Graphics cards

[Megadude]

I'm still waiting to hear back from the person who has got my latest graphics card purchase messed up, (thank you very much), and now it seems my integrated graphics is starting to struggle with games it had no problems with before, so I thought I should have a look around for a new card to act as a backup. Presently, I've only had experience with the nvidia 7600GT and it works just right for what I play, (HL2, L4D, TF2, etc).

I tried looking for the same card, but the only ones I can find are overbudget for me, (someone is charging £160 for one ). However, I have come across a nvidia 8400GS at a very good price, so I'm thinking of buying it. I've done some research into it, and it seems my PSU should have no problems with it.

I have also found a forum post by someone with the same computer as me, who had a 8400GS in his computer, and it worked fine. However he also said that it wasn't built for gaming, which worries me a bit. I'm not one for max resolutions and all details set to max, but I still need to play my games.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on this 8400GS, and how it compares to the 7600GT in terms of gaming performence etc. If I order quickly enough, I can get this card in less than 48 hours time and can go back to mapping and gaming, while I sort out getting the 7600GT card I'm owed, which I will keep as a backup.

Cany anyone offer any insight into this?

[CorporalAris]

The 8400GS has very low bandwidth. I own it as a cheapo backup card.

Try these out for size:
8600GT
9600GT
9600GSO

Note: I had a 9600GSO, (Grab the one with 384mb RAM or 786 mb RAM, they have the good bandwidth), and it was bar none, the best card I have ever owned. You can find them used for about $65 USD Shipped used. If you can find one, GET IT.

[Megadude]

The 9 series cards are totally out. They will cause bottleneck problems with my processor. The 8600GT is out too, as I don't have a good enough PSU for it. I don't have the budget to replace it. Only for the card.

I don't care how good certain cards are. I only want to know the comparison between the 7600GT and the 8400GS. That's all I can do budgetwise.

[stoopdapoop]

Do not do it, the 8400 is a garbage card, ( have it for my backup, backup computer) the 7600 is pretty much on par with it, minus DX10 (oh noessssss) You're really not better off replacing any single part in your machine it seems, just tough it out untill you're ready to upgrade more than one part, or scrap the whole thing.

But the answer your question again, they're about the same, don't waste your time.

[vcool]

8400 is a pile of shit. OK, it's not THAT bad, but it got handicapped by a incredibly small bandwidth.

I don't understand why you don't want to get the current mid-/low- levels since they are all fairly powerful and cheap.

Also, why are you worrying about a bottleneck? Isn't it better to be limited by the processor than the card?

[popcornjake]

A 4650 can run on a standard pci-e slot without any external connectors from the power supply. I have a 4650 ddr2 version which I'm actually trying to sell at the moment.

It runs any source game maxed, Call of duty 4 maxed, Bioshock maxed, Crysis on medium/high, HAWX maxed, S.T.A.L.K.E.R maxed, Unreal tournament 3 maxed and yeah those are all the games I've ran on it, all with just a 280 watt power supply.

It's a real good card for the price but I'm going to upgrade my power supply and get a 4770, I've got my one up on ebay here if you want to take a peek:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0418601851

Gameplay video I put together here:

[Megadude]

stoopdapoop - Even if the cards are about the same, I would still get it. I would only not get it if it was worse than the 7600, and at the price it is, it would be good to have as a backup as long as it's not worse. I'm just wanting something cheap fast so I can get mapping and gaming again, since my integrated graphics card sucks. I'm wanting a better computer, but that's at least a couple of years of saving up away.

vcool - I don't want to get the current mod/low ones, as it seems they are no good for my computer without replacing the PSU and/or the motherboard. I've also read that the bottlenecking can cause things to act worse than getting a lower standard of card that doesn't create bottlenecking.

popcornjake - looks like a good card, but you in another country to me, so I can't buy it.


Just gone back to where I'm buying it from, and I think I've screwed up with the quick delivery deadlines, so I may not get it until Thursday now

[stoopdapoop]

Ha, I see.

But it betterr beeeee reallllllyyyyy cheappppppppp.

[Megadude]

It's very cheap. It's even cheaper than the 7600 I bought.

[nub]

My pc has an Nvidia 7900GS 256mb GPU. I can run all Source games maxed.

I can also run UT3 maxed, but with shadows on medium quality to preserve playable framerates. They stay above 30 about 70% of the time.


They don't sell this card anymore I think, but you might be able to pick it up off of someone.