Video Card or IGP for Light/Casual Gaming

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sp0n
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:06 pm

Video Card or IGP for Light/Casual Gaming

Post by sp0n » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:23 am

My wife's cheap freebie motherboard has died. I was thinking of upgrading her system and I need a video card or IGP that can occasionally play games at 1280x1024 like Sims 2 (and upcoming Sims 3), Spore, Second Life, WoW, Warcraft 3, etc.

I was wondering if 780G or 790GX would be good enough? Or good enough hybrid? Or would it be better to get a 780G and a discreet card? And then which one?

The 790GX looks to perform "poorly" but the games benchmark sites use are like Crysis and Assassin's Creed and Half Life 2 so it is hard to say.

I would prefer this to be silent and have low power requirements for the time that it is doing normal 2d desktop stuff. I am also trying to keep the cost under $100, unless its simply impossible to get something decent for that price.

I already have a BE-2350 (still works) and 2gb DDR2800 ram from the previous build so AM2 boards only. Also this computer will be running XP.

Koomoo
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:57 am
Location: 281, Texas

Post by Koomoo » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:37 am

I'd say 790GX

Because the 790GX you can possibly upgrade in the future if you wanted to
Now for the graphics card
There are several GFX cards out there that are under $60
8600GT?
I played Warcraft 3 and WoW on that card (also windows xp)
Not much lag but not the best either.

Also are you only planning to get either the 780 or 790X?

any other options?

-KooMooX

sp0n
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:06 pm

Post by sp0n » Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:51 am

I am not dead set on them. I am open to suggestion. They just are my best guess at what might be appropriate (for IGP at least). I have built a budget system on a 690G and I was pretty impressed with the performance/value. Wasn't a gaming system though. I have had problems with Nvidia nForce(2? 4?) SATA controllers and hissing audio in the past -- but that was years ago.


I'm looking at the 8600GT, and the price is around $60, but they all have fans. I would have to also buy a fanless heatsink for the card (+$15/20). And that isn't even factoring in the cost of the motherboard yet.
I would prefer a stock fanless card if going the discreet route -- which would also be a sign that it is pretty cool running to begin with.

Koomoo
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:57 am
Location: 281, Texas

Post by Koomoo » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:18 am

I see.

Here are a few
MSI K9N6PGM2-V
GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2

MSI K9A2GM-F

Sorry i'll look it up some more later, I just got a call from work and they need me

but keep us updated =]

-KooMooX

danielG
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:40 pm
Location: Leiria, Portugal

Post by danielG » Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:57 pm

I'd buy a 740G motherboard and a cheap discreet gfx card, perhaps a Ati 3650 fanless or similar. The PC will be faster at everything, not just games. The IGP sucks up resources, especially with a slow CPU.

I was using the Geforce 6100 IGP on my previous motherboard about a year ago and, when I installed my Ati 3650, I noticed an increase in system responsiveness.

If you want to compare, my Ati 3650 is much faster than the 780G on my current mobo. It is showing its age, though. The 3650 runs Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead at 1360x768 (medium settings, no AA) somewhat well, but it hiccups every now and then.

psiu
Posts: 1201
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:53 pm
Location: SE MI

Post by psiu » Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:02 pm

I actually tried the 780G (HD3200) on my Asus M3A78-EM board with 1.9GHz BE-2300, and it performed *OK* at 1280x1024 in a couple games--Company of Heroes, Call of Duty 2. It choked on smoke clouds in COD2, but otherwise did ok. Had all effects on, but generally low details/textures where I could in both. It's supposed to work even better in Hybrid Crossfire with either a 2400 or 3400 series card (I think the core is basically a 2400 series) so that minimal of an investment might work for you--a 780G board with a 2400 series card for cheap.

I think Hybrid Crossfire only works on Vista so far though, maybe Linux also. Whoops...I doublechecked your post and you'll be in XP. Maybe just try the 780G graphics, and if not wait a couple weeks and get a cheapo card that will probably still be better than the onboard.

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