Now Let me just put this out here right now... I'm not looking at buying these parts right now... I want to buy them in January or February at the latest (aka after the holiday season)...
After buying my new gaming pc (largely thanks to sellers on this forum) I was looking to turn my old computer into a HTPC and an decent gaming machine on my 720p (i? something...) HDTV. Currently its rocking a Phenom x4 9850, 6gb gb of ddr2, and a HD 5770...
So what I'm looking at doing is-- [Edit: Someone PM'ed about the ram and I accepted his offer] --getting something like a GTX650ti/HD6950/HD7850 range of a card.. Those should, I would think, and be good enough to play modern games at high/ultra settings @ 720... and do Netflix / Hulu / Youtube / DVD / Blu-ray
Now why am I posting this now instead of January? Because with Holiday season coming up/upon us, if fellow forum members are looking for their own upgrades; knowing that they could get some money on the back-end for their old parts, might just push some of you guys to upgrade... and help me out in the process ^-^
So Summary...
Want to buy:
1x 650ti / 6950 / 7850 performance range GPU @ around the $100 to $120 price point
I live in the US. While buying international isn't out of the picture, It'll have to be a really good deal.
I might have 2 2GB DDR 2 sticks lying around in my closet maybe.... you just gotta test it to see if it works if memory serves me right is kingston memory. I paid 120$ brand new around 2007 only used it for 3 weeks but the pins might need a dab of cleaning since i don't have any casing to protect it. I don't care how much you pay for it i just need cleaning swabs for my ear infection enough to last me for 3 months lol. If your not allergic to cigs then ill be happy to clean out my closet filled with spare computer parts and wires. But ill get to you on that tonight since im going to bed soon can't clean out my closet since everyone is sleeping.
Hmm the kingston sticks seem to be DDR 1 2x 1gb sticks and i got a brand new crucial ddr 2 that i never used http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=ct25664aa667 it was suppose to be for my dads optiplex 320 but hes computer wouldn't boot with 4GB installed with a PCI express card install. So hes only using 2gb since youtube videos play at 7 fps with onboard graphics compared to radeon HD 6450 installed with 2 gb
Think we got that crucial memory around 2011 around there or 2010. If you want a graphics card i got a GT 520 card for only viewing movies or play skyrim at 11 fps running 1024x768 it idles at 25c or a 9500GT get around 47 fps and idles at 44c. All on lowest quality settings and ill be checking here often by the hour to see if your interested in buying
Sorry it took a bit for me to reply back the holidays were crazier than expected...
@Hades: I might just end up going that way
@alex: the 5770 that I have its better than the 6570 according gpuboss and videobenchmark.net (passmark benchmarks)
@slip: How much you want for that one 2 gb stick of ddr2? Also the 5770 is better than the 520, and 9500gt, atleast according to gpuboss and videobenchmark...
@Mundo: the 650 is about the same as the 5770 in terms of passmark scores...
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Mind you... I really don't know how well these older cards perform in real world usage, so I'm just using gpuboss and videocardbenchmark.net as a point of reference... if it turns out that these cards, including the ones alex and slip suggested, please correct me
Ill sell it for 15$ if thats a good deal it will probably cost 4 dollars to ship it out so ill have plenty left to buy medicine to last 3 months. Or you can get one brand new at crucial for 33$ single stick 2gb
The GT 520 is only good for watching movies or streams in HD since it renders quick on that its very small and its only intended for that. The 9500 GT for basic low resolution gaming runs warm renders HD content 7% slower since its an old card according to my benchmarks on my pc running 1055T 8GB ram 850W silver rated psu. But your gonna use it for gaming as well then this cards are not for you the GTX 650 ti will be perfect for you since im using that MSI model idles at 23C with my own thermaltake paste and jumps to 41C 1080p gaming on maxed settings with shadows water reflections flashy stuff disabled 60 fps with vsync or experience screen tearing.
@slip: Someone PM me about the ram and he offered a better deal, So I will go with his (I'll edit above).
On the GPU side, Yeah I was look for something like the 650ti level for a GPU. I want it to do Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube(-esk) sites, play DVDs and Blu-ray movies; AND be able to game at high/ultra/maxed @60+fps @720p (cus thats what my HDTV is)... However when I do upgrade my TV, about a year from now to 1080p, I still want the card I buy today to play at like medium-high @ 40+fps @1080 then.