Suggest some under 80$ video cards for moderate gaming

[Dent1]

I have a very tight budget.I am using a PSU that came with the casing.I want to know if spending about a 100$(about 80$ on GPU,additional 20$ for PSU) would improve anything.

Here's my rig:

Intel DG31PR motherboard

Intel E5300,2.60Ghz

320GB SATA HDD

2GB DDR2 Ram(800Mhz)

Gigabyte 1GB 9400 GT(factory-overclocked)

220W PSU i think

These are of my interest:

HD 6750 HD 7750 HD 6570 and HD 6670

Also tell me if my motherboard would be able to support it.

It's almost 4 years old.

Even if i do upgrade my video card would i get any decent improvement over the one i have?I've notice quite a few games requiring shader model 5.0 so its better if they come with it.

I get about 125FPS constant in COD4.

Do i need to upgrade anything else?

Thanks in advance

Forget the video card, your system is too old. If you were to drop in a high end Core 2 Quad and another 6GB of RAM, in addition to a new video card you'll have a borderline capable rig. But in all honesty it'll be better value for money to sell the entire thing and start again.

i just scored an XFX 6850 DDR3 for $58 on amazon, but it looks like they're sold out (upgrade for sis from a 8600GT that broke, then down to a 4350). sadly, looks like they're out of stock.

One of the best deals I've seen in that price range is a new PNY GTX 650 2GB on eBay for $70 w/ $10 shipping. Not a top rated seller yet due to volume, but he has 100% positive feedback after 119 sales. This same card is going for $130 on Newegg right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PNY-VCGGTX6...157?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27d538506d

PNY VCGGTX650XPB GeForce GTX 650 2GB 128-bit GDDR5...

That said, it would take around a 20a PSU to run it, but good deals can be had on PSUs too:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seasonic-S1...-/200944733621?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item2ec93d4db5
(About $50 best price new)

Whilst those GPU good deals, the performance is going to be lost a 5 year old E5300 sitting @ stock.

 

[redeye]

Forget the video card, your system is too old. If you were to drop in a high end Core 2 Quad and another 6GB of RAM, in addition to a new video card you'll have a borderline capable rig. But in all honesty it'll be better value for money to sell the entire thing and start again.







Whilst those GPU good deals, the performance is going to be lost a 5 year old E5300 sitting @ stock.

you are correct sir!... so he should get the seasonic 430, and the 6850/gtx 650....

 

[Dent1]

you are correct sir!... so he should get the seasonic 430, and the 6850/gtx 650....

Nope. He should upgrade his CPU to a Core 2 Quad (if his board supports it) and his RAM in addition to getting a GPU & PSU. Otherwise he should consider building a new rig.

The 6850 is way to powerful for a E5300,

The era of powerful card when the Core 2 duo (45nm) was decent was the 4830, 4850, 4870, 4890, 9800 GT, GTS 250, GTX 260 series and those cards are not even in the same league as a ATI 6850, the GTX 650 is probably closer to a 4890, even still a we are talking about a average video card on a below average Core 2 Duo CPU from 2008 on a rig with only 2GB DDR2 hoping to run games from 2013.

 

[redeye]

Nope. He should upgrade his CPU to a Core 2 Quad (if his board supports it) and his RAM in addition to getting a GPU. Otherwise he should consider building a new rig.

The 6850 is way to powerful for a E5300,

The era of powerful card when the Core 2 duo (45nm) was decent was the 4870, 4890, 9800 GT series and those cards are not even in the same league as a ATI 6850, the GTX 650 is probably closer to a 4890, even still a we are talking about a average video card on a below average CPU from 2008 on 2013 games.

correct again... get the q8300, seasonic psu and a gpu... but, as i "somewhat" suggested in post 21.. replace the system with a g1620/ g2120 (approximately the same as your q8300 suggestion)...
but your suggestion about replacing the e5300 with a q8300 and a psu is the easier way because the OS won't need to be reinstalled due to a new MB etc.

upon further thinking ... and checking prices...
OMG an q8300 is 300 dollars!...http://www.amazon.ca/Intel-Q8300-Processor-Socket-LGA775/dp/B001GMGN1G.
and a q8300 has a same passmark score as a g2120!... which is 80 dollars!..
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116777&Tpk=g2120

so replacing the whole system is a better idea... at approx 354...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193 ram 39.49
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151117 psu 59.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303 MB 74.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116777 g2120 79.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202011 7770 119.00
for a total of 354... of course these are canadian prices from Newegg so perhaps use can find cheaper products locally...

 

[el etro]

For a used card, trade your PSU. Go for a GTX 460 used for gaming.

For a new card, go with a Radeon HD 7750(No new PSU required, really!)

with this budget, used card will give you much more bang for the buck.

Using the 460 will be overkill in your gaming rig, use it until you get money to buy an complete new system.

 

[xBruce88x]

after you get your GPU upgrade figured out you might want to consider getting an after market cpu cooler (about $25) and overclocking to around 3ghz. considering how low end and low wattage the e5300 is compared to the other CPUs supported by that board, the power system on the board should be able to handle the overclock just fine. people tend to think less of the e5300 and other pentium branded cpus of the line b/c they are branded pentium and not core 2. they are very close to spec with the exception of 1mb less of L2 cache if i remember correctly, or 2mb with the newer core 2s. I think the FSB might be a tad slower, 800 vs 1066

if you want to go with a new gpu, i'd go with a gtx650 1GB. no need to get a 2gb model... Newegg has an MSI model in stock that's $99.90 with free shipping. It also has a $20MIR, which i'd use to grab a new cpu cooler with.

I've done some research and the intel e5300 only has a TDP of 65w. The GTX650 is also about 65w. That's a total of only 130w. or about the same power draw as an xbox 360s. surely that 220w psu has at least that much on its 12v rails. still, to be safe i'd post a pic of your power supply stickers if you can. maybe worst cast add 20w to the cpu and another 20w to the gpu for load wattage and that's 170w.

 

[awesomesoccerfan]

Will this PSU be good enough?http://www.ryanscomputers.com/Thermaltake-973

Its about 47$.Seems like a good deal.Also i am mostly interested In HD 6770 and HD 7750

 

[McSteel]

That PSU is actually a downgrade compared to what you already have

 

[lyndonguitar]

HD 7750 is the best path, But you will need a new PSU for that,


For a cheap PSU I would suggest the HEC Cougar SL 400watts. it is rated at 384W so It should be fine. It can even handle my rig. It is priced around $30+

http://www.cougar-world.com/products/power_supplies/cougar_rs.html

Your CPU is also old so you may need to replace it if you want to continue gaming and play the latest games, That would mean you need to replace the Mobo too, and the RAM(you need at least 4GB), so it's better if you can just buy a new PC.


If you really are tight on budget you should just get the HD 6670, and buy a 500W generic PSU. It would still be a big upgrade but it costs alot less.

That PSU is actually a downgrade compared to what you already have

220W Generic PSU > Thermaltake 450W Lite Power Black???

 

[Arjai]

This is about the best CPU your Motherboard supports, Q9650.

The list of compatible CPU's for the Intel DG31PR.

One can find a Q9650 on Ebay for under a $100, once in a while.

Newegg and Amazon are either, out of stock or overpriced.

Good luck.

 

[McSteel]

220W Generic PSU > Thermaltake 450W Lite Power Black???

That Thermaltake is also a generic PSU, but painted black. Solytech makes the LT-xxx(P) series, and it's basically what's in those bland-grey cases that claim 500 but do 200W.

At least the "generic" PSU that awesomesoccerfan owns has an honest label on it. For all we know it could be a Delta, or a Hipro or a LiteOn... We never got to see.

But compared to almost anything, a low-end Solytech is a downgrade for sure.

 

[zepedee]

second hand rig off ebay is youre best bet.
youre pc is older than old.
however my favourite gpu low or mid range(depends on opinion) is the 7750 with a passive cooler, either asus or sapphire They both run between 3watts at idle up to 40+ watt at full in complete silence. you can play all modern games with these cards.though at low settings but will run games like NFS and bully at max most games from the last three years can be run close to or at max with these cards.YIPEE

 

[yaby0800]

R7750 could meet your demand. I saw there is a factory-overclocking model with 2GB memory from gigabyte.
GIGABYTE GV-R775OC-2GI Radeon HD 7750 2GB 128-bit ...

 

[Sempron Guy]

the HD7750 would be your best choice on that set-up given the prebundled psu is a decent one