Do any B&M stores sell low end PCs with a dedicated video card?

[JCC]

I am looking for a cheap PC for my wife with some minmal gaming capability that goes beyond those pathetic on board video chips. I look at all these $300-500 PCs which have fine specs, but none of them have any sort of video card on them. I am not looking for top of the line here. I would settle for years old capable technology, but it seems like all these on-board video options don't even measure up to the GeForce 5600 level of performance. Does anyone know of a low cost, viable gaming option that I can just pick up from a store?

[Creepy_Smell]

In the 5-600 range I think the best you will get is an onboard HD3200. I recently got a new rig with a HD4650 for 750 at BB and it seemed to be the lowest cost rig with an actual video card. I could have got a similar spec rig with a horrible onboard for 100 less and then used that to buy a card a bit better than the HD4650, but I didn't feel like messing with all that. I didn't try online as I wanted a new rig the day mine died as I don't really have a tolerable backup rig.

[Giles Habibula]

I'd just get a low-end Dell (or whatever), and stick a midrange video card in it.
Don't go nuts on the video card though, or you'll have to get a bigger power supply to feed it.

[kronovan]

I've been looking to pick up a 2nd hand computer for my son. A GPU that's got my attention recently is the GeForce 9500 GT, for which I've seen spec'd on low cost cards from both BFG and eVGA . While it definitely doesn't have the graphics power of a 9800, it's benchmarks aren't too shabby.

[morlac]

In the 3-500 price range you just aren't going to get anything new capable of playing recent games.  I would suggest looking for a used system or going the dell outlet store route and increasing your budget and buying a video card separate.

[Giles Habibula]

Except he did say "minimal gaming capability", which you certainly should be able to do in that price range with a simple mid-range video card upgrade and a low-end dual-core.

Well, unless....
JCC, what exactly did you mean by "minimal gaming capability"?

[JCC]

Except he did say "minimal gaming capability", which you certainly should be able to do in that price range with a simple mid-range video card upgrade and a low-end dual-core.

Well, unless....
JCC, what exactly did you mean by "minimal gaming capability"?

I meant being able to play non cutting edge 3D games without it dragging to a slide show. On my wife's laptop the video can't even handle something like the Sims 2. I know I can buy one of these pcs and pop in a cheap video card on my own, but I was trying to avoid this hassle. $700 is the cheapest price I have found on a PC in my Best Buy with a separate video card.

[morlac]

Except he did say "minimal gaming capability", which you certainly should be able to do in that price range with a simple mid-range video card upgrade and a low-end dual-core.

Well, unless....
JCC, what exactly did you mean by "minimal gaming capability"?

I meant being able to play non cutting edge 3D games without it dragging to a slide show. On my wife's laptop the video can't even handle something like the Sims 2. I know I can buy one of these pcs and pop in a cheap video card on my own, but I was trying to avoid this hassle. $700 is the cheapest price I have found on a PC in my Best Buy with a separate video card.

Yea the problem is that there just is not any demand to put a dedicated card in a Sub $500 system.  If there is one in it is going to be laughably bad.  Like a nvidia 8200-8400.  That is why i am suggesting a used one or a cheap deal + a $100 upgraded card.

Squeeze an extra $50 into your budget and order this open box special from Newegg...

CyberpowerPC Gamer Infinity 9516 Core 2 Quad Q9550(2.83GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229086R

[JCC]

Wow, that's a pretty nice deal. As it turns out, my wife has decided she doesn't want a new pc as badly as she wants a new stove, microwave, and refrigerator, so PC plans are pushed aside for now. She may just end up inheriting my PC when I decide to upgrade in a few years... Thanks for the info all.

[Lassr]

I just built this one at Dell for my kids. Good enough to play most games at low to med detail.  $493 total after tax and shipping. No monitor because I have 2 extras sitting next to my desk.

1   224-3522   Studio Mini-Tower, Intel Pentium dual-core E5200 (2.5GHz, 2MB)   $429
1   311-9311   2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ- 2X1GB DIM M   $0.00
1   330-0915   Dell Consumer Multimedia Keyboard   $0.00
1   330-1158   Dell USB 6-Button Laser Mouse   $0.00
1   320-3000   Video ready option w/o monitor   $0.00
1   320-8145   ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB   $0.00
1   341-7641   500GB NCQ Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache   $0.00
1   311-9655   Integrated Media Card Reader   $0.00
1   420-8661   Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1   $0.00
1   313-6915   16X DVD+/-RW DRIVE   $0.00

[JCC]

Well we ended up getting her a $750 Gateway which came with a 1G ATI 4650 in it. While not top of the line, it should last her many years, and does (sadly) annihilate my PC so I now have ENVY~! I did play the Batman Arkham demo on it today and with everything maxed except AA and the PhysX options it played like butter at 1440x900. I was pleasantly surprised. She is now happily playing Spore which I bought for her last year, but she didn't want to play on my PC.

[Creepy_Smell]

Well we ended up getting her a $750 Gateway which came with a 1G ATI 4650 in it. While not top of the line, it should last her many years, and does (sadly) annihilate my PC so I now have ENVY~! I did play the Batman Arkham demo on it today and with everything maxed except AA and the PhysX options it played like butter at 1440x900. I was pleasantly surprised. She is now happily playing Spore which I bought for her last year, but she didn't want to play on my PC.

Sounds like the gateway I got at Best Buy (DX4300-03) [Rest of specs: AMD Phenom X4 9750 quad-core processor(2.4ghz), 8GB DDR2]. It beats the snot out of my old rig (Barton 2500 + 7600GT). Plays Far Cry 2, both STALKERS, Arma2, Fallout3, Bioshock very well (1440x900 w/ med to high settings depending on game [Sometimes no AA or Shadows]). I mostly play older games so I'm enjoying running them maxed out and picking out bargain bins I missed on my old rig.

[JCC]

Sounds like the gateway I got at Best Buy (DX4300-03) [Rest of specs: AMD Phenom X4 9750 quad-core processor(2.4ghz), 8GB DDR2].

That's the one. And, I see they have lowered the price since Sunday (on the web site anyway). I'll have to see if their price guarantee applies to PC's and get some money back...