Good Low Power Card for 1920 x 1200 dual monitor 300w system

[hundorama]

Hey guys,

I am building a new mini ITX system and have just about got it all picked out.

Pretty much all I have left to do is decide on a video card.

Here is the system:

i5-2500
Lian Li PC-Q11B
SeaSonic SS-300SFD 300W
ASrock H67M-ITX/HT (PCI 2.0x16)

Gaming is not a huge concern although there might be some light gaming.

I will be hooking up (2) 24" 1920x1200 monitors up to this system.

My main concerns for this card are power consumption and thermals.

Here are the Amps on the 12V line as tested on the PSU.

+12V1 8A
+12V2 14.5A
-12V .8A

From the research I have done I'm thinking the HD 5670 or HD 6570.

I just need to make sure that any card I choose will fit my power scheme and run my monitors.

What do you guys think?

 

[farrengottu]

5450 or 6450, they perform the same but the 6450 has a better video converter. either have the lowest power consumption of the radeon line. any of the last 4 generations of video cards from amd and nvidia will run 2 monitors at 1920x1200. the radeon 5k and 6k series will run 3 monitors.
Nvidia cant handle 3 on a single card no matter the card.

 

[subasteve5800]

Depending on your definition of "light gaming" you might be able to get away with just the integrated graphics. IIRC, it can drive two monitors and should be able to handle any casual gaming (think Angry Birds).

If you want just a little more omph, consider moving up to the i5-2500K which has Intel Graphics 3000 (vs. 2000 on the standard 2500).

Your PSU is just to small to really run anything beefier. Even the HD 5450 (the weakest card on AMD's website) had a 400W minimum recommendation.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

HD5570 ?

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Even a 5670 according to this ; http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/313895-15-best-graphics-card-300w

 

[Lutfij]

i say stick with iGPU by getting the K series - which has the intel HD3000 chip on it. and with the H67 mobo from Asrock - you can run both your monitors. have it as an extended desktop

 

[hundorama]

Because my original plan was to go i5-2500k HD 3000 and stick to onboard.

If I had an HD 5670 and a i5-2500 vs. the i5-2500k by itself running onboard HD3000 graphics, how much of a performance boost might I expect in running my daily tasks that include database management tasks, movies, some first person gaming, and the like?

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

In gaming you see difference, the rest not so much i think.

 

[Lutfij]

^ bingo - if your going to game with that rig - than you'll need the discrete GPU - otherwise all the above tasks(minus the gaming) will work like a breeze with that rig.