Recommend a graphics card?

[antknee71]

Hi,

I have a 4 year old Dell computer. It works pretty well but the graphics card in particular is just too old to play the latest games with much quality. It has a dual core cpu at around 2.3GHz, a 300W power supply and a Nvidia 8400GS. The motherboard is PCIE 1 with 16 slots.

Which graphics card would you recommend? I don't really want to spend more than £60 ($100).

Thanks,

Ant.

 

[ulillillia]

Your power supply is almost certainly going to cause you problems. Chances are, it doesn't have a PCI-express power connector which will make it difficult to find a decent card. For your low budget, I'd recommend looking into AMD cards.

 

[PrvtChurch]

The whole thing really needs to be replaced. The CPU is gonna bottleneck any modern card, the PSU is too weak to really do much and the Motherboard.... well PCIE 1 is kinda old too.

 

[antknee71]

I couldn't afford a new PC so its a modest upgrade. I don't have the 6 pin block but I do have a spare 4 pin adapter so I'm guessing I could use this below?

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=pci+express+power+connector&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GBfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=18056998161955629313&sa=X&ei=7qzBTqi7D4OP8gPvsaCSBA&ved=0CC4Q8wIwAQ

 

[andywork78]

ati 5770 may be work...

 

[PrvtChurch]

You could try getting a GPU that doesn't need external power. the HD 5670 is a good place to start.

 

[samuelspark]

GT240 GDDR5 is a steal at $40.

 

[antknee71]

The GT240 and ATI 5770 are about the same price here. The 5670 doesn't need an extra adapter and is a bit cheaper. Think I need to google for a performance comparison now.

 

[ulillillia]

For a performance comparison, you can reference these handy Wikipedia articles:

Nvidia
AMD

Use this to gauge the power of the card then use online retail stores in your area (such as Newegg, if Newegg is available in the UK) to judge the price. Be sure to check for a PCI-express connector - if the card requires it, try another card.

 

[antknee71]

I've done a price comparison for the UK on google shopping.

GT240 ~ £35 ($50)
ATI 5670 ~ £40 ($55)
ATI 5770~ £75 ($105)

Looks like the 5670 is the best bet. Its on budget and much better than what I currently have. No need to have the power adapter either.

 

[PrvtChurch]

I've done a price comparison for the UK on google shopping.

GT240 ~ £35 ($50)
ATI 5670 ~ £40 ($55)
ATI 5770~ £75 ($105)

Looks like the 5670 is the best bet. Its on budget and much better than what I currently have. No need to have the power adapter either.

I am probably gonna get a 5670 to replace the old Geforce 7500LE in my dad's desktop. Just be aware that there are several different 5670's. some have 512Mb of VRAM others have 1GB. some have DDR3 others have DDR5.

 

[ulillillia]

I am probably gonna get a 5670 to replace the old Geforce 7500LE in my dad's desktop. Just be aware that there are several different 5670's. some have 512Mb of VRAM others have 1GB. some have DDR3 others have DDR5.

For a GeForce 7500 LE, you'll have another issue to address. If that card is AGP, then it's going to be very expensive to upgrade it as AGP cards are not cheap. If it's a PCI-express x16 card, then you'll be fine and would have no trouble with the 5670.

@antknee71: One thing that you should consider, with your low-powered PSU, is that you should avoid overclocking and connecting much more peripherals.

 

[PrvtChurch]

For a GeForce 7500 LE, you'll have another issue to address. If that card is AGP, then it's going to be very expensive to upgrade it as AGP cards are not cheap. If it's a PCI-express x16 card, then you'll be fine and would have no trouble with the 5670.

@antknee71: One thing that you should consider, with your low-powered PSU, is that you should avoid overclocking and connecting much more peripherals.

It's a PCIE, I checked that already.