Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Best GPU Graphics Card for my Computer?
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:hello:

Hello, I want to know what's the best graphics card for my PC? I'm on a vvveerrrryyy tight budget of 50 pounds (PS I'm 14 and I don't have a job :kaola: ) SO... I want it for light gaming, like Sims 2 and SPORE and... on Mercs 2 :p I do want a fast card though, so I can buy modern games on at least medium-low settings...
what do you fellow Tom's Hardware readers recommend...?

>> SPECIFICATIONS <<
Packard Bell iMedia - MC 1538
Intel P4 3.06Ghz
2.5GB DDR2 PC2-4200 Memory
(Current:))
nVidia GeForce 6200 LE/TC 64MB (256MB Total) VGA + TV-Out
PCIe PCI Express
Dual 400 MHz RAMDAC
350 MHz Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
275 MHz memory clock

(full specs are at my computers home page here> http://support.packardbell.com/uk/ [...] PB34225401 < )

Thanks very much in advance guys... :D :p

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Not sure where you're going to order from, but check out the prices for HD4670 ATI card

Reply to dirtmountain

Oooh, Slackard-Hell. Notorious back in the day for boxes sold with way-underpowered PSUs of non-standard dimensions. What is the wattage on your PSU, and how many amps on the +12V rail?
I believe that 50 GBP is about $85 now. That might allow you to pick up an HD4670, which is pretty strong for not needing an auxilliary power connector.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

yeah what he said idk what place ur looking for prices etc etc but look for the one he said oh and the nvidia 9500gt or HD 4650 just so u can c the price, if the gape is small from all 3 of them go for the 4670 and if its to big from the other two then if the 9500gt and 4650 are close in price i say get the 4650 whats 50 pounds in US $ like 85 dollars?

Reply to xcess

Hi, thanks for replies, I think it's actually about $85-$90

and my PSU says MAX 250watts.

Please continue to help, I am comparing prices at PC world UK just now ;)
:p

Thanks so very much so far, very much appreciated, thank you everyone!

Reply to Grant1872x

4670 is too dear it is on eBay UK for 80 GBP and on PC World for 119 GBP!!

Thanks so far! :p

Reply to Grant1872x

HD4650 maybe? 3650? 2600XT or Pro?

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

jtt283 wrote :

HD4650 maybe? 3650? 2600XT or Pro?



That 2600XT one is an amazing card, 800Mhz Core and 256mb RAM... I really like this card and the local PC World in Glasgow is doing it for 44.99 GBP!!!!!! SO... could I run medium graphics then on modern games with this GPU...?

Thank you very much!

Reply to Grant1872x

Try using a price comparason site like Kelkoo to chek the cards listed by XCESS. And remember, not everyone lists prices which include VAT and postage, which can add quite a bit to the total.
Good hunting.

Reply to coozie7

BTW, your PSU is indeed rather weak. Your 6200LE, however, would be blown away even by something like a 2400PRO. I'm not sure I'd safely attach anything even as demanding as a 2600PRO to your system.
Do you have any reasonable hope of raising another 50 GBP? If so, a replacement PSU give you some much better options.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

I plugged my best guesstimates on your current system into the PSU sizing calculator at http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine, and with 20% capacitor aging it shows 241Watts. With a 256MB 2600XT, the requirement is 254W; too much. A 512MB 2600PRO needs 236W, and a 256MB 2600PRO only needs 233W. If one of them is not available, a 2400XT requires 220W.


------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

4670, 9600 GT, 9600 GSO Those are pretty cheap and can do any game on the markt now other than Crysis on high mostly:) this all depends on your screensize.

------------------------------ PSN: L1qu1dat1on
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Reply to L1qu1d

None of those cards can run on the 250W PSU in his system.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148213
^^that is a better card and cheaper i would stay away from computer world
if ur from glasgow there is a place over the Clydeside thats cheap next to the cash and carry's

Reply to rangers

if ur from glasgow ill sell u a 1800xt for £15, it will wipe the floor with the 2600
you do know the 2600 is crap

Reply to rangers

jtt283 wrote :

None of those cards can run on the 250W PSU in his system.



My mistake, for 250 wat, thats a toughy, prob the 9500 GT or the 9400 GT. though the 3650 runs on a very efficient 55 nm processor, it's min is still 300 watts.


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Reply to L1qu1d

rangers wrote :

if ur from glasgow ill sell u a 1800xt for £15, it will wipe the floor with the 2600
you do know the 2600 is crap



ok, I read reviews and it seems not bad, whereabouts do you stay or is it a shop you are in??? is the gcard new or used?

Also I have 250watt PSU will this be compatible? or do I need to upgrade that aswell...?

And the 2600 seems quite good... what's the difference between the two?


Thanks, and a good Rangers man I see...? :p

Reply to Grant1872x

have you looked at overclockers uk i buy a lot of stuff from them and normally good prices

Reply to fergie

fergie wrote :

have you looked at overclockers uk i buy a lot of stuff from them and normally good prices



No, not yet, will do though Thanks!
;) :p :D

Reply to Grant1872x

im from the east end, the card has been used but ill even give a good rangers man a money back guarantee i'll even through in a good psu for an extra £10 the FSP Bluestorm 500w
so anyone want to come in with some advice for the guy, what do yous think he should do, get the 2600 or take the deal from me and it will work out cheaper

Reply to rangers

anyone want to come in on this

Reply to rangers

get something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121243
very efficient and is fanless so less energy used.
=]

------------------------------ intel core 2 quad q6600 @3.2ghz msi p6n diamond (X-FI Extreme sound) 6gig of OCZ+CoRSAIR oc 900mhz Nvidia gtx 260 sli @ 730/1465/1250
Lite-On Blue-ray Western Digital 7200rpm 500gb Antec 500 Earthwatt Window vista 64-bit
Reply to invisik

@OP, rangers is offering a good deal; that FSP PSU got a good review at Jonnyguru.com. With that PSU, you could handle up to an HD4850, so there's nothing in your budget it wouldn't run.

@rangers, I know the 2600 isn't great, but if he doesn't take your PSU deal, that's the most his can handle; it would be fine for Sims, Spore, and similar games.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

rangers wrote :

anyone want to come in on this



Sounds good to me, so 25 GBP all in then?
15 for the GPU and 10 for the PSU...?

So.. how we going to do this then?

Away out for the day but I will be back on tonight! :p ;)

Reply to Grant1872x

rangers wrote :

anyone want to come in on this



Hi, rangers. Is the PSU new and is the GPU new or used...?

When do you want me to pick it up...? :pt1cable:

Reply to Grant1872x

PM me and ill give you the details

Reply to rangers

hello :) i was wondering what the best graphics card for my pc would be. Im learing towards nvidia so i can run sli.
Im stuck between 2 9800 gtx+ SSC or one GTX 260 core 216.

My current setup:
Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo
Intel Quad-Core 2.4 running at 2.66
2 gb ram
600W psu
(a ****) evga 8500 gt 512mb (which i have been wanting to upgrade for the longest time)



can anyone give me some opinions and help me choose?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by wahjahka on 10-19-2008 at 09:16:30 AM
Reply to wahjahka

When you start your own thread, I'm sure people will be happy to make suggestions.

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

wahjahka wrote :

hello :) i was wondering what the best graphics card for my pc would be. Im learing towards nvidia so i can run sli.
Im stuck between 2 9800 gtx+ SSC or one GTX 260 core 216.

My current setup:
Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo
Intel Quad-Core 2.4 running at 2.66
2 gb ram
600W psu
(a ****) evga 8500 gt 512mb (which i have been wanting to upgrade for the longest time)



can anyone give me some opinions and help me choose?




If your going for sli and your choice is between 2 9800 GTX+ and 1 260, go for the 260 since it is more future friendly then the over priced 9800 GTX revision.

plus it has about 384 megs of extra ram, which will be more beneficial for High textured games, and AA enabling in Games.

with my 280s I can do 32x AA in Quake wars, and with my GX2s in Quad I could barely do 8x:P

------------------------------ PSN: L1qu1dat1on
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Reply to L1qu1d

L1qu1d wrote :

If your going for sli and your choice is between 2 9800 GTX+ and 1 260, go for the 260 since it is more future friendly then the over priced 9800 GTX revision.

plus it has about 384 megs of extra ram, which will be more beneficial for High textured games, and AA enabling in Games.

with my 280s I can do 32x AA in Quake wars, and with my GX2s in Quad I could barely do 8x:P



thanks :) now one more question, since my mobo only have pci-e and i know that pci-e 2.0 can go down to pci-e but will that make much a difference?

Reply to wahjahka

I don't think its anything noticeable for the most card from what I read. I think the only thing holding ur system back if I read your specs, is your P4 3.06, even its a fast single core, it still needs that extra core to be able to sweat to the left and to the right:) especially since games are becoming more and more multi core friendly.

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Reply to L1qu1d

was your last reply to me? cause i have a quad-core overlcocked to 2.66 not a p6 @ 3.06

Reply to wahjahka

sorry I was in a rush from school to get home lol I combined questions.

For you its the first part, then I accidentally put his msg addressed to u.

:p its Midterm time I'm tired ahaha.

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Reply to L1qu1d
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