Help selecting single-slot, low profile video card, Max $200

[kaeli42]

Looking to purchase anytime from immediate (if limited time sale) to 2 weeks; max of $200 after rebates. Would like to upgrade from an integrated graphics (ATI Radeon 4200 HD) to improve gaming experience (WoW, LOTRO, PWI, Skyrim, etc.), but I am limited to single-slot low profile cards. Would appreciate opinions on the cards I am looking at, or suggestions of ones I may not have run into.
Current contenders:
Radeon R7 240 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8670937&csid=_61
[strike]GeForce GTX650 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7607068&CatId=7387[/strike]
QUADRO K620 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9174674&CatId=3599
GeForce GTX 750ti http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10487648&PID=1800524&SID=

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

the 650 is not low profile.

 

[amtseung]

My bet would be on the r7-240 if you can find one for US$50 or less. I've used the Asus one for the past year, overclocked like a banshee, and it ran skyrim at 1280x800 on high-ultra with ENB's at 35-50fps. Nikola listed the issue with the 650 above: it is neither low profile nor single-slot. The Quadro really wasn't meant for gaming, although I'm sure it can if you really wanted to. It was meant for those who do things like 3d modeling, CAD, animations, etc. It's for the developers, not the end users.
May I suggest the r7 250? For not much more hard cash, it's nearly twice as good a card as the r7-240.

Even still, we'd like to see the rest of your specs.

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

Here is a possible r7-250: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Profile-PCI-Express-Graphics-11215-06-20G/dp/B00J06F4HE/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1422744345&sr=1-3,
It will be good to know the PC model /case and the psu also.

 

[JUICEhunter]

What about a 750ti @ $110.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8905321&CatId=4224

For $200 the 960 is amazing and twice as fast as 750ti but it's not single slot low profile but here is a mini GPU.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Overclocked-GDDR5-Graphics-GV-N960IXOC-2GD/dp/B00SD9KZ96/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422745245&sr=8-1&keywords=960+mini

 

[kaeli42]

OK, the images of the GTX650 on the link I shared are of a single-slot, but always possible it's the wrong images for the card. *shrug* been a while since I component shopped, hence why I'm here asking for opinions.

My box is HP Pavilion p6823w - AMD Phenom II X2 521 3.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Would be great to find a card that would work also for my boyfriend's comp, same restrictions, if he likes the graphics improvement on mine, and he has Dell 740 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.30GHz, 4GB DDR2 Memory, 250GB HDD, additional 2TB HDD, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

PSU's would be factory i assume....only mods thus far are add'l memory and 2nd hard drive on the boyfriend's.

 

[amtseung]

OK, the images of the GTX650 on the link I shared are of a single-slot, but always possible it's the wrong images for the card. *shrug* been a while since I component shopped, hence why I'm here asking for opinions.

My box is HP Pavilion p6823w - AMD Phenom II X2 521 3.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Would be great to find a card that would work also for my boyfriend's comp, same restrictions, if he likes the graphics improvement on mine, and he has Dell 740 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.30GHz, 4GB DDR2 Memory, 250GB HDD, additional 2TB HDD, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

PSU's would be factory i assume....only mods thus far are add'l memory and 2nd hard drive on the boyfriend's.

Oof. That DDR2 Memory is going to hurt in some games. I wholeheartedly second the GTX750/GTX750ti. Card is insanely good for its power consumption, and at $140-ish on newegg, you can use it for the years to come, even after you've both upgraded the rest of your PC's, making it a really good investment.

 

[kaeli42]

What about a 750ti @ $110.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8905321&CatId=4224

For $200 the 960 is amazing and twice as fast as 750ti but it's not single slot low profile but here is a mini GPU.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Overclocked-GDDR5-Graphics-GV-N960IXOC-2GD/dp/B00SD9KZ96/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422745245&sr=8-1&keywords=960+mini

Would love either of those...if they would fit.

 

[JUICEhunter]

750ti is my vote as it is smaller/faster/more power efficient (OEM PSU all day long no issues) and best of all cost less than the 650 you were looking at. Are you sure a mini GPU won't fit?

They are really small I've seen a 970 mini in person and you could fit that thing inside any case.Take a picture of both cases you guys should be fine with the 750ti and will combo great with your processors.

 

[kaeli42]

750ti is my vote as it is smaller/faster/more power efficient (OEM PSU all day long no issues) and best of all cost less than the 650 you were looking at. Are you sure a mini GPU won't fit?

They are really small I've seen a 970 mini in person and you could fit that thing inside any case.Take a picture of both cases you guys should be fine with the 750ti and will combo great with your processors.

Boyfriend just showed me on his why he is for sure stuck with single-slot low profile. Can't get to the back of mine as easily, back in a few with pictures.

 

[kaeli42]

OK, here's pics.

The HP:

The Dell:

So, yeah, have to have a single-slot card for either computer On the plus, I did find a 750ti that is pictured as being single-slot on NewEgg, so I'm adding it to my list of contenders.

 

[JUICEhunter]

Looking at both pics, the top one can use a 2 slots because the bulk of the card will be from the pci-e and work its way up blocking one of your 3 mini pci-e (basically gpu will be upside down). The bottom one does not have as much room for sure though.

 

[amtseung]

When a card is listed as a 2-slot card, it doesn't actually use 2 pci (or pci-e) slots, it's just the width of 2, telling you that it might cover up something else. Both of the pictures shown look like you can use a fatter card, like a the EVGA 750ti superclock edition (which is my personal recommendation). You have more space in there than my pc case, a Rosewill FBM-01, and I fit a hd7950 in there (dual slot, 12 inches long, 6 inches wide, nearly 3 inches thick). Of course, a dremel and a grinding disc make fitting oversize parts just a tad easier.

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

+1 for 750 TI. In the HP you can fit dual slot card, full height profile. Think about upgrading the CPU to quad core - this will also improve performance.
For the Dell - you have to look for a shorter, single slot card.
The MSI added in the first post (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10487648&PID=1800524&SID=) seems like it will fit in both PCs.
Definitely will fit in ht HP, and you can try if it fits in the dell.

 

[kaeli42]

All of this is definitely showing me how out of touch I've gotten with components...for my HP, I was assuming the case should have a dual-slot expansion space in order to fit a dual-slot card...
Continuing to look at variants of the 750ti based on all the recommendations, but since I'm definitely not comfortable with the dremel and grinding disc option LOL checking out return policies as well just in case the fit is a real issue.