Please can someone help me choose a graphics card?

saxonrosecliff

My daughter has got into playing The Sims 2 and we needed another desktop for her to play on. My OH got a free PC from one of his mates - Advent 9005B (which I believe is a business PC based on the Firefly 9004) which meets the spec for The Sims 2 in every way except the graphics card. I've spent the morning researching cards and am now completely confused about what we should be buying.

Obviously the spec recommendations for The Sims 2 were written some time ago and cards have moved on since them and I am not sure which cards are compatible.

For info the power supply is 250w and the card needs to be a low profile card as its a small box. Next to the slot where the card will go it says "PCI-E1_16x". It is running Windows 7 Professional

It needn't be a top of the range gaming card (which I definitely can't afford - I'm looking at a maximum budget of £50 but less would be better - this is a money saving site after all). We just want something that will enable the game to play smoothly.

The recommended cards are listed below - sorry for the long post - just wanted to give all the info that might be needed.

ATI Radeon(TM) series 8500 or better (9600 or greater required for Vista)
8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
X300, X600, x700, X800, x850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
NVIDIA(R) Quadro(TM) series
Quadro, Quadro2, Quadro4

NVIDIA GeForce series GeForce2 GTS and better (GeForce 6200 or greater required for Vista)
GeForce 2, 2 GTS
GeForce 3, 3 Ti
GeForce 4, 4 Ti, 4200, 4600, 4800, MX 420, 440, 460
GeForce FX 5200, 5500, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950
GeForce PCX 5300, 5900
GeForce 6200, 6600, 6800
GeForce 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
S3 GammaChrome
S18 Pro

=booboo=

Most GFX cards these days are PCI-Express anyway (thats what youve noticed next to the slot - its the plug name as it were).

Personally i have always preferred NVIDIA cards but others may state differently.

Is this a desktop or a tower PC? If it is a desktop then be sure to check measurements as not all GFX cards would fit inside the case! if it is a Tower PC, this prob wouldnt be an issue and a Gfroce 7900 / 7950 would easily do the job

aliEnRIK

I use this site to compare graphics cards so when you see one you might be interested in you can compare
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

saxonrosecliff

Thanks for the replies. The PC is a desktop - that is smaller than our chunky old one. I've opened up the old one to compare and the graphics card will definitely need to be smaller on the new one - so that is half profile isn't it (something i've learnt this morning)?

clangnuts

If it's such a low power PSU on the computer, you'll need a Graphics card that doesn't draw much power. I got one that only required 20w of power to operate, something like you'd put in a small case PC, with passive cooling.

james123

The main problem with the PC that you have is that the power supply is only 250w. Most modern cards ask for 400w+ , although there are numerous post on other forums stating that this is not the case ( infact i run a ATI 4650 on a 300 w PSU perfectly well)


I would say your best bet is probably something like an ATI 5450,

It isnt up to the top games, but should play sims 2 without any problems at all

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0042UK9Q4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0036DD4CO&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=10JHXQWNQXM14WXG217N

JasX

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I use this site to compare graphics cards so when you see one you might be interested in you can compare
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

I also make regular use of that site

Other things to be mindful of as well as physical length and height
-Number and type of power connectors required
-is the slot 'next' to where it will go free (space reasons)
-what the rating of power supply in the PC is

Hopefully you'll not be needing to go anywhere near a current mid-to-high end graphics card so shouldn;t run into trouble with power connectors and being able to output sufficient power etc etc.

I think traditionally Radeon rather than Nvidia cards have offered more bang for your buck but seem to have always ended up owning NVIDIA ones personally

if you want to take a chance and keep the costs right down might be worth trying to scrounge from a friend disposing of an old PC or taking a chance on a 2nd hand ebay job. Another trick is buying online from someone like ebuyer, opening packaging very carefully and not unsealing any software (download all drivers online etc etc) then if it doesn;t work out you should be able to return it under DSR regulations.

Finally maybe give the PC a go 'as is' when you get it as if the graphics card is only just short of the spec it might work out fine anyway with no further upgrades or expense needed

aliEnRIK

Half profile cards are not easy to come by
I was just about to type that it also points to a low wattage power supply, but I see you mention its 250W. In which case your struggling, as you'll probably need to upgrade the power supply too.
Assuming you have no desire to (Or you could well find you cant get another to fit anyways!) then you need a low wattage graphics card (So more than likely youll be looking for an ATI card as they tend to be lower powered than NVIDIA equivalents)

JasX

hmm, re reading the small form factor and (half size case) and low power on the PSU are potentially issues.... don;t suppose you know anyone else looking to part with an old 'full size' PC case and slightly beefire power supply you could 'transplant' the internals of the PC you are getting for free into?

aliEnRIK

For the record, I got around being unable to fit a larger PSU internally by sitting mine outside the computer

JasX

aliEnRIK wrote: »

For the record, I got around being unable to fit a larger PSU internally by sitting mine outside the computer

Just take extra care not to accidentally 'knock it off' the corner of the desk under those circumstances.....

I expect that would not end well