Video Card help, chosing is hard :(

[Johncro]

Hello.

I need a new video card. Currently I have a ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB
Not the best for most games.
I do need a new one, but I am a lil bit of a cheapo. So it has to be $0-Max $150(with shipping )

I'm tight on the budget and will be for a long time, but I have a little laying around and thought that my free time could use a boost.

I'm looking at the 450GTS mainly because of the price. I need to know, how well can this card run (supalonglistofgame)

Americas Army3
Amnesia the Dark Descent
Arma2
Arma2 PR
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Cyrsis
Cyrsis 2
Medal of Honor(the new one)
Metro 2033
PR
TF2
World of Tanks
Brothers in Arms, both Hells Highway and Road to Hill 30
Cod BO
Mount and Blade
Hearts of Iron 3

Feel free to make a suggestion on a good card, but for cheap.
But I think for my money the 450GTS is the one to go for.

[Cossack]

450GTS is derp... Here is something better - Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1557-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card If I were are you, I would go for this one. Best option on price range, I guess.

[Mad-Mike]

450 GTS is sh!te mate.
Go with what Cossack said, Its probs the best within your budget.

[Johncro]

Ok, sweet Thanks.

[whatshisname55]

I would suggest this HD 6870, it should be more powerful than a GTX 550 Ti and I believe will handle your dual monitors better.
XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870
Its $160 but worth the extra $10. If you can't spend that much then a HD 6850 or GTX 550 Ti will do.
Don't buy those factory overclocked cards unless it's cheaper than the regular one. It's just a gimmick, you can very easily overclock it yourself, typically even more than the manufacturer does.

[Johncro]

Talk about excellent luck!
I was browsing the internet and found that on Tigerdirect they are offering a 550 ti from Zotac for only 100$!!!

I must get it! I looked at the bench marks and ofc all the games are in resolutions like 2500x1024. And get average FPS, while I only play in 1280x1024 or 1024x768. Not to mention I hate shadows most of the time, so I;m thinking that the 550Ti is the one to go with, I looked at most games, found that I care run Arma2 on high, while BC2 on high, etc. I hope that it'll work out really well. Not to mention I have to put a new PSU, so I found a 550W for 30 bucks, not that I care so, thanks for the help!

[Cossack]

No problem mate, any time.

[Scurge_Radey]

No problem mate, any time.

Hey I,ve never had this problem before. I got a new monitor and the game won't run on it. It's a Dell flat screen. Do you know this problem?

[Johncro]

More info I could help.

I got teh card

[Cossack]

Indeed,more info, what game and resolution of the screen etc.

[Pedz]

Hey I,ve never had this problem before. I got a new monitor and the game won't run on it. It's a Dell flat screen. Do you know this problem?

You might need to manually change the resolution of the game, it may still be trying to output a different resolution to what the screen can handle.

[Johncro]

The card and PSU I bought have been installed.

The card is great, really happy with it, I play Arma2 on Very High setting which is awesome, same with most other games.

The PSU, I'm not really happy about. It heats up past 40'C which is terrible. So I'm going to get it checked out to see if its defective. Which it most likely is. I'm going to buy a new PSU.

So now I need some more help
I'm going all out and just buy a 600W+ PSU. Although for cheap, I hope that it will work.

Here is what I have found.

First PSU

Second PSU

Third PSU

Any help and recommendations are welcomed.

All I want is a computer that will run and satisfy my needs for at least 2-3 years. I'm done with failing parts and RMA's and returns. I want the best quality for a decent price. Also if someone could shed some information about PSU's and what not, I would love to hear it.


*edit* Here are my computer specs if it is any help. Needs to power all this too ofc.

AMD PhenomII x4 810 2.6Ghz
6GB DDR2 RAM
1TB HDD
Nvidia GeForce GTX 550ti
Windows 7 64bit OS
22x DVD Drive.

thank you.

[whatshisname55]

The Antec (second PSU) looks good. Just remember that it doesn't come with the power cord so you need your own.

[Cossack]

Damn mate, Corsair is pretty badass in PSU level. Here is one, but I guess it will be out of your budget - Corsair Builder Series CX600

But, indeed, that Antec is the best on your list.

[Johncro]

Haha, thanks again Cossack

I'll post up my benchmarks in a little bit, the PSU i guess is supposed to run hot
I'm still going to get the Antec. I don't feel safe leaving a PC on with that amount of heat coming out of it. To me it isn't safe.

Also my two monitors are 18" (next on my list)

*edit*

My first Benchmark for Arma2 OA. System specs above 3 posts.

Arma2OA

Settings:
View Distance: 3600
Texture: Normal
Video Memory: Normal
Anisotropic: High
Anti-Aliasing: High
Terrain: Normal
Objects: High
Shadows: High
HDR: Normal
Post Processing: Normal
Interface Resolution: 1024x768x32hz
3D Resolution: 1024x768(100%)

Min FPS: 23
Max FPS: 58
Avg. FPS: 38

Project Reality

Settings: Maxed out
Resolution: 1280x1024

Min FPS: 52
Max FPS: 100
Avg FPS: 85.246



I'll probably throw down GTA4, Bad Company 2, Metro2033

Hope that's what you are looking for Exiled. PM me if you need more.

*Edit x2*
MY PSU is actually very unstable for gaming. So I'm defiantly buying a new one today
I got the A2 Benchmark, the other one's will come at the end of the week possibly, maybe earlier.
Sorry for that. I hope my A2OA bench helps.

[Johncro]

Yeah the big thing for me is that I don't care to much about the different resolutions. I can barely notice the difference anyway. Unless its 800x600

But those settings are only for a couple of days until I get my new PSU. Unfortunately the one I bought with my video card is cruddy, it works fine for browsing, but godforbid you play a game it heats up past 60-70'C So I just upped the Watts and Amps on the new PSU, which is the second in the list in my previous post, (Antec 620W PSU) But GTA is great, no time for benches unfortunately as the games all freeze up after about 5 mins due to the PSU.

I like what you got going there,
What are your specs?

[Johncro]

Jesus H. Christ.
That's a great system. I plan to OC my CPU soon. No need to OC my Video card.