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best $50 GPU?

G

guppie1

n00b
Joined
Jul 13, 2012
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Building a system for my 9yo son to play my Steam and Origin games with his friends (the friend I play online with has a kid too, so they want to play some of our games when we don't - haha).

Building up a budget friendly i5-2500 system and need a cheap but decent GPU that will handle Killing Floor, L4D, L4D2, MW, MW2, AVP, BF2, and Dead Island. Oh yeah, Minecraft and Club Penguin, too. And not draw huge amounts of heat creating an oven...

Those are older games so the demands aren't that high. I don't think he'll touch BF2. To be honest, I don't see him PC gaming much because Santa is bringing an Xbox 360!

Any suggestions much appreicated. I've looked on the FS thread, but I didn't see much in terms of older hardware, but then again, I only went back a few days worth...

Saw a GTX650 on NewEgg for $110, but a little over budget. I'd rather stay closer to $50 (under $65) and get a better PSU.

Thanks
 
You can occasionally find a 6850 in your price range and it is a decent GPU as long as he is playing at 1080p with details down a bit. If you can find a 6870 for $65, you will be golden.

Bit surprised at your game list for a 9 year old, but to each his own.;)
 
Wait a month and see if PC games still interest him after he has the 360? I imagine some of those games are runnable on the integrated video in the meantime. And he's 9 so I doubt he'll notice much if you set the res/details a bit lower as long as he can play.

Then take your wife to dinner with the $50. Win.
 
an older 9800gt/gtx for lower heat or a gtx200 series for a little more performance both will run you from 40-60 used and will run even newer games with decent graphical settings
 
My 9yo could care less about computers once I bought him an Xbox360 and as a matter of fact neither do I...so don't waste your $$.
 
Best thing @ ~$50 - $75 is an HD6670 like this one.

It does have a 128bit mem interface even if its memory is only DDR3. Someone could correct me here, but NVidia doesn't exactly have much competition in this price segment.

I'd tell you outright to avoid any DDR3-equipped GPU like the plague, but it would appear you're not exactly looking for a whole lot of performance, so this should do.
 
I have used 9800GT and a HD5670 I would sell you either for 45 shipped.

But honestly dont listen to the nay sayers, giving your kid a computer is more than just for gaming its an educational experience something they wont get on a console. Being able to mess around and learn your way around a computer then start understanding things. And their interest will grow strong if there is something fun to do on the computer, it is gaming that might teach them mapping, 2d art, modeling or coding. And if they dont have any decent video card they will just think well the computer is just the boring place with laggy graphics. My 6 year old builds her own computers when things change, in fact those 1 of those 2 cards used to be hers. Sure alot of kids wont ask questions if you lower the graphics but giving them something a little nicer helps them build visual skills and learn to pay attention to detail. You dont make a mozart by giving a kid a recorder.
 
Get an i5-2300 and spend the savings on a better GPU. Even with an i5-2300, the system is still very over the top on the CPU compared to the GPU (including the money saved), but at least it's getting remotely close to reasonable.
 
whitewater said:
Get an i5-2300 and spend the savings on a better GPU. Even with an i5-2300, the system is still very over the top on the CPU compared to the GPU (including the money saved), but at least it's getting remotely close to reasonable.
Click to expand...

This. There's going to be a bit of wiggle room if you watch your budget and shift some funds from other parts. You are so close to a 7770 or gtx 650 ti that it would be worth it to move some things around in terms of budget. I know that the 360 is cool and all but you never knew. I grew up in the age of nes, snes, ps1, genesis, and arcades but I still have a very big place in my heart for early pc gaming. So much so that I collect boxed classic pc games.
 
You just kind of missed good GTX 650 and AMD 7770 deals for $70AR at newegg.

The GTX 650 came with two games. I sold AC3 for $35 and it made the final cost below $50. That would have been your best bet.

Yesterday the deal on the GTX 650 ti just ended for $110AR with AC3. That one would have been about $80-90 after selling AC3.

Id keep eyes peeled. This time of year there could be many good deals on vid cards.
 
I still think 9800GTs work great. You can pick em up with a rebate right now for around 30$-40$

I have 2 running in sli and they run most everything with AA etc..
 
phOkaz said:
I still think 9800GTs work great. You can pick em up with a rebate right now for around 30$-40$

I have 2 running in sli and they run most everything with AA etc..
Click to expand...

This is a decent option, but imo, still not worth it. You can find used 5770's or similar for around $50-60 so, why bother with a super old process card that produces much heat and consumes a lot of power. Not to mention not having HDMI ports etc.
 
Here is BF3 with one 9800GT. ran search so I can show that they will run anything. I myself max out everything, 8X AF, 8X AA @ 1920x1280 in BF3 with no problems at all. My point is for 30$, you cant beat it. I paid 86$ when I bought the 2 and I get better results
then my brothers single 130$ 550TI. I dont think he is worried about HDMi either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJD1tEP8p1k

Want to also add that I played l4d2 with a 9500GT maxed out settings last year, also all the steam games I play would run on a single 9800 as well.
 
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Why would you let your 9 year old son play such violent games? Mullin Floor and Left 4 Dead. Seriously? And Modern Warfare 2 where he can assassinate an entire airport. Dude, he is 9.
 
phOkaz said:
Here is BF3 with one 9800GT. ran search so I can show that they will run anything. I myself max out everything, 8X AF, 8X AA @ 1920x1280 in BF3 with no problems at all. My point is for 30$, you cant beat it. I paid 86$ when I bought the 2 and I get better results
then my brothers single 130$ 550TI. I dont think he is worried about HDMi either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJD1tEP8p1k

Want to also add that I played l4d2 with a 9500GT maxed out settings last year, also all the steam games I play would run on a single 9800 as well.
Click to expand...
Seriously? You are running BF3 SINGLE PLAYER and it is still well below what people consider playable framerates. You were averaging FPS in the teens, and that was with barely a dozen enemies on the screen.

Try playing BF3 like that in multiplayer with that setup. You won't even get FPS in the teens. I know this because I did it myself with the computer that is now my HTPC in my sig....Phenom X4, plenty of RAM, HD4850...etc. I could barely manage 30 fps with everything on the lowest settings at 720p resolution.

For just about anything else other than the latest AAA titles, a 9800GT maybe fine.
 
CaptNumbNutz said:
Seriously? You are running BF3 SINGLE PLAYER and it is still well below what people consider playable framerates. You were averaging FPS in the teens, and that was with barely a dozen enemies on the screen.

Try playing BF3 like that in multiplayer with that setup. You won't even get FPS in the teens. I know this because I did it myself with the computer that is now my HTPC in my sig....Phenom X4, plenty of RAM, HD4850...etc. I could barely manage 30 fps with everything on the lowest settings at 720p resolution.

For just about anything else other than the latest AAA titles, a 9800GT maybe fine.
Click to expand...

lol, perhaps you should read the posts again. thats not my video, thats a single 9800 running. I run 2 and get fine avg frame rates. He is asking for an inexpensive card for 50$ or under that will run older titles which the 9800 is more then enough for.

GUPPIE, forgot to mention my temps, they both run around 50-53c load when OCed. And 45-46c normal load.
 
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whoa, i didn't expect this much chatter...

I hear you guys regarding the age and game content. I think some of them have a gore filter/setting? Like someone said before, he hardly plays PC games aside from Minecraft and Club Penguin, so a GPU is really on the low priority list. I just wanted something that would be capable of displaying them at a respectable resolution on a 20" or 22" monitor (not 1920x1080).

I would just like for him to have a computer that will last the next 2-4 years and this i5-2500 should be fine. In the meantime, I'm upgrading to an i5-3570k for me with my current SSD and GTX570, which is why I needed a replacement GPU.

Which of the budget GPU's recommended draws the least power (gives least heat).

I didn't realize there were this many options to be honest...
 
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