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Budget/low-end card to boost SB system..?

Rafkoo

Rafkoo

Rafkoo

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Joined
17 May 2011
Posts
91
Afternoon gents :)

Having owned my SB PC for over a year now, I’ve decided to get a low end graphics card to allow me to play a few (undemanding) games and run some 3D programmes on the odd occasion (like Space Engine). I’m hoping you guys may be able to advise what would be a good budget card to allow decent play and acceptable frame rates and 3D rendering. So far the existing IGP has done me well, but I would like to investigate options for a step-up in performance. I’m not planning on playing any of the latest high end demanding games on FullHD res or anything....


My current spec is below – I’m hoping you guys would be able to suggest a few options - from the absolute budget (but better than my IGP) – to something mid-range (which I might stretch to if the price was right and it was worth it..... ;) ). Budget = £80 – preferably £50 unless it’s really worth it.

I’d especially like something that would be compatible with my system and possibly utilise the funky “multi-graphics” capabilities of the board... (I think it has that doesn’t it...something about switching between the IGP and the graphics card....?)....


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 500W PSU
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
HITACHI COOLSPIN HDS5C3020ALA632 2TB Internal 3.5 SATA Hard Drive -
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
Windows 7 including all updates and SP1
Gigabyte mobo drivers installed
VGA cable rather than HDMI (BSOD on boot when I try to run via HDMI..)

Many thanks indeed!
 
Thanks very much gents.

Are there any other lower end (maybe older cards) that I could consider for a slightly lower price point?
 
psychodil said:
This is probably your best option at that price.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-163-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866
Click to expand...

+1 this is the best you will get for that sort of price and this one too

**B Grade** OcUK Value GeForce GTX 460 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

was £137.99 inc VAT
£79.99 inc VAT
£66.66 ex VAT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-120-OK&groupid=595&catid=683&subcat=



AMD Radeon HD 6850 - 775MHz/4GHz 1GB GDDR5 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 1GB - 675MHz/1350MHz/3.6GHz 1GB GDDR5

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/539?vs=542
 
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The 6450 is designed for HTPC (Home Theatre PC), which is used for HD movie playback. It can play games but at very low settings.

The 6850/460 are midstream gaming cards, since they contain a lot more GPU grunt to deal with the FPS as well as gaming detail. A HTPC card doesn't have the power to match these cards.
 
Orcvader said:
The 6450 is designed for HTPC (Home Theatre PC), which is used for HD movie playback. It can play games but at very low settings.

The 6850/460 are midstream gaming cards, since they contain a lot more GPU grunt to deal with the FPS as well as gaming detail. A HTPC card doesn't have the power to match these cards.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the very clear answer - I did think that it may be somethign to do with it being more a HTPC card.

Would something like this 6670 (closer to £50) not suit my needs? -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-258-AS&tool=3

Many thanks again - I really do appreciate it! :)
 
The 6670 is a fine card. On low detail depending on the game you can get reasonable frame rates. But for £30 more you get a big boost with the 6850. Up to you on which of the cards you want to buy.
 
I'm running a 6850 with my i5-2500k and it's doing me fairly well at the moment, running most games I play at 1920x1080 on mostly full settings at a reasonable speed - around 40-60fps.

I've got quite a modded Skyrim with loads of high-res textures, as well as GTA IV with very high resolution textures.

Certainly a great card for their current price - I've had mine since they came out in late 2010 and paid ~£140 for it!
 
Orcvader said:
The 6670 is a fine card. On low detail depending on the game you can get reasonable frame rates. But for £30 more you get a big boost with the 6850. Up to you on which of the cards you want to buy.
Click to expand...
Actually the 6670 is on par with the 8800/9800GT, so it would handle/max average games fine even up to 1680 res. It will play demanding games as well, but just don't expect max settings.

But yea...I would stretch to the 6850 as well.
 
Gents

Slight bump to this thread – I never did manage to buy the 6850 graphics card last year – but came back to invest in one this week – and it seems to have been discontinued and links don’t work. :(

I’m guessing that a newer version is available – so, what would be my best option for my set-up (remembering that my PSU is 500W Coolermaster eXtreme (which I read somewhere actually only runs at 400W????? Is that right???)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 500W PSU
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
HITACHI COOLSPIN HDS5C3020ALA632 2TB Internal 3.5 SATA Hard Drive -
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Anything around the £50-£80 mark would be great. 7000 series?

Thanks all!
 
Rafkoo said:
Gents

Slight bump to this thread – I never did manage to buy the 6850 graphics card last year – but came back to invest in one this week – and it seems to have been discontinued and links don’t work. :(

I’m guessing that a newer version is available – so, what would be my best option for my set-up (remembering that my PSU is 500W Coolermaster eXtreme (which I read somewhere actually only runs at 400W????? Is that right???)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 500W PSU
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
HITACHI COOLSPIN HDS5C3020ALA632 2TB Internal 3.5 SATA Hard Drive -
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Anything around the £50-£80 mark would be great. 7000 series?

Thanks all!
Click to expand...
That CM 500W PSU would only deliver up to 360W over the 12v rail it would seem:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/arti...me-Power-Plus-500-W-Power-Supply-Review/728/6

So I would think you can get away with using a graphic card that require no more than one PCI-E 6 pin. Considering your budget, the 7770 1GB is probably the most appropriate choice.
 
Thanks Marine.....indeed - my PSU is not the exact one in that article (a CM 500W plus) - the one I have is the Coolermaster elite Power 500W PSU (but I guess it won't be much better than the one tested)...

Would the 7770 deliver equivalent performance of the 6850 I should have gotten last year (as per earlier on in this thread)?

If I was willing to spend a little more on the graphics card (but not change PSU) - could I consider something that would be a little more capable than the 7770?

Thanks again for the insight.
 
Rafkoo said:
Thanks Marine.....indeed - my PSU is not the exact one in that article (a CM 500W plus) - the one I have is the Coolermaster elite Power 500W PSU (but I guess it won't be much better than the one tested)...

Would the 7770 deliver equivalent performance of the 6850 I should have gotten last year (as per earlier on in this thread)?

If I was willing to spend a little more on the graphics card (but not change PSU) - could I consider something that would be a little more capable than the 7770?

Thanks again for the insight.
Click to expand...
I'm afraid there's little middle ground between the 7770 1GB at £80 and the 7850 2GB at £150. There is the 1GB version of the 7850 which you may be able to find around £125, but it is generally agreed that it's not worth sacrificing 1GB of vram for the sake of saving so little money- if you don't mind 2nd hand, and can find the 7850 1GB for £90 or less, then it "may" worth considering.

7770 was slightly slower than the 6850 according to initial reviews, but now with the more mature driver, I would think it should be barely slower than the 6850 now.
 
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Marine-RX179 said:
I'm afraid there's little middle ground between the 7770 1GB at £80 and the 7850 2GB at £150. There is the 1GB version of the 7850 which you may be able to find around £125, but it is generally agreed that it's not worth sacrificing 1GB of vram for the sake of saving so little money- if you don't mind 2nd hand, and can find the 7850 1GB for £90 or less, then it "may" worth considering.

7770 was slightly slower than the 6850 according to initial reviews, but now with the more mature driver, I would think it should be barely slower than the 6850 now.
Click to expand...

There is a middle ground marine, the 7790 and it pumps out some nice fps. :cool:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-198-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1699

EDIT

Ooh, that only comes with 1gb, my mistake. Weird ocuk don't stock any 2gb versions.

However i think you will run out of gpu grunt before you run out of video ram so i still say go with the 7790. :)
 
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