Best GPU for this Old System

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hardasrock

hardasrock

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Hi All, I've bought a cheap system for my Mom ($10 for a complete set), can you suggest me what would be the best Graphic Card for this old system that would not be bottleneck by this CPU? She would be using it for daily task such as browsing the internet and playing computer games such as Sims 3 and Sims 4.

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Brisbane
Motherboard: MSI MS-7309
RAM: Kingston DDR2 4GB
HDD: Seagate 150 GB
PSU: 600 Watts

I've been thinking this GT 730 1GB GDDR5 64bit, but I don't know if the Athlon CPU can handle that video card. Please suggest me a good one, because I don't want my money to go to waste. The budget would be $50 for a video card.

PS: Is it normal to have a CPU Temperature of 50 Degrees Celcius by just browsing the internet and watching movies in this computer?
 
Solution
ronintexas
Anything over 90 degrees is a concern - it is usually indicating that either the fan is not working properly or the thermal paste has deteriorated. There is a chance of other issues, but the those are the two most common.

Over the years, I utilized the less expensive GPUs - and the result was the fans went out on them usually in less than 1-2 years. Eventually I went to the fanless solutions (i.e. ASUS GeForce 210 Silent), and that solved the problem. However, they were terrible at any game play, and I was limited to two monitors on the desktop.

In the last year, I purchased the 750ti - the fans are quiet....and this is a really popular card - I guess I will find out if the fans last.
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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I just upgraded my workstation at work using a GT 750 ti 2GB - it has a similar processor (different mobo) and doesn't require you to upgrade the PSU. The 750ti would give Sims4 a pretty big boost...

For $50 you would be limited (the 750ti is about $150)...but if my workstation could handle the 750ti - yours should be able to handle the GT730.
 
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Thunderballs

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50 wont kill your CPU. Are you a pc builder ? If so re seat your CPU and check the cpu fan. If not leave it alone it will be fine.

When you get to $50 for a graphics card you want to worry about wasting your $ for nothing rather than the card being too good for a processor.

I understand what you are doing but you want to get the best second hand gaming card you can and see what happens. Your Power supply will handle anything out there but it may be of dubious quality if you bought a self built vs a corporate/branded PC.

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/pcs/graphics-cards/50598/amd-radeon-hd-6670-review

HD 6670 second hand ...requires no pci-e connectors which I suspect your Power supply wont have ...

Really what you want is for your mum to decide she wants a better pc in a few months time and then you build her a budget gamer for about $200 with all modern tech and have her see sense in investing in a decent screen too...

Becasue we have had a stagnation in desktop tech over the last few years, there are a lot of gaming desktop components out there (second hand and new) that will be good for several years to come, are power efficient and powerful.

There is also the streaming TV situation .. where with the right set up at home, you can have a PC for office, gaming and streaming for very little $$ and only some living room inconvenience..

Anything running DDR2 is behind that leap in capability.





 
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hardasrock

hardasrock

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Hi ronintexas,

Wow this Athlon can handle the 750 Ti? How's the performance?. Well do you think the GT 730 can handle both Sims 3 and Sims 4?, because I don't want to spend a big money, because in the coming months I would build a computer, and I'm saving money for now. I just want my Mom to play Sims 3 and 4 smoothly compare to her laptop.

 
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hardasrock

hardasrock

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Hi Thunderballs,

I'm planning to build a computer in the next few months, an haswell build (still thinking if I would sell my Sandy Bridge CPU or opt to Haswell). Well it would be my first time to build a pc, but I have a experience of removing and installing the components of a desktop (although I'm still new to it, I'm always checking the motherboard manuals on where
to put the I/O Connectors). For the mean time, I would like to give my Mom a faster computer, because her laptop is not that responsive. Do you think by re seatting the CPU and buying a new thermal paste would help decreasing the temperature? I would still use the stock AMD Heatsink.

For the GPU, Yeah, I prefer a GPU without power connectors. Is there a big difference between the 6670 and GT 730? How about the r7 240?

Thank You.
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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The 750ti is about 4-5 times faster as compared to the 730. Here are some basic benchmarks: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

Tom's ratings are here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

The 750ti used to be the best graphics card under $200 - The R7 260X is about $10 cheaper and tied with the 750ti.

The "entry level" GPUs are much slower as compared to the 260x and 750ti....and neither require power inputs - I have a 750ti on this system with a 500W PSU - no power connectors - runs extremely cool - and runs 4 HD monitors without blinking an eye....Gigabyte claims that you can run the GPU with a 400W PSU (I have 3 internal hard drives, a SSD plus an external hard drive and a few other devices connected - that is why I have the 500W PSU).

 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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At work, I have an old HP 9400 Workstation - at home, the build is in the signature block.

Home temps are 36 for the processor and 25 for the GPU. (Stock cooler on the i-7 3770k). At work, there is a massive CPU cooler, and it still runs about 45-50 under normal operating conditions.
 
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hardasrock

hardasrock

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I see, because my 5200+ runs at 50+ degrees Celsius during daily task, sometimes below depending on the climate temperature. Playing games would reach up top 70 degrees Celsius. I've already cleaned the dust in my heat sink.
 
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hardasrock

hardasrock

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I've also got an old GPU, the ATI Radeon x1950 Pro, but it runs really hot, sometimes it reached the boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius. That's why I also want to buy a Entry Level GPU.
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Anything over 90 degrees is a concern - it is usually indicating that either the fan is not working properly or the thermal paste has deteriorated. There is a chance of other issues, but the those are the two most common.

Over the years, I utilized the less expensive GPUs - and the result was the fans went out on them usually in less than 1-2 years. Eventually I went to the fanless solutions (i.e. ASUS GeForce 210 Silent), and that solved the problem. However, they were terrible at any game play, and I was limited to two monitors on the desktop.

In the last year, I purchased the 750ti - the fans are quiet....and this is a really popular card - I guess I will find out if the fans last.
 
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Thunderballs

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Spending anything more than a few 10s of $ for his mums PC is silly. a 750ti is way over the top.

His mum is hardly going to be using dual monitors , nor should we be worrying about fans breaking or fan noise.

If you are going to spend that much you might as well get a new motherboard and Haswell chip with integrated graphics for what shes using it for.

 
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