Legit Reviews

I've got an X1650 Pro right now, and it does fairly well (I say fairly well, meaning playable, 30 FPS) on bioshock, etc.

I was looking to move up to something with DX10 and that will perform better.

I wasn't looking to spend $300 on a card, I Don't even have a PSU that will support it so something cheapish please...I've looked around but the results of benchmarks are disappointing on some of the newer cards making me think I should stick with the x1650 until I get REALLY bored with my tower.

ATI Fanboy On

You might want to see about a cheap 4850 which goes for about $150 right now.

ATI Fanboy Off

I'm sure there's a couple cheap NVidia solutions for you as well but I'll leave that up to the NVidia guys. Either card you choose will support a multi-gpu platform you can scale from there.

If you want to spend under $100? I threw together a "back-up" gaming system that my friends could use to play online games with me when they were over. It has a 4830 card in it- And I must say it kicks some ass- Runs neck in neck with the 8800gts 512mb I paid $380 for last year. A 4850 or 4830 each would be a noticable difference over the X1650.

A decent sub $200 card is a 9800gtx. I think it runs better than a 4850. I am bias to nvidia though.

The 4670 sounds like the best option for you, if you want to spend less than 100. the best thing about it is that you don't need a PCIE power connector as the power from the PCIE slot alone is enough (meaning pretty much any 300W+ PSU can run it).

It is faster than a 3850, so definately a huge jump from a 1650.

mr_noname111 wrote: It is faster than a 3850, so definately a huge jump from a 1650.

i'm just gonna go ahead and clarify, the 4670 has a slightly higher clock speed, but it is not in the same performance category, the 4850 has it beat handily, as does the 4830(though it is a little closer)

ATI has a pretty nice price/performance ratio right now, most of their cards are a solid buy, if you get the 4xxx series

on the nvidia side, they used to have a 9600GSO (with 96 Stream Processors) which was better than an 8800GT, and for a steal of a price(i paid $62 for one, and $84 for the other+$30 MIR), but it is no longer available, i wouldn't get anything lower than a 9800GT for $110+ and at worst, a 9600GT for $85 or $90
(btw, nvidia uses Stream Processors/Processing cores, and ATI uses Stream Processing Units, they are different/irrelevant when comparing the two types of cards)

but the 1650PRO was a weak card several years ago(i have it, and is still used in another computer)and technology always progresses, so ANYTHING in a current series of video card, nvidia or ATI will be a solid step up from it

------VERY IMPORTANT-----
Is your 1650 PRO AGP x8 like mine is?

Thank you for the suggestions guys, this isn't my first go around with this stuff but I've been so busy with networking, etc that I haven't kept up much with the new video cards being released.

It's actually PCI-Express; I originally had a BFG PSU and BFG 7800 GT back two years ago, sold it, and got the X1650 Pro for Free and used a generic 350W PSU that will more than likely die like my Antec one did ($100 PSU = Fail).

I'm amazed at the fact that I can even play Bioshock on it, I just beat the game with it!

Tech_Greek wrote:Thank you for the suggestions guys, this isn't my first go around with this stuff but I've been so busy with networking, etc that I haven't kept up much with the new video cards being released.

It's actually PCI-Express; I originally had a BFG PSU and BFG 7800 GT back two years ago, sold it, and got the X1650 Pro for Free and used a generic 350W PSU that will more than likely die like my Antec one did ($100 PSU = Fail).

I'm amazed at the fact that I can even play Bioshock on it, I just beat the game with it!

Yeah your old BFG 7800GT OC I bought got replaced by an MSI 8800GTS 512 OC, and it's now making noise in my family's PC lol ;)

Decided on a card purchase yet?

To save on cash and use a bit less power, I'd go with the 4830, it performs slightly better than the 8800GT's and such and it's fairly cheap.

The reason why I suggested the 4670 is because it doesnt require a PCIE connector. But definately, if you can get a new PSU with your video card, go for a 4830+ as they are much faster

I got a 9500 GT for free, so I just used it for now.

Free > $100

I can play BIoshock with everything on high now, lol