Best graphics card for money and without external power (i have a 400W thermaltec system)

[hirajhil]

Hi, I am planning to upgrade from my radeon hd 4670 to a recent graphics card. The graphics card should be able to play all recent games in a more or less high setting. Although my current graphics card still plays all recent games but it plays them in low-medium setting.

I have a 400W thermaltec power supply. I dont know whether it has got external cords or not. I want an economy graphics card which will be able to run on my current power supply.

What are the recent graphics cards you can suggest? My budget is around $150.

 

[Gam3r01]

Well the 7750 is around 130 dollars and dosent require external power (XFX one for 130) Im fairly certain the 7750 only required 300 watts to run as well (recommended 450 but I have seen it done on 300)

 

[hirajhil]

Well the 7750 is around 130 dollars and dosent require external power (XFX one for 130) Im fairly certain the 7750 only required 300 watts to run as well (recommended 450 but I have seen it done on 300)

Hi will 650 ti boost work? what do u think?

 

[Gam3r01]

The 650 ti boost is a slightly better card overall, the only difference is that it is slightly more price wise. It has the same power draw as the 7750 and is slightly faster. If you have the 30 extra bucks go for it. I suggested the 7750 for its price and because your previous card was ati.

 

[hirajhil]

The 650 ti boost is a slightly better card overall, the only difference is that it is slightly more price wise. It has the same power draw as the 7750 and is slightly faster. If you have the 30 extra bucks go for it. I suggested the 7750 for its price and because your previous card was ati.

So do you think it can run on the power from the pciex slot ? from my 400W PSU.

 

[Gam3r01]

Yeah gpus that dont have an external slot draw power from the motherboard 24 pin connector though the board.

 

[Aegean BM]

I put a 7750 in an old system with 300W PSU. You don't need any external power. Just put the card in the PCIe slot. I'm surprised at how decent it is for the price and the low power requirement. I can run two large monitors for work, or the one 1920x1200 for games. On low settings, I still get 30 to 60 fps on full resolution. I have no experience with 650 ti boost, so I won't address it.

Newegg has 30 of them from $79 to $259. Sometimes, the only difference is price. Other times, it's 1GB vs 2GB, DDR3 vs GDDR5, 800 to 900MHz, eyefinity or not. Don't be fooled like I was. 3 connectors on the back does not mean you can use 3 monitors. It must have eyefinity for more than two. The eyefinity ones do require most connections to be display ports which are more expensive cables. The $259 card has eyefinity for 6 display ports.

 

[hirajhil]

I put a 7750 in an old system with 300W PSU. You don't need any external power. Just put the card in the PCIe slot. I'm surprised at how decent it is for the price and the low power requirement. I can run two large monitors for work, or the one 1920x1200 for games. On low settings, I still get 30 to 60 fps on full resolution. I have no experience with 650 ti boost, so I won't address it.

Newegg has 30 of them from $79 to $259. Sometimes, the only difference is price. Other times, it's 1GB vs 2GB, DDR3 vs GDDR5, 800 to 900MHz, eyefinity or not. Don't be fooled like I was. 3 connectors on the back does not mean you can use 3 monitors. It must have eyefinity for more than two. The eyefinity ones do require most connections to be display ports which are more expensive cables. The $259 card has eyefinity for 6 display ports.

well i do not have multiple monitor just one 27 inch 1920x1080 monitor. I just want to have the settings around high if not full high. and what is eyefinity, i have heard of it. how can I be benefited from this if I have one monitor only.

 

[Aegean BM]

well i do not have multiple monitor just one 27 inch 1920x1080 monitor. I just want to have the settings around high if not full high. and what is eyefinity, i have heard of it. how can I be benefited from this if I have one monitor only.

Eyefinity is AMD's technology to run multiple monitors from one card. Since you have only one monitor, it won't benefit you at all. (It won't hurt you either.)

Neither the 7750 nor the 650 ti boost will give you high or even medium settings on modern games at full resolution. You can lower the resolution to another 16x9 ratio like 640×360, 854×480, 960×540, 1024×576, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900 and still play full screen. If you resolution is small enough, you can get high settings, but it's a trade off of one quality for another that only you can answer.

It sounds like you might not be satisfied with either card. You should crack open the case, and see if you have an extra 6 or 8 pin connector on the power supply. Then considering your other components, determine the maximum wattage you could safely go up to for the card. Then pick a card under that wattage. (I did my best to calculate the theoretical maximum to spare from PSU and then subtracted 20% for age and safety.)

Picking the best graphics card for your power supply is a black art. Some will oversimplify it by using the card's TDP (not accurate) or the card vendor's recommendation (way conservative overkill). Read Tom's reviews for the card's maximum watts. To determine the maximum your PSU can spare, that's where the black art is. You'll need to ask others more experienced than me.

 

[hirajhil]

well i do not have multiple monitor just one 27 inch 1920x1080 monitor. I just want to have the settings around high if not full high. and what is eyefinity, i have heard of it. how can I be benefited from this if I have one monitor only.

Eyefinity is AMD's technology to run multiple monitors from one card. Since you have only one monitor, it won't benefit you at all. (It won't hurt you either.)

Neither the 7750 nor the 650 ti boost will give you high or even medium settings on modern games at full resolution. You can lower the resolution to another 16x9 ratio like 640×360, 854×480, 960×540, 1024×576, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900 and still play full screen. If you resolution is small enough, you can get high settings, but it's a trade off of one quality for another that only you can answer.

It sounds like you might not be satisfied with either card. You should crack open the case, and see if you have an extra 6 or 8 pin connector on the power supply. Then considering your other components, determine the maximum wattage you could safely go up to for the card. Then pick a card under that wattage. (I did my best to calculate the theoretical maximum to spare from PSU and then subtracted 20% for age and safety.)

Picking the best graphics card for your power supply is a black art. Some will oversimplify it by using the card's TDP (not accurate) or the card vendor's recommendation (way conservative overkill). Read Tom's reviews for the card's maximum watts. To determine the maximum your PSU can spare, that's where the black art is. You'll need to ask others more experienced than me.

well i do have a six pin connector. but how i can determine the power consumption of other units? My 12v current rating is max 19A. I heard that this is an important factor.