Looking for an affordable graphics card

[nelaxm]

I am looking for a graphics card under $50 to improve my brother's computer's gaming performance. He owns/plays games like Lol, Skyrim: Legendary Edition, Civ V, the Bioshock series, & Dragon Age.

The computer he currently owns is: HP Pavilion a6814y


The two I came across are: EVGA GeForce GT 610 1024MB GDDR3 and MSI ATI Radeon HD6450 1 GB DDR3 .

Which graphics will provide better performance in terms of gaming? If you are aware of anything better that is slightly more expensive than $50, that would be okay too.

I am also concerned about compatibility. Will these graphic cards work for any pc?

I appreciate any help or suggestions.

 

[popatim]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-2.html

Please read this. Toms puts it out monthly

 

[montosaurous]

Neither of those cards are meant for gaming. And the CPU for that PC is not any good either. You're better off just building something new. If you do decide to get one of those cards however, they will both work with the system he currently owns.

 

[nelaxm]

I don't really have the budget to build or buy a new computer. This card would just be a little fix me up per se. As long as it plays the game decently (medium to high settings), it should be okay.

The PSU on his computer is pretty low too.

Thanks for you advice though!

 

[nelaxm]

Neither of those cards are meant for gaming. And the CPU for that PC is not any good either. You're better off just building something new. If you do decide to get one of those cards however, they will both work with the system he currently owns.

Honestly, any of these graphics cards will work. I just want to get the best performing one in that price range that will be able to handle gaming @ medium to high settings.

I've never looked at graphic cards before so I need a little help picking through the masses

 

[montosaurous]

Well, an R7 240 could maybe handle gaming at low to medium settings at 720p or possibly 1080p depending on the game

 

[Iron124]

I've been in your situation before. It's best to buy used, but avoid the low-low 600 series like grim death, they are designed for light multimedia, not gaming in any way.

Prices seem to have gone up recently as well...best you're gonna get for around $50 is probably a 240 http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-11216-00-20G/dp/B00DR3M050/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404280458&sr=1-1&keywords=r7+240

 

[nelaxm]

Thanks Iron124. That seems like a pretty good solution + it has a $10 rebate. I appreciate all your guy(s) help. If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm going to wait a little before I buy anything.

 

[nelaxm]

I've just discovered I have a giftcard for amazon, meaning my budget is up to 70-80$. Anything better than the 240 for that price?

 

[Iron124]

I've just discovered I have a giftcard for amazon, meaning my budget is up to 70-80$. Anything better than the 240 for that price?

This is a 3rd party card, but the reviews seem really good and I've never seen a 650 this low before.

http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-NVIDIA-GeForce-PCI-Express-ZT-61002-10M/dp/B009AEL4ES/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404318684&sr=1-1&keywords=graphics+card

Grab it.

 

[nelaxm]

I've just discovered I have a giftcard for amazon, meaning my budget is up to 70-80$. Anything better than the 240 for that price?

This is a 3rd party card, but the reviews seem really good and I've never seen a 650 this low before.

http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-NVIDIA-GeForce-PCI-Express-ZT-61002-10M/dp/B009AEL4ES/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404318684&sr=1-1&keywords=graphics+card

Grab it.

I bought it! Thanks