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Budget BF3 Graphics Card

jasonbaldry

jasonbaldry

jasonbaldry

Associate
Joined
23 Oct 2011
Posts
40
Hi guys,

You lot gave me great advice when I got my 560Ti.

I have some friends who want a bit of the BF3 action but having done some digging there seems to be less definite responses on what is the best £50 - £100 card for BF3.

All advice very welcome.

Cheers

Jason
 
cheers guys - certainly good buys but as you suggest I think the PSU will struggle with a max output of 305W (older Core 2 office machines) which may mean we have to go a little less powerful and nearer the £50 mark.....
 
With a 305W PSU there really isn't many cards good enough to play BF3 well and stick within the power envelope.

One of the excepetions may be the HD 7750, though it still may be pushing it (depending on the exact model of PSU used and the rest of the specs) - this card has a maximum power draw of 75W and doesn't require a 6/8pin PCIE power connection.

Here is a review which shows BF3 performance using the HD 7750.
 
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Cheers chaps - not it defo a 305W. It doesnt have a 6 bin but cant i just get them to use a molex/SATA to 6pin adaptor?

Resolution wont be anything massive 1280 x 1024 probably or 1440 x 900
 
How about this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-280-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1983

Thermaltake PSU wattage calculator:

System Type: 1 physical CPU
Motherboard: Regular - Desktop
CPU Socket: Socket LGA 775
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2130 MHz Conroe/Allendale
CPU Utilization (TDP): 85% TDP
RAM: 4 Sticks DDR SDRAM
Video Card 1: AMD Radeon HD 6670
SCSI HDD 10,000 rpm: 1 HDD
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive
USB: 2 Devices
Fans
Regular: 1 Fan 92mm; 1 Fan 120mm;
Keyboard & Mouse (included): Yes
System Load: 90 %

Recommended PSU Wattage: 266 Watts

EDIT - forgot to add in DDR2 RAM but that actually brought it down to 259W
 
You could use molex to 6pin PCIE adapters - these work fine.

However, the big problem here not the connectors, but the power capacity of the PSU itself. A graphics card which needs one 6pin PCIE connector will draw between 75 and 150W of power at maximum load (depending on what model it is)- this 305W PSU designed for office use most likely can't cope with such a power draw (all of which will be on the 12V rail). Therefore, if you are to buy a graphics card then it really needs to be one that requires no external power connection (therefore draws 75W or less) - or spend money changing the PSU to a decent one.

If you absolutely want to keep the existing PSU, would you be able to tell us what the rating stick on the side of the PSU says. This will say what maximum current the PSU can provide on the various voltage rails.

To be clear - BF3 is a very graphically intensive game - and only the very best sub-75W graphics cards (like the HD 7750) will play the game well.

This review compares the HD 6670 and the HD 7750 in a range of games (unfortunately BF3 isn't tested here, but crysis 2 and crysis warhead should give you an idea of the relative performance in FPS games).
 
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I'd grab a 7750, then for £80 ish then coble together some extra pennies and get a new psu, because even the 7750 whilst not needing a 6pin will be a huge step up in draw for the psu, and personally I wouldn't risk it....just me though
 
Just to add, here is a review which directly compares the HD 6670 and HD 7750 in BF3 at various resolutions. As before, the HD 7750 is really the one to get and will make the game playable - at lower resolutions at least.

To echo what the others have said, before you find definite information on the PSU (like the rating sticker) then I wouldn't go ahead and buy one of the sub-75W graphics cards. I say this because 305W does not mean that 305W is available to use by the CPU and GPU - instead the voltage rails may divided so that only 200W is available on the 12V rail (the rail used by the CPU and GPU).
 
OK, so the rated maximum power that can be delivered on the 12V rails is 264W.

Therefore, it should be OK with one of the sub-75W cards like the HD 7750 - though I wouldn't recommend putting anything more power-hungry on that PSU.
 
TPU measures graphics card power consumption not total system power consumption like Anandtech does, and they put the HD7750 as having lower power consumption than an HD6670 GDDR5.
 
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