Looking for low budget Graphics Card

[MKrl7]

I'm looking for a fast yet cheap card. This will be strictly for gaming so I hope that helps.

Specs:
HP p6803w
Windows 7 (64 bit)
AMD Athlon II X2 220
ATI Radeon HD 4200

 

[marshal11]

Well low budget doesn't really mean much until you give us a price. How much are you willing to spend?

 

[timarp000]

$100, $200?

 

[MKrl7]

Im willing to spend $100-250ish.
And one that can preferably run modern games, probably wont make it to max settings but, it will help.

 

[marshal11]

A 7870 is about 250$ if you want to get the best you can within your budget (which is what I recommend) but another good solution that will do is the 7850 which is about 190$. But it's always best to get the best card within your budget. It's worth it in the long run.

 

[MKrl7]

Can the 7870 or the 7850 run games like GTA IV or Black Ops 2 good? Or any new upcoming games?

 

[marshal11]

Yeah. Not so much GTA IV because it's poorly optimized but everything else will run pretty good. It can max BOII at probably a stead 60FPS and BF3 can be maxed but drops down to maybe 40FPS.

 

[lazyboy947]

if u use the 7870 with ur athlon dual core it will not preform to its best and hurt ur fps with what ur spending on a gpu, and the 7870 is not rlly a low budget card the best ones like a 7970/680 go for $450ish and around $340 for best for the price gpus. the 7870 will play most games at ultra no prob, if ur not changing ur cpu i would def go something lower to save ur money, or upgrade to something like a x4 965be or x6 1045t. Being its HP u may be limited to 95watt cpus if u upgrade that.

Also do u have a psu to handle something like a 7870?

 

[MKrl7]

Ok so I understand that the 7870 is the highest cost, and the lowest is the x4 965be. But what can the x6 1045t do that the 7870 or the 7850 cant do? And out of the 7870 and the x6 1045t which is best?
And I dont know much about psu.

 

[lazyboy947]

sorry for the confusion a 7870 is a graphics card and a x4 965be and x6 1045t are cpus. you are going to lose frames and performance if u use something like a 7870 with ur athlon dual core.

a psu is a power supply unit, and for a 7870 or something in the $200 range will require a 600watt power supply like a corsair, seasonic, ocz, xfx. something like a 7770, which wont under perform so much as a 7870 would with ur x2 220 would be fine with a 430watt.

 

[MKrl7]

So if I were to keep my athlon dual core and get 7770 that would be OK? What can I really get out of it. Would it still run modern titles? And if i buy a new cpu and also keep my athlon dual core, would that help?

 

[lazyboy947]

well ur dual core is at 2.8ghz and most modern games run better with a higher clock speed and at least a quad core. issue is a x4 965be is a 125watt cpu, which most likely ur board wont take, but a 1045t x6 is a 95watt cpu has triple the cores u currently have but only a 2.7ghz cpu, but would run great with a 7770/7870. The 7770 is about $120, which gives u room for a new cpu like a 1045t or a 95watt x4, and a new power supply like a corsair cx430

U can readily get a 1045t at tigerdirect for $100, or a athlon ii x4 640 for $80, and newegg has a msi R7770 for $120, and and cx 430 for $45

 

[MKrl7]

So if i get 1045t and a 7770 and a cx 430? How well will everything run? For example BOII.
And can I get a better combo for a little more?

 

[lazyboy947]

my 6770 a gen older plays bf3 on high and boII with on high, and being its newer id say ultra at 1080p. The 650 ti gtx from nvidia is slightly better than the 7770 if u wanna get that or a 660gtx, or a 7850 if ur getting the x6 and would go at least then a 550 watt xfx power supply if u go higher than the 650ti or 7770.

http://www.techspot.com/review/601-black-ops-2-performance/page3.html

 

[MKrl7]

If i go with a 650 ti gtx, would i need the cx 430 and the 1045t or would i need another cpu?

 

[lazyboy947]

u would def need a new power supply like the cx 430, and something better than the athlon ii x2 220. so yes id def get the x6 1045t or a better 95watt cpu on the am3 platform

 

[MKrl7]

So 650 ti gtx with x6 1045t, and cx 430 is solid for gaming? But can you clarify what the cx 430 really does?

 

[lazyboy947]

well the cx 430 is the power supply, the hp ones are low quality and if they even have the power connection for a aftermarket graphics card it prob would fry. The 650 ti requires a six pin connection from the power supply and a minimum 400watt power supply. The x6 is a good processor, for its lower clock speed, but ull see a huge difference from a 2.8ghz dual core

 

[MKrl7]

So which 2.8ghz dual core would you recommend?

 

[lazyboy947]

i was saying that the x6 1045t would replace ur dual core 2.8ghz athlon ii x2 220. the 1045t is a phenom ii x6 1045t at 2.7ghz, ur current processor is a dual being, the x6 being a six core. that u would see a big improvement from ur current processor the dual core

 

[MKrl7]

Ok so everything is good?
Well thank you very much for your help. I might come to you for further help once I buys these products.

 

[lazyboy947]

ok sounds good, everything is compatible with ur current pc.

 

[marshal11]

Ah right I forgot about your low end CPU. You don't even need a 6 core CPU. the phenom x4 would be a good choice as well to save some bucks. But looking at your motherboard specs, the max TDP is 95W. So you can get the phenom II x6 1035t, 1045t and 1065t. The 1065t is the best option but gets a little pricey due to low availability. http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Phenom-1045T-2-70GHz-Processor/dp/B006G76LZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363240037&sr=8-1&keywords=amd+phenom+ii+x6 This is the best deal I could find. That plus a 7770, gtx 650 ti or a 7850 would be a great choice. Also, do you know how many watts is on your power supply? You may not need another one. If you look at your current PSU it should tell you the total wattage and if it's 400+ then you should be good.

EDIT: I just noticed that your PC model has a 250W PSU. You're going to need another which will blow your budget. I would think it's worth it though. Just save up a couple more bucks and you're good.

 

[biohazard918]

I came up with a list of parts that should let you play modern games and fits in your budget

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Processor it's more then twice as fast your current processor and only $72.24

Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHZ 1 GB DDR5 it's one of the newer higher clocked GHZ edition cards and is $119.99 before a $15 rebate

Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt quality power supply to run every thing $44.99

total $237.72

I couldn't find any quad core phenom IIs at any thing other then 125 watts and there wasn't room in the budget any way. It might be a good idea to get the 500 watt version of that power suppy its only another 12 bucks and would give you room to upgrade in the future or overclock the GPU

Here are the specs on your current machine.

 

[marshal11]

^^ best answer.