I need gfx card cheap...

[sperks]

Hey I need to get a new card that's cheap but can still run wow on decent settings right now I have a stock HP pavilion a6650s any recommendation or tips would be awesome.

[Nejji]

Doing some searching I found that the system has integrated graphics, a 300 watt power supply, and a phenom 9550 cpu. You really don't have any options for a video card because of your tiny power supply. Maybe something like a 5570 will work, but you'll really only see gains in the open world in terms of fps. Once you get a new card you will have a real bottleneck from the cpu because the first generation phenoms really underperform compared to anything else in their class.

[sperks]

Doing some searching I found that the system has integrated graphics, a 300 watt power supply, and a phenom 9550 cpu. You really don't have any options for a video card because of your tiny power supply. Maybe something like a 5570 will work, but you'll really only see gains in the open world in terms of fps. Once you get a new card you will have a real bottleneck from the cpu because the first generation phenoms really underperform compared to anything else in their class.

Well its a Quad core processor i thought that was pretty decent? so basically this computer sucks and cant be upgraded cheaply? is this what your saying...
Can I get more views or thoughts thanks Nejji for ur input

[OmegaV]

One thing I love to say is...companies like HP and Dell screw you over when it comes to certain things.

The PSU would have to be replaced to use some of the better gpus, the cpu I know nothing about but I definitely wouldn't be surprised it thats true...

Sadly for you that cpu fits a am2+ socket so you wouldn't have much of a choice to really upgrade to.

Also if you wanted to say future proof by buying a sli or crossfire ready card you would have to buy a new motherboard and case since your case most likely can't hold a atx MB since it was probably made to fit a micro atx case as with most prebuilt generic computers.

But I can recommend something if you give me a budget, for both a PSU and GPU. Buy something decent so that if you upgrade the rest in the future those parts can be put into it.

[sperks]

Well let's say 1000 bones what type of gaming system could I get that won't lag out on say marrowgar with decent settings

[OmegaV]

Just want to know if you already have a copy of windows 7 by chance and what kind of monitor you have? and I'll get to work putting together one on newegg to show you, 1000$ can definitely build you a decent one and I'll make sure the parts can work for future proofing too...well try, amd is coming out with a new cpu sometimes next year and most likely will come out with a new socket type...and intel has a new socket type for everything

---------- Post added 2010-11-30 at 02:56 AM ----------

Case: Antec 300 Illusion http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129066 69$
A friend of mine has this case and it just seemed well made plus allows for some decent airflow

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103727 159$
The same friend has this CPU and it puts out some rather decent performance plus OCs rather well from what I've heard, I plan on buying one for myself soon.

Motherboard: Asus Crosshair IV Formula http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813131644R 169$
Honestly its open box but the only components that would be missing you might need are sata cables which you could buy and still get a better deal then buying it with them
I picked this motherboard because Asus makes good products plus it allows for future proofing since it allows for crossfire

Ram: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145295 139$
The ram because well Corsair makes good products plus I've heard good things about the Dominator's.

PSU: Corsair TX850W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009 129$
Once again Corsair makes quality products and its 850 watts which is plenty for most things, only issue I have is its not modular but this is trying to keep it in budget

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb 7200RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136533 89$

Dvd/CD: Well nothing special here most you can buy are 21$ and I'll just leave that up to you

GPU: Sapphire AMD HD 6870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102909 254$

Not currently in stock but most of the unboxings I've seen for this card have sapphire as having the best stuff, and why I picked a 6870...Well it performs well, around the same as a 5870 ( was meant to replace the 5770 by the way) plus it performs better at tessellation. I personally just bought one today (well kind of...its a christmas present...my parents handed me their card and said buy it and give us the card back...yeah...so I have to wait a while) Also if games started to outdate your gpu a bit you can buy a 2nd one and get almost a 100% boost in performance

And windows 7 99$

and er...the total comes to 1129 A bit over but there are some ways to lower that, such as a cheaper motherboard and maybe only 4gigs of ram and if you already have windows 7 then that lowers it 100$

[vesseblah]

and I'll get to work putting together one on newegg to show you, 1000$ can definitely build you a decent one and I'll make sure the parts can work for future proofing too...

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103727 159$

Motherboard: Asus Crosshair IV Formula http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813131644R 169$
I picked this motherboard because Asus makes good products plus it allows for future proofing since it allows for crossfire

Ram: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145295 139$

and why I picked a 6870...Well it performs well, around the same as a 5870

Please go do bit of fact-finding before giving buying suggestions:

- $100 cheaper motherboards allows Crossfire, it's also pretty much irrelevant for WoW
- On AMD motherboards you use double channel memory, not triple channel, so having 3x2GB kit will actually make the computer slower than 2x2GB
- Unless you're overclocking, that motherboard and 1600MHz RAM is completely wasted money
- 6870 does not performn anywhere close to 5870, it's almost identical to 5850.

[stellvia]

I always find it funny how much people think a decent PC costs due to the cost of storebought ones. A $1000 budget when building your own gets you a really nice PC if you dont need a monitor or peripherals. And you probably could even re-use the hard drive if you like. I've got some recommendations in a thread here:

mmo-champion.com/threads/799520-Aereus-Budget-and-Performance-PC-Upgrade-List

And a couple other threads on the first 2 pages have PC builds for around $1000 or less. AMD X4 965BE or Intel Core i5 760 are the most popular choices atm for CPUs that are good for a reasonable price. And Nvidia GTX460 or ATI HD6850 for video cards.

[OmegaV]

On the ram, your completely correct I have no clue what the hell what I was thinking at the time, now on the motherboard I was just thinking quality but a motherboard thats a 100$ cheaper and allows crossfire? yeah I wouldn't trust it so much if it did, maybe one for around 100$ though.

I'm not going to lie I completely built this with OC in mine, truthfully I should have put a Aftermarkter cooler on there too...but yeah

And on to the 6870 not even performing close to the 5870? ha depends on the benchmark yeah some the 5870 beats the 6870 and on others the 6870 wins and then when it comes to tessellation the 6870 generally wins....plus the 6870 cost about 100$ less, also it blows the 5850 out of the water on every benchmark I've seen

So yeah ram, I seriously fucked up there but that was more or less a starter list something to build around. I give an idea and then build around it on what they give me.

[stellvia]

I don't know why ATI labeled their cards the way they did. But essentially the 6850 coincides with the 5830 in performance approx. And the 6870 is similar to the 5850. Of course both have better tesselation as you said, and better power consumption/less heat. 6000 series has no equiv to 5870/5970 or GTX480 atm.

[Deviant82]

I don't know why ATI labeled their cards the way they did. But essentially the 6850 coincides with the 5830 in performance approx. And the 6870 is similar to the 5850. Of course both have better tesselation as you said, and better power consumption/less heat. 6000 series has no equiv to 5870/5970 or GTX480 atm.

This seems pretty circumstantial to me. I run a 6870 on my rig, and just built a near identical setup for a friend of mine, except used a 5870 in hers. They run at very close to the same framerate ingame. Also, as a gamer, I prefer crisp, shiney graphics as opposed to brute FPS, as long as crisp and shiney is well above a playable framerate, so I will gladly run with the $100-cheaper, newer card.
From what I experienced, the minimal FPS gain, but no visual difference offered by a 5870 does not at all warrant the higher cost.

Now, as for you Mr.OP, I had a thread on here that recently got hijacked and I got flamed like you wouldn't believe, so take this however you want:
Generaly speaking, Radeons give you a more crisp, visually pleasing look to your game, but not as high a framerate as nVidia. nVidia typically give you higher framerate, but in certain instances, may not deliver as good a quality graphics. (exceptions would be the higher end cards, of course)

In my experience, an entry level card that will play wow (although not very well) would be a radeon 5450. I only mention this card if you absolutely cannot afford better, as this is around a $45 cost.
Ideally, cost for performance cards have been mentioned in other threads: nVidia GTX 460, Radeon 5770 performs decently for relatively low cost. The new Radeon 6800 series, if they are within budget on a new build, perform exceptionally well from my personal PoV. The way I see things, if my 6800 series card delivers ultra graphics at an average 115fps, why do I need to spend $300 more or so on a 580, or other highest end card?

[llDemonll]

In my experience, an entry level card that will play wow (although not very well) would be a radeon 5450. I only mention this card if you absolutely cannot afford better, as this is around a $45 cost.

You may work for a computer store,but you have horrendously bad information. A 5450 is an HTPC card, not a gaming card. You can't even classify it as 'entry-level', simply because it isn't meant for gaming in any way, shape, or form.

[Deviant82]

You may work for a computer store,but you have horrendously bad information. A 5450 is an HTPC card, not a gaming card. You can't even classify it as 'entry-level', simply because it isn't meant for gaming in any way, shape, or form.

And what did I post above? its a video card. it works. its cheap. is that not what the OP was looking for? Honestly, you can debate parts quality and bash me for what you think you know about my career or position, but do NOT sit there and tell me different when I have experienced the hardware, and work with the hardware on a daily basis.
Thanks

[vesseblah]

And what did I post above? its a video card. it works. its cheap. is that not what the OP was looking for? Honestly, you can debate parts quality and bash me for what you think you know about my career or position, but do NOT sit there and tell me different when I have experienced the hardware, and work with the hardware on a daily basis.
Thanks

OP asked for a graphics card that can run WoW on decent settings. Radeon 5450 is not one, it's not meant for any kind of gaming. Therefore the quality of your advice or expertise is controversial to put it kindly.

[Deviant82]

Wow, some of you guys are unbelieveable lol

Look, I am done debating whether this card will perform or not.
It does, I know this because i have used it.
Its cheap.
It's not the best, but like I mentioned in my thread, not everyone can afford good equipment.

I wont be posting a reply here, because from my limited experience in this community, the 'contributors' here for the most part just like to argue builds, parts, companies and brand names, like you are all some super computer experts.

I am by no means an expert, but I have used this hardware. I know it plays warcraft on a basic desktop build. Like it or not, it does.
However, I do not recommend the card at all if you are wanting decently playable at good graphics settings,but like I said earlier, if you cant afford anything else, at least you know this one WILL PLAY THE GAME.

@Vesseblah: the term 'decent' when describing graphics is relative to each user. If you played on a machine running at lowest setting @ 4fps, a basic desktop with a 5450 would be a noticible improvement.

[llDemonll]

No, we like to make sure people don't get screwed and waste their money on parts that won't perform to their expectations.

[vesseblah]

Wow, some of you guys are unbelieveable lol

It's not the best, but like I mentioned in my thread, not everyone can afford good equipment.

Lol all you want, doesn't change the fact that it's really sucky card for gaming.

If you're on $50 budget and really must buy something, you should get second-hand Radeon 4850 or Nvidia GTS250. Either of those will run circles around the 5450 junk and are really easy to pick up from local used stuff forum/net auction/pc fleamarket.

[Deviant82]

No, we like to make sure people don't get screwed and waste their money on parts that won't perform to their expectations.

Ok, Ilied, one more reply.

Yes Demon, I totally understand. And form my perspective, it seems by me opening my other post the way I did was a mistake on my part, and I apologize.
The OP asked for cheap. I am simply telling him that IF he cant afford anything else, a 5450 will play the game. Thats all. I dont recommend you use it for a gaming machine (hes on an HP after all, not a custom build where a low end card would be rediculous)
Personally, I am right with you guys and would for sure recommend a 460, 5870, 6850 or 6870, or even a 580.

All I was tryinng to achieve was a 'bottom line, dont go lower' marker for him to base his decision on. Thats all.
I did not say the card will play high graphics, but it most certainly exceeded my expectations when we built it into a cheap desktop, specifically used to play WoW.

[Cilraaz]

Radeon 5450 - $55-70
Radeon 5670 - $85-100

$30 more for a whole different world of performance. There's no reason to ever suggest a 5450 outside of an HTPC.

[Dethh]

Ok, Ilied, one more reply.

Yes Demon, I totally understand. And form my perspective, it seems by me opening my other post the way I did was a mistake on my part, and I apologize.
The OP asked for cheap. I am simply telling him that IF he cant afford anything else, a 5450 will play the game. Thats all. I dont recommend you use it for a gaming machine (hes on an HP after all, not a custom build where a low end card would be rediculous)
Personally, I am right with you guys and would for sure recommend a 460, 5870, 6850 or 6870, or even a 580.

All I was tryinng to achieve was a 'bottom line, dont go lower' marker for him to base his decision on. Thats all.
I did not say the card will play high graphics, but it most certainly exceeded my expectations when we built it into a cheap desktop, specifically used to play WoW.

Just remember bottom line has to be playable. Playable means you can play the entire game 5 man, 10 man, 25 man etc., not just 5 man and auction house bonanza. Playable is 25-30 fps (at least for me) being my bottom line. Thats in 25 mans and crowded areas. My current rig out performs that by a mile but those would be my "bottomline" recomendations. Like Vess said if you gotta buy used its better than buying a new one that just isn't built for gaming.