Looking for Advice on Cheap Video Card

[Cluch]

Hi everyone, Long time viewer obviously I never post anything.

I'm looking for some advice on a cheap ($100) video card. Bash me on the price, i know it's low, however I just can't spend much more right now.

A little background,
Been boxing since BC, got into 5-boxing during LK. Have two full teams at 85 along with a few strays at 85. I do mostly PVE but have been dabbling in PVP this season but pretty much just dual boxing. I've been using a Quad-Core Phantom with 8 gigs of ram along with a onboard video card (yes, I said it, "built in video card"). I believe it's the Radeon HD 3200 built into the MB, as embarrassing as that is to say.

What I'm trying to do..... Pretty much smoother PVE & smoother PVP (two or three boxing). Not necessarily 5.

I feel at this point anything is really an upgrade. I'm also not an idiot and I don't expect some magic super performance upgrade for that price. However, I do feel that I could get something which will bump up my, now lousy FPS.

With that said, I'm looking for a little guidance from the great community. My problem is I'm not sure what I'm really looking for and figured that someone might be able to say. "Hey, check out blahblahblah."

Also, I'm thinking used from Ebay or Amazon. In an effort to get the most bang for my buck.

Thanks in advance.

[Apps]

Dear Lord. You poor poor soul...$100?!?

Can you list your current stats please.
MoBo =
Ram = 8gig (DDR2? 3? SDRAM?) <-- lol
Core = Quad-Core Phantom
HDD =
PWS =

Guys wont make a suggestion without knowing what board its going in, or if the power can handle it.

So, are you looking at something like
http://cgi.ebay.com/Axle3D-GeForce-G...item5ae00e34be

[Cluch]

Thanks Apps. Yes unfortunately, I don't have much money. I'm sure most people are going to "/lol" at my stats. But, they are what they are and at least I got something.

Yes Apps, something similar to that. There are just so many damn different versions/models and I'm having trouble differentiating between them. I'm not even worried about New/Used as long as it's not DOA. I feel for 100 bucks as long as it lasts longer then a week (obvious exaggeration), what do i really expect. If that makes sense.

Sorry for missing the stats:

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA8G-DS3H
Ram: 8 gig DD2
Core: Quad-Core Phantom
HDD: 160gig & 250gig (Standard IDE POS'S) Don't know much more about them
PWS: Power Man 350watt

Thanks again

[Apps]

is this your board?
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=2800#ov

And is your RAM the std 800 MHz? And is your OS Vista or better?

[Cluch]

Yes

Yes, My ram is 800MHZ. I'm running Windows 7 64.

[Apps]

ok, um well, perhaps one of the more experienced hardware guys may step in here. But based upon your boards stats. You "can" get a 16x Pci-e Graphics card. Unfortunately, the Power Supply is at the bare minimum to be able to power it and keep it up. In addition, since your board is currently operating at its slowest piece, (RAM), you arent gonna get much better than 800MHz.

The card I linked is about what you are going to be looking at for the money limit you have. And frankly its core frequency is under the current RAM you have, even though its own RAM is over.

I dunno. If you did find a card, your performance increase may not even be noticable.

Right now, your MoBo and RAM and PWS are killin ya.

My advice would be to use your money, and get a decent board to start with. Then when you can get more cash, buy another component. Then another, and another, till you have a system that you can upgrade later.

[Cluch]

Very Interesting Apps.

Short of being extremely ignorant. I just figured if i upgrade the video card, I would have to see an performance improvement.

Are you saying I'm pretty much bottlenecked by the MB, RAM, & PWS? Meaning no matter what I do, I'm overall limited by them?

Also, I'm really only trying to up the FPS. Not do anything crazy.

Thank you for your help.

[MiRai]

What is a Phantom processor? Did you mean Phenom?

As for PCI Express x8 or x16, they mean absolutely nothing unless you're trying to break world record
benchmark numbers. The difference between the two is negligible.

WoW is CPU dependent, so if you're already at 100% processor usage I doubt a video card will make a big
difference unless your on-board GPU is sucking up a lot of CPU as well (I have no idea). Any video card you
can find for close to $100 I guess will work but I feel like it's putting a band-aid over a gaping wound. An
nVidia 430/440/450 or ATi equivalent card is pushing your power supply, though.

[Cluch]

Yes, I guess I do mean Phenom. Sorry.

I'll check on my CPU usage when they are fired up tonight.

I definitely agree and believe it's a band-aid solution, it's just all I can really do at this point in time. Trust me, I would love to be looking at more but that's just not realistic. I'm really just trying to get a few more FPS, nothing outrageous, just a few more.

It does appear a lot of what I'm looking at has a 450 Watt recommendation. How strict is that considering I have a 350?

Thank you for the response and info Fenril.

[MiRai]

It does appear a lot of what I'm looking at has a 450 Watt recommendation. How strict is that considering I have a 350?

I have no experience using something out of spec but, I would never recommend it.