What Video Card to Get?

I just bought a barebone kit.
And my Uncles are building my new computer.

It as 4G of Ram, a Good Processor, but I know
Im gonna need a new video card.

The motherboard is a Abit I-45CV Motherboard,
what's the best Video Card to get?

My cash limit is 500$

What power supply is being used? The ATi HD 4850 is a good buy at the moment.

The power supply:

450-watt power supply

Barebone-Kit Link:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...=A458-1202%20A

I may be wrong, but doesn't it say that that motherboard already has an integrated Intel graphics chip? Can you upgrade that with a vid card?

Im not sure, I know like nothing about
computers but the simple stuff.

I googled the specs on that card:

256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz
Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate
Up to 224 MB maximum video memory
2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution
Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support
Operating systems supported: Microsoft Windows* XP, Windows* XP 64bit, Media Center Edition 2004/2005, Windows 2000; Linux-compatible (Xfree86 source available)

The first thing you need to check is what the minimum power requirement is for the video card.. You should look for a card that has 350 or so for watts to run it.. If you put in a higher end card then that power supply might not be enough...

Also go to Abit's website and see what video card that MB can handle..

I believe you can disable the onboard graphics in the bios ..

good luck

make sure you have a PCI-E x16 slot.

the HD4850 needs a 450W PSU minimum. however, you're cutting it very close.

Yes, you can install a graphics card if the motherboard has onboard graphics. Have you already bought that barebones? If not, I wouldn't...its a bit of a rip off for what you get. And at the very least i'd swap that PSU for something better suited to powering a medium to higher end GPU.

Its already been bought.
So basically im screwed?

Yes it does have the PCI-E x1 Slot..

Just checked, it has both a pci-e x1 and x16 slot. However, the case looks rather small, physical space may be an issue.

Thats not the case i got,
The case I got is bigger.

Than ran out of that case,
and gave me a choice of another:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=TC3J-4512

^ I think thats the case I got? But even so,
that was just until pay day.

Oh and what about this video card?

e-GeForce 8600GT 10

the ATI HD4850 whipes the floor with the 8600GT.

i'd say you go for the 4850 or 4870 whatever you want.

8800GT, theres a few models floating around £110~ which might be more than you want to spend on a barebones system but if your into games its an investment.

You would not spend $500 on a single video card when the rest of the system is such shit, as bottlenecking would occur etc.

I have taken the liberty of assuming you would be willing to spend the money on a video plus other components, and that Newegg is acceptable.

Corsair HX-520 PSU for $100 (after $20 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001

Zalman CNPS9500 for $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118003
This, or another fan, is an absolute necessity. Do not even turn on your computer without a CPU fan/heatsink.

ATI MSI 4850 for $175 (after $25 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127359
Brand doesn't matter, just get a 4850.

That comes to $325.

I had trouble deciphering that excuse for writing, but I assume you mean you have 4GB of RAM already. I cant understand if that Celeron E1200 (from the barebones) was what you referred to as a good CPU or not. Because its not good, however, with some overclocking and a good heatsink/fan it could be better.

Tell us
a) What you actually have
b) What ur budget actually is in USD

I suspect you meant $50 not $500. If that is the case, the best you can get is around the 8500GT mark.

No, my budget is 500$ USD.
I already bought a fan for the CPU,
and thats just a Barebone Kit, Theres
other stuff I had to buy for it.

I got the Barebone.
Two sticks of 2GB DDR2 Memory.
a Cooling fan for the CPU.
and Im assuming my uncles just
putting in my old video card
( i dont know what kind that is )
and I just wanted to upgrade that.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...552&CatId=1558

Here is a very good budget card.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...anufacture=XFX

double up in price, quadruple in performance (well, at least i hope).

unfortunately, your barebones components are going to seriously bottleneck anything more powerful than the above graphics card. it's probably a lot wiser had you posted to ask questions BEFORE forking out the $$$.

Grab a double slot graphics card, why you ask?
I used to have a Shuttle barebone with a radeon 9800 in it. That gfx card was overheating my whole pc, that's never healthy for a barebone.



The radeon 3870 for example has a cooler like that.
And even though the 4850 is faster, that card is a HOTHEAD, and doesnt have the double cooler.
Most new nvidia cards have double coolers aswell. (exceptions are the cheaper ones like the 8800gt)

Barebones are small, and the heat has to get out!
Don't spend too much on your pc, it only has a Celeron 1600, so putting in the latest and greatest gfx card in it wont help you much.
Maybe even grab a 2nd hand gfx card like a radeon x1950 or nvidia 6800.

quoted for emphasis.

btw, barebone PCs have full cases, so ventilation is not an issue.

the OP has a full sized barebones PC, not a shuttle. size and ventilation are generally not issues.

The bottleneck won't appear at higher resolutions (1440 x 900 or higher should do the trick). The main problem with the barebones is the price vs what you get, as bottle necking is generally over stated.