gpu for a power efficient mini itx pc

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atljsf

atljsf

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Jun 17, 2015
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i assembled a mini itx pc using a amd fx 5350, a msi am1-i and 8 gbs of ddr3

this pc uses around 40 watts under heavy load(have to check that with a kill a watt later) but has a integrated gpu(apu) that is a bit weak, it is a r3 hd 8400

so i wanted to upgrade the video card to improve performance

a friend gave me a old sapphire hd 4830 512 mbs card, it works well for what i play and do but i found a old article where it said that it can use up to 120+ watts under load

the whole idea of this pc is use as minimum ammount of watts as possible

i found some old nvidia quadro 600 and quadro 2000 1gb ddr3 on amazon, both without a 6 pin power connector and claiming to use as low as 60 watts under heavy load, the 600 as low as 40 watts

thinking on light games on 720p or less in medium to low details, being a single slot card(need the space for another usb bracket i need there, case has only two slots, card uses both) and without a 6 pin cable to be sure that it doesn't use another 75 watts from the psu

what is best, use the r3 hd8400 that comes with the amd fx, the old ati or get a power efficient and cheap quadro?

perhaps there is a better alternative, thinking in price, performance, power consuption and being a single slot card for a mini itx case that is so quiet that i can hear the laptop hard disk i put in it spin?
 
Solution
D
Your need for a single slot card limits things. I'd probably look at an Nvidia GT 730 GDDR5 64 bit card. Offhand it's the best low power, gaming card that's single slot I can think of. Cards with more performance tend to be dual slot and sometimes require more power. Older cards almost always use more power than newer cards in the same performance bracket. Some less expensive low power requiring cards are simply not suitable for gaming.
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atljsf

atljsf

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just read that article, the power limit of the pci express slot is 75 watts, doesnt mean that it will use all those 75 watts so could use 50 or less perhaps but seeing the msrp, i cant afford that gpu, probably gonna cost at least 200 dollars for the next 6 months the ti version and surely is too much for the cpu i have that i wont change for at least 2 more years
 
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nikoli707

nikoli707

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Jan 4, 2012
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the amd 5350 is not a gaming processor and is going to have trouble saturating even a gtx750.... cpu bottleneck.

the main problem is its pcie lane is only running at 4x.... not 16x like a normal pcie lane.

given that, i would just find a used gtx745 on ebay thats been pulled from prebuilt. probably find one for $50. it is tiny and draws roughly 50w at peak.
 
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dontlistentome

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Sep 5, 2016
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Your need for a single slot card limits things. I'd probably look at an Nvidia GT 730 GDDR5 64 bit card. Offhand it's the best low power, gaming card that's single slot I can think of. Cards with more performance tend to be dual slot and sometimes require more power. Older cards almost always use more power than newer cards in the same performance bracket. Some less expensive low power requiring cards are simply not suitable for gaming.
 
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atljsf

atljsf

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yes, my need for a single ot card is one of main reasons for this question, the problem with the gt 730 is that is expensive here locally, around 80 dollars, locally the 750 ti is 120 but my budget is perhaps 50 or less, that is why i mention those old quadro, some cheap offers at 40 or 30 dollars
 
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