Topic: Best budget video card? (and another small question)

[Pumo]

(Note: this is a copy from a post I put also on the DBB)

OK, so finally, probably next week, I will get the chance to get a new rig for both some working and entertainment.
I'm a bit short in budget size, and I'm investing mainly on processor and other accesories and peripherals for my job, but still I would like to have at least the bare minimum on the Graphic and 3D department, so I would like some suggestions from the experts and gurus here.

Please, if possible, tell me which one is the best $50~ budget 3D card (either nVidia or Radeon) on one side,
and also, independenly on the $50~ one, tell me the best $70~ 3D Card, so I can compare (according to this forum experts opinion) between both a $50~ and a $70~ card.

--

Oh, and also, just to be totally prepared before buying, I would like some clarification regarding a small issue:
Can I connect a DELL CRT 17" 1024x768 75hz Monitor from 2005 to either the integrated video card (Intel HD Graphics 2000) or a new nVidia/Radeon with no problems, or I would get no video signal on such an old monitor?
(I'm buying a new flat LED monitor anyway, but I want to take everything I can into account)

[TechPro]

Probably.  If the video card sports a standard/traditional VGA video port (’female' 15 pin, pins in two rows of 8 and 7), that level of monitor should work just fine.  There is a chance the system initially try to push the monitor to a range outside it's abilities, but you probably won't much much trouble with that.

As for which video card would be best in the $50~ range... It very subject to each person's perspective.

If you're into video editing, and professional work, you may find ATI (Radeon makers) better.

If you're more after gaming performance, many feel Nvidia is better.

However, many people may feel opposite of that.

[Matthew]

Honestly for your purposes, Intel HD Graphics is probably the way to go. There's really no point in buying an external video card if you don't need one.

[Pumo]

Hey, thanks TechPro and IHateHackers for your advice!

Yeap, also Krom at the DBB told me that I should better stay with the Intel HD for now.

As the new rig i'm buying is very upgradeable, I will better start saving some money to buy a decent video card on the future, but in the meantime, I will stick with the integrated.

[Matthew]

Sounds like a solid plan. What other components do you plan on getting?

[Pumo]

Not too much, mainly the basic stuff as I'm a short in budget and I'm taking the best offer I could found at the store, taking also in account that in my country some of the stuff i'm buying is a bit more expensive than it should.

Anyway, this is what I'm getting more or less (maybe some small variation here and there as I'm still dealing what to get at the store):

A Gigabyte Motherboard with LGA 1155 Socket and support to up to Core i7 Ivy Bridge and up to 16GB RAM, a Core i3 (Second Gen. at least) CPU, 4GB RAM (as a start, will buy more later) , 500GB HDD, a couple of DVD-RW writers, a 500 watt PSU, the case, the fans, cables, mouse and stuff, and a LED monitor of either 19" or 20".

I'm planning to buy that rig to start using it the next week (due to my work), and upgrading some things here and there and step by step on the future.

Also, I'm not planning to use it on excesively hardcore gaming as gaming is my second priority. At any case, the games I'm mostly interested on are Portal 2, Half Life 2, Assassin's Creed I & II, Bioshock and Amnesia:Dark Descent.

Not really interested on Crysis, GTA, Skyrim and that stuff.

[-<WillyP>-]

Here's a card you can get for around $50: Newegg.com - ASUS GT610-SL-1GD3-L GeForce GT 610 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

Should run the games you listed pretty well, though really I am just guessing, check the specific game's specs and forums.

For just a little more, here's one with double the memory: Newegg.com - ASUS GT610-2GD3-CSM GeForce GT 610 2GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

[Matthew]

I'd still say just go with Intel HD graphics. Put the extra money into the processor and get the decent Core i5. A GT 610 is press much the lowest of the low end, 2GB of VRAM or not. You will NEVER max out even 1GB on that card, because there's just no way it could ever process that much 'stuff'.

I'd also advise going for a 1TB hard drive at least. The price difference just isn't there for it to be worth getting 500GB these days.

Also, it's worth keeping an eye on Newegg and Tigerdirect and the like, there's almost always something on sale that you can use in a build. RAM in particular seems to be on sale pretty much every day.

[Pumo]

Mmh, the suggestion is nice,  but it seems I may need to stick with the i3.

I re-checked my budget, and it seems I couldn't afford the i5 and neither a more than $50 Video Card right now, as I really want and need the DVD writers and the 19/20" LED monitor, and that reduces my options I bit. Anyway, I think an i3 will do well enough for the moment, although I do make video encoding, I manily encode into DVD (MPEG) format, so no big deal.

And btw, I do already have a 500 GB HDD on my current rig and I'm planning to add it also to the new build, so I will end up with 1TB spanned on 2 disks.

[Matthew]

I would highly recommend against spanning. It's just way too volatile. If either disk fails, you lose EVERYTHING. If the OS becomes corrupt, you again lose everything. Stick with 2 separate volumes.

[Pumo]

OK, Will take that in account and use 2 volumes.