Q: Okay i have a Gateway GT5428 Desktop computer and i need a better Video Card to run games. here are some specifications: http://mississauga.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-Gateway-GT5428-Pentium-D-935-Dual-Core-3-2GHz-1GB-250GB-DVDRW-W0QQAdIdZ61440597 I found this one because its at a good price. http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10100521&catid=20397# I am trying to run Gmod and The Orange Box and they Run and i dont get errors except the game may crash and the graphics are really lagging. The game runs okay but its really hard to play because all i have is the Intel Intigrated 82945G express chipset and its terrible for games. So is this card a good buy or Does it even work? and will it provide faster gameplay(graphics) Also Can you play Gmod and the orange box on the computer with a 360 controller? Id prefer the card not too be over 125$ if i can help it. also this one is at the store near me and id prefer not to buy online
A: I wouldn't get the 8400 series for gaming, as it's performance is just too poor. Especially not for that price from "Worst Buy". I'm assuming you're from around the 'sauga (go Hazel!). If you don't mind going downtown Toronto, to around College and Spadina streets, you'll be able to nab yourself a much better card for the same price. That area literally has dozens of computer stores back-to-back ( look at this for more info http://www.blogto.com/city/2007/09/college_spadina_computer_stores_the_real_deal/ ) You'll want to stick to getting either the ATI Radeon 2600XT series, 3650 series, or the Nvidia Geforce 8600GT series. These cards are roughly the same performers, and will run circles around the card from Best Buy, and the integrated video you have now. Also, these cards will not require extra power from the power supply (there are no extra cables to plug into the cards, just plug into the motherboard and go). You're power supply most likely doesn't provide any 6-pin power connectors... Get models with DDR3/GDDR3 memory (avoid DDR2/GDDR2!), and preferably with 512 MB of RAM. Also, you'll be looking for PCI-Express video cards. A cursory look at Filtech computers ( http://www.filtechcomputer.com/ ) on Spadina (http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=filtech+computer+spadina+toronto&jsv=120&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=39.794637,76.992188&ie=UTF8&ei=YEqHSIz_IYvKjgGQqpz9DQ&cd=1&cid=43657617,-79399792,17038011097896999002&li=lmd) has the 3650 going for $72, the 2600XT for $81 and 8600GT's for $90. All with 512 MB DDR3 ram. These cards all perform roughly the same, so by all means shop around for the best price. For models with 256MB DDR3 ram, you might be able to get something for a lot cheaper (IE $50 or less). 256 MB ram will actually perform almost the same on these cards as 512, so you can save some money there by getting the 256 models for less. I'd still go with 512 though, if the price difference isnt that much. So to recap, College and Spadina, any 2600XT/3650/8600GT with DDR3 RAM (preferably 512MB). Bring some cash. Happy shopping!