Which GPU Card for this budget PC?

[solan goose]

I have been given a bargain basement old PC for free and would like to know if it is worth spending any money on a graphics card for games. It's currently running with on-board graphics and is used for desktop duties only. My young son wants to play Fifa 2015, but playing it on my 5 year old i5 Dell laptop is a struggle and the game is very laggy. I have been looking at used cards for the PC at round £100 on Ebay, mostly ATI HD7850. Can anyone give advice and tell me if it's even worth the expense of buying a card for this old PC? I am on a tight budget. I know the Coolermaster 500w PSU is probably very poor too, but I really don't want to spend much money and don't want to buy a new PSU. It's just occasional gaming!

Laptop Spec:

CPU: Intel Core i5 M520
RAM: 4gb
Graphics: ATI Mobility HD5650
HD: 500gb SATA WD

PC Spec:

CPU: Intel Core i5 3470
Mobo: Asus P8H61 MX USB 3
Ram: 8gb
HD: 1tb SATA WD
PSU: Coolermaster RS500 psap-j3

 

[Threepwood]

Yes, it will be worth it.

I'ld say an AMD R9 270 would suit,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270 TurboDUO 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
Total : £122.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).



What case do you have?

 

[flame696]

I would also suggest a amd r9 270. Had one delivered today for ny budget gaming rig. I got it from another e-tailer it was around £100

 

[jumeeno]

I concur with the 270 folk... yes, I have one too (£60 Gumtree steal)!

 

[lude1962]

try and get a 270x if you can

 

[David Bisset]

The 270 and 270X are the same card just at different clocks, I'd generally say the 270 is a better pick than the 270X as the extra cash gets you little, though if the price difference is very small then maybe.

The OPs PSU has 1 x 6 Pin PCI-e Connector so that limits choices a bit too

 

[solan goose]

Thanks for all the advice. I have ordered an R9 270. The case is nothing special, but it is full size and has fans and LOTS of room inside. I think it is a cheaper gaming case due to its size, vents and fans. It's not a flashy thing with neons etc. though. Just plain, which I prefer. It will be interesting to see what my old favourite game Half Life 2 will run like on this PC, it ran pretty well on my i5 Dell laptop...

 

[meldarthx]

Nice card; for light gaming fills