yeah you spent too much money on the GPU and nothing on the CPU.

Edit: Wow sorry I wrote maybe a bit too aggressive. I'm just saying that your system is not that well balanced. Wasn't trying to flame you nor anything, sorry.

[DenvH]

This is very odd, I'm running OC'd i-5 at 3.2 and one 5770 and 4 gig's of ram on 1920x1080 screen with absolutely no lag, maxed out video settings and 10k view. Something doesn't seem right with your setup

I tried running your settings, but it results in a 30-35 fps... if I decrease the view distance to 4k it gets back to 50-55fps.. For me that's a decent fps, would like it to be 60 steady would be no/less lag.

It could be due to arma2 not supporting dual gpu I guess since the GTX295 = 2x GT200b chip on 1 card, it's like having 2 GTX280's in SLI.. Don't know how you can check if a program uses this ability, but new games (should) do.

My CPU is running at normal clock speeds, 2.7Ghz, don't know if that matters a lot.
I do got a special CPU cooler so it should be possible to over clock, never tried though since it costs a lot when something goes wrong..

[FuzzySquirrel]

I tried running your settings, but it results in a 30-35 fps... if I decrease the view distance to 4k it gets back to 50-55fps.. For me that's a decent fps, would like it to be 60 steady would be no/less lag.

It could be due to arma2 not supporting dual gpu I guess since the GTX295 = 2x GT200b chip on 1 card, it's like having 2 GTX280's in SLI.. Don't know how you can check if a program uses this ability, but new games (should) do.

My CPU is running at normal clock speeds, 2.7Ghz, don't know if that matters a lot.
I do got a special CPU cooler so it should be possible to over clock, never tried though since it costs a lot when something goes wrong..

Erm try two 260's in SLI. Also I heard renaming your arma2.exe to crysis.exe (or any other sli supported game) enables SLI.

[boilerrat]

Guys, bring your discussion somewhere else.

OP needs help choosing a card.

Could you give us a link to your motherboard?
How large is your power supply?
Did you build your computer or buy it from like HP or ACER?

[SGT.MARCO]

GUYS yea this is the guy that started this forum who is still confused on which graphics card he can get for the cheapest, just to run setting medium or low, nothing too pricey, please forget about arma 2 for now, im trying to run Bf Pr thank you

[FuzzySquirrel]

GUYS yea this is the guy that started this forum who is still confused on which graphics card he can get for the cheapest, just to run setting medium or low, nothing too pricey, please forget about arma 2 for now, im trying to run Bf Pr thank you

9600GT (GT240)/HD4670. both ~$60

[Cassius]

Whats the game? Everyone is talking about Arma2 so I am guessing thats it. If you need cheap get an HD 5830 or, if it is a lot cheaper the gtx 460

[boom50cal]

He can go cheaper than that and still be decent...

The 9400GTs/9500GTs are okay for medium settings on lower viewing distances.

[FuzzySquirrel]

He can go cheaper than that and still be decent...

The 9400GTs/9500GTs are okay for medium settings on lower viewing distances.

Oh Your right, but I was under the impression he wanted to play the game smoothly, not poorly. 9600GT or 4670's are going to be able to play on med (at least) with full vd, and if your upgrading you might as well make it worth your money.