"GT" <a@b.c> wrote in message
news:4fe212be$0$4221$c3e8da3$33a0879d@news.astrawe b.com...
> "Doc" <docsavage20@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:754abde7-af18-4c30-b84a-f22886172353@j25g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
>> Currently I have an Nvidia GeForce 8600 256 mb PCIe card. I'm not a
>> big gamer but have been playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 which is a
>> couple of years old and find I can't run it on the highest quality
>> setting. It doesn't look bad at the med setting but wondering what it
>> would look like on the highest available settings.
>>
>> What's a card that would give a decent upgrade in performance, and
>> give me the headroom to play newer FPS games? Doesn't have to be
>> latest greatest and I'm not too proud to go used off eBay.
>>
>> One thing I find I need to be conscious of are the PSU specs. Mine is
>> an Antec Earthwatts EA380, 380 watt. I was looking at an EVGA -
>> GeForce GT 520 2GB currently on sale at Best Buy but it requires min
>> 18 watts on the 12v rail and this PSU apparently has 17 watts.
>>
>> Thanks for all input.
>>
>> System Specs:
>>
>> Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo
>> XP Pro SP3
>> Core2 Duo E6550 2.33 ghz
>> Antec Earthwatts EA380 380 watt PSU
>> Nvidia GeForce 8600 256 mb video
>
> Beware - there are 2 connector types for video cards. Everything these
> days is PCIe, but your motherboard might be an older VESA connector. A
> quick google search on the model number suggests that its PCIe, but best
> to check that before you buy anything. The webpage that Paul gave me
> recently is http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu. The 8600 card is
> not on the list, but the 8600GT and GS versions are - scoring in the
> 400-600 range, so that should give you a few performance pointers. I don't
> know if your card is much slower than the GS and GT versions, but the
> 520GT scores about the same as them, so potentially not much of an
> upgrade!
To add to what GT posted, I bought a GT520 1GB GDDR3 December of last year
and can honestly say it was the most disappointing $50 I ever spent (and
I've bought some really bad crap in my many years). I was going to replace
an older GT240, thinking it was a pretty cheap upgrade. Cheap, yes; upgrade,
no! The 240 runs circles around it.
I haven't played Bad Company on my 240, but I have played Far Cry, Bioshock,
numerous Call of Duty releases, and the whole Painkiller series, and use the
highest possible settings with no problems at all. Probably pick one up
pretty cheap now.
--
SC Tom
Recommendations for upgrade from Nvidia GeForce 8600 256 mb video card? 
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