[Mars]

So I'm unemployed again, and my old 8600 GTS burned out. I'm stuck with crappy on board ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics. I just want to play Blue Planet, not necessarily prettily, for $50 or less. Is that doable?

What are the minimum specs people would recommend for that mod?

[Bob-san]

So I'm unemployed again, and my old 8600 GTS burned out. I'm stuck with crappy on board ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics. I just want to play Blue Planet, not necessarily prettily, for $50 or less. Is that doable?

What are the minimum specs people would recommend for that mod?

Radeon HD 4650 or HD 5570 or something.

[The E]

What are the minimum specs people would recommend for that mod?

A Radeon X1250. It's what I use.

[Kolgena]

4650 HD is near good enough to play WiH maxed out 1080p. I don't call that minimum.

[Bob-san]

4650 HD is near good enough to play WiH maxed out 1080p. I don't call that minimum.

The budget is $50, so it's the minimum good choice.

Sapphire Radeon HD 4650: $35 (or $20 AR)... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102907

For $20, that card is a steal. I'm considering buying one (and a cheap G31/G41 barebones) and putting together a small desktop.

[Mongoose]

My HD4670 kicks ass and takes names at everything FS2 has thrown at it so far, so I'd imagine the 4650 is in the same ballpark.  (inb4 Mongoose doesn't have a clue what he's talking about)

[Hades]

So does my 9500m GS nvidia card, so that 4650 should plow through anything FreeSpace has to throw at it

[Kolgena]

My HD4670 kicks ass and takes names at everything FS2 has thrown at it so far, so I'd imagine the 4650 is in the same ballpark.  (inb4 Mongoose doesn't have a clue what he's talking about)

No, I'm quite sure you're right. The cards are identical, except one's clocked a chunk higher. If you overclock the 4650 (and keep it stable), you can make it into a 4670.

[Klaustrophobia]

they aren't always completely identical.  i haven't been able to clock my 4850 to 4870 speeds.  the lower one usually has a smaller cooler.

[S-99]

I'd just go ahead and buy a good graphics card. You can either play your 3d accelerated games crappy or great. You have a way of playing them now crappy, so might as well shoot for great.

Reasoning being that if you can play them crappy, then do it for free (like with something you already own). And if you want to play them great, then spend the money on something great. Unless you feel like buying the latest okay decent card that you're going to replace anyway.

Which entails in the future...buy the great video card and sell ok decent card on ebay or to a friend if you can; beats having another piece of hardware laying around doing nothing that wasn't purchased for much of a purpose...waste.

[newman]

You know, there is such a thing as affordable quality. He can get a relatively decent gaming experience with the cards listed that fit the budget. He definitely can't with an onboard graphics chip. And I wouldn't call telling someone who's unemployed to save for a high end graphics card so he can play games at better settings a particularly useful advice. When money's scarce you have other priorities. Doesn't mean he should give up gaming entirely.

[S-99]

No, you see, you didn't understand me. I don't recommend the purchasing of something that's going to be replaced anyway since he can do with what he has already (although crappily). I wasn't disregarding his situation at all.

I didn't say that he should go ahead and buy a high end graphics card. I said what i would do in his situation if i were considering to get a video card. I was explaining why he might not want to buy a temporary graphics card to use. After all, in a jobless situation, you don't want to waste.

When money's scarce, play games crappily, or play on someone elses hardware.

[Nuke]

i personally woulnd't mind having a couple spare video cards in my inventory. you never know when they may come in handy. there have been at least 4 times this year where i said "i wish i had a spare video card". its useful if something goes wrong, its useful if you need a quick temporary upgrade for a lan party, its useful if you need to fix something.

[Stealth]

hey bud,
I have an XFX Geforce 9600 GT if you're interested

practically brand new - used it for a few weeks, then upgraded. 
768MB DDR2; has two DVI outputs and a tv-out



If it will work for you, send me your shipping address and i'll send it to you tomorrow - should have it by thursday if you live in the US.

If you don't trust giving me (a total stranger) your name and shipping address, feel free to PM GalacticEmperor, Hades, or Mongoose.  All three of them have either met me in person, or have been sent equipment by me.

[Mars]

Wow  - much thanks. Address sent. If you're anywhere near Denver, want free labor? XD

[Stealth]

LOL naa man, i'm fine thanks though

PM me if there's anything else you need in particular - i can put it in the same box.  a particular cable, fan, screw, power supply, adapter, etc.

[S-99]

i personally woulnd't mind having a couple spare video cards in my inventory. you never know when they may come in handy. there have been at least 4 times this year where i said "i wish i had a spare video card". its useful if something goes wrong, its useful if you need a quick temporary upgrade for a lan party, its useful if you need to fix something.

I have plenty of spare video cards. All are more or less ****ty. The best i have is a radeon 9000 128mb ram. At least that one i can hold a torch to even with fs, but not at max settings. I don't think there's many people around here who do play fs not maxed out though.

[Klaustrophobia]

i think i've still got an old MX440 sitting around somewhere.  i remember how awesome it was to play FS2 without stuttering on that computer    i know i still have my trusty 9800 pro. 

[newman]

No, you see, you didn't understand me. I don't recommend the purchasing of something that's going to be replaced anyway since he can do with what he has already (although crappily). I wasn't disregarding his situation at all.

I didn't say that he should go ahead and buy a high end graphics card. I said what i would do in his situation if i were considering to get a video card. I was explaining why he might not want to buy a temporary graphics card to use. After all, in a jobless situation, you don't want to waste.

When money's scarce, play games crappily, or play on someone elses hardware.

No, I did understand you. You're assuming he can do any sort of gaming that goes above solitaire on his current setup. Since he has an onboard graphics chip, that assumption is probably wrong and a 50$ graphics card would be a major improvement.
As for telling him to play on someone else's hardware if out of money.. he already made the call to spend this money on a card, and it's his decision entirely. Frankly if in a few months he gets enough cash to buy a high end one, he still won't have wasted his money. I say this from experience, having a backup older card you're not using can be all sorts of useful when your high end one decides to burn it's vram out.

[Mars]

S-99 has / had a point, it would have been rather wasteful in theory. At this point that won't be the case however.

I have learned that backup graphics cards really are important, however. As are extra running shoes, replacement bicycle tubes and a few extra boxes of ammo for range shooting. You never know when they're suddenly going to be the difference between boredom and interest.