Older HP PC, how should I spend ~$100? Specs posted>>>>>

cr_

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
7
0
10,510
Is it a waste to put money into this thing? I'm probably going to be stuck with it for at least another year and would like to know what's the strongest GPU it could actually use. Currently it's running on a borrowed card so something needs to be done soon.

Ideally I'd like to play some older games and keep my dual monitors for regular computing. I could go up to $150 if it would make a huge difference. Plan is to go the eBay route.

Specs

HP m7674n Media edition (circa 2005?)

W7 Pro 64 bit

PSU: Thermaltake 430w

MOBO: ASUS "Basswood"

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 "Conroe", 65nm, 2.13 GHz, FSB Speed 1066 MHz
Socket: LGA 775

GPU: borrowed, need to get one!

Chipset: Intel P965/G965

BIOS: Phoenix, v3.08, 09/18/2006

PCIe x16 (1 slot)

RAM: DDR2, 1x2GB, 3x1GB (4 slots)
 
It's old and not worth spending on but ~$100 won't hurt to give it a 'missing' component. Also I advise you to stay away from Ebay. Sure you might find an item there for much cheaper but it's a market for mostly used stuff so you might end up a bad or dead card with no warranty.

For $100 you can easily get a HD 7750 which is a nice entry level card. Here's a nice HD 7750 with newer faster GDDR5 than most other 7750.
http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=74741&vpn=HD7750-1GD5-V2&manufacture=ASUS
 

cr_

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
7
0
10,510


You know I looked at that one and was scared off by the fact it's 3.0, would that be an issue with my old machine? I think mine was one of the first PCIe boards made.
 

cr_

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
7
0
10,510


What do you think my odds are? Would they accept a return if it didn't work out?
 

cr_

Honorable
Jan 20, 2014
7
0
10,510


Nooo, that would put me over budget, my hope is to make a real machine in about a year down the road. I think the 7750 would do the trick IF it works on my board, is there no way to know for sure without buying?