Graphics card for media/low level gaming PC.

[_MetalEd_]

Hi,

I'm looking for a graphics card that is going to go into a media/low level gaming PC [titles released in the last 2 - 5 years]. Anyway here is the specifications of the system so far:

Mobo: AS Rock G41M-VS3 R2.0
Cooler: Stock Intel heatsink and fan from an old P4 system
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33Ghz [E8600]
Memory: 8gb Corsair DDR3 XMS3 1333
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II [60GB]
HD: Seagate 500GB Momentus

OS: Windows XP Pro x64

Haven't decided on the PSU yet [depends on the GPU]. Got a budget of around £50 - £75 to play with but can push it to £100 if needs must.

Thanks.

 

[bucknutty]

That cpu will run most games no problem. I would spend a tiny bit more and go for an AMD HD7850. That card would be a great match to that system and would allow you to play any game on high-ish medium settings.

If the HD7850 is to much go for the HD7770 or the HD7750.

 

[willard]

Let me just stop you here. There's a lot I'd change here, but I'll be brief.

1. Do not install Windows XP x64 on any system, ever. It's basically all the driver problems Vista x64 had tacked on top of a 12 year old OS. Get Windows 7 or Windows 8, end of story.

2. Please tell me that E8600 is something you're recycling, and that you weren't actually planning on paying money for a five year old dual core chip and the five year old motherboard needed to use it. I'm sure I could think of a worse use of my money if I tried, but it wouldn't be easy.

3. You can't put a P4 cooler on a Core 2 Duo. You need a cooler designed for the LGA 775 chipset.

4. Get DDR3-1600. It's like $5 more than DDR3-1333, and is the peak "bang for your buck" point in memory. After that, speeds matter a lot less.

5. Drop the SSD unless you're recycling it. It's an ancient model (OCZ released the Vertex 4 not that long ago), and 60GB isn't going to be a good experience. More importantly, it siphons money away from the really important components like the video card.

6. No need for an SSD and hybrid drive. A 1TB or 2TB drive would be better, I think.

Finally, your £50-£75, was that for the PSU and video card? If so, pretty much your only options are to cut costs elsewhere to increase your budget or get an HD 6670. Your PSU will set you back £20 or so for a basic model that's not going to fall over and die in six months (seriously, they will if you buy crappy units).

Another £50-£100 would do wonders for this build, and I would strongly advise you to see if you can increase your budget. What you've got so far is not going to be a fun computer to use, already hopelessly out of date before it's even built. Do you really want to spend your money on that?

 

[willard]

That cpu will run most games no problem. I would spend a tiny bit more and go for an AMD HD7850. That card would be a great match to that system and would allow you to play any game on high-ish medium settings.

If the HD7850 is to much go for the HD7770 or the HD7750.

I think you may be in the wrong thread...

 

[ASHISH65]

I would reccomend hd 7750.it best low powered card.you can easily play games at high at 1368*768res.it costs around $99.you cpu is good. Or if you are happy with medium gaming get hd 6670 at $65

 

[_MetalEd_]

Thanks for your input people.

@willard,

1) Windows XP Pro x64?, really?, don't know about that my friend. Been running it for the last 8 years and other than having to download the drivers I haven't ran into any issues at all with it.

2) Yes, it's recycled from a system build from a family member.

3) Pentium 4 640 [Prescott] isn't an LGA 775 chipset?. Because thats the system the fan and heatsink has come out of. Can you clarify this?.

4) The FSB on the CPU and mobo is 1333 getting 1600 memory, would that cause a bottleneck?.

5) Why drop the SSD?. People have had substantial performance increases in using an SDD drive.

6) Can you be a bit for specific on this in terms of overall performance of the system without an SSD and just a HD?.

On the final point... no, I have a 400 watt PSU thats been working just fine for the last 4 years. Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect I don't need to budget for this.

Okay, a hypothetical, assuming you have the operating system, mobo and cpu and a budget of say £200 what would you do?.

P.S.

Happy New Year's Guys

 

[bucknutty]

I think you may be in the wrong thread...

The e8600 is a great cpu and can run most games. For around 100 euros you can get a HD7770, but if you can push the budget to 150 of you can almost double performance and get a HD7850. I'm in the US so I may be a little off on what things cost in your neck of the woods.
My understanding was that all parts listed were already on hand and the OP only needed a video card. If that is the case then just put it together and have fun.
I would not spend money to buy any of the parts listed as they are all older parts but if I already had the computer as described I would absolutely buy a nice GPU for it and run that thing for years.

1. Use any OS you have. I would go with 7-64, but if you already own xp64 it will be fine. Keep in mind that with xp you cant run DX11. Many newer games will only run under DX11 like Blops2.
2. This recycled system is looks to have every thing needed to be a wonderful HTPC and play most modern games.
3. Many P4s were indeed socket 775. Many of the coolers and boards are inter-changeable.
4. If the board has a max memory freq of 1333 your best off getting less expensive 1333 ram.
5. If you already have the ssd and hdd on hand use them. I can see no good reason to not utilize them.
SSD will cut boot times down to 10-20 seconds. You will not be able to use the ssd for tons of games due to the smaller size, but you can install 1 or 2 of your favorite games to it.
SSD or hdd will have no impact on FPS of games, only the loading times, to start a match, or level.
Your old PSU will be fine.

I would get the PC assembled with as many of the parts you have on hand as you can then get the best GPU in your budget. That way the computer will give you the best performance over the next few years.

 

[haider95]

LOL look at all these people bashing you for having an old system. DUUUDE my friend had that CPU. ITS A BEAST! Pair it up with a gts450 or a gt440 (£48) from overclockers.uk and it should run most games fine at 1440x900

 

[_MetalEd_]

@bucknutty,

1) Yes, already have WinXP Pro x64 and I'm not changing. Like I mentioned in my initial post, only looking to play games released in the last 2-5 years. Building a new gaming/development rig in the next couple of months and looking for a competitively priced GTX 670 here in the UK for the newer games [ but that's another story ].

2) Thanks man.

3) Right, no need to change then.

4) My thoughts exactly.

5) Yes already have those.

@haider95

It sure is my friend.

I've decided to get an HD 7750 [ never had an ati card before ], given the budget and the fact that a new gaming rig will be getting built in the near future there is no point in the extra expenditure.

So final question, which HD 7750?. Can I pick one safe in the knowledge it'll be just a good as every other HD 7750?.

Cheers.

 

[haider95]

ooh ooh get one with a big fan

 

[haider95]

hehe gigabyte is really good and cheap when it comes to ati cards so id recommend going for that preferably a twin frozr one so you can overclock later on

 

[bucknutty]

Just make sure the card has DDR5 at 128 bit. I would buy the leaset expensive 7750 with ddr5 I could find.

Here in the US I would get this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969

I have been buying, selling, and repairing computers for the last 15 years or so and no one vendore really stands out for best quality in my mind. It seems its always luck of the draw when it comes to how long a component will last.

 

[_MetalEd_]

Right,

Can pickup one of those in the UK. Plenty of places seem to stock it so I'll get that.

Thanks guys, you've been a great help.