• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Help me Choose a Card

K

killerfrenzi

n00b
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
13
I'm building something with a i3 2100 in it and I need a gpu. My budget is for the gpu is $70 and I need some recommendations. I want to keep this low as possible since not only is this a budget build, I'm only keeping this build for about 1.5 years before I give it to my parents. I don't think my mom is going to be playing starcraft 2.

I'm planning to do the usual multitask of having firefox, itunes, and a game client up.

I'm going to play starcraft2, dota2, and diablo3 on it.

at first I thought about getting a 5570 since that's still ALRIGHT for my needs, but I want to see what are better options.

I don't mind going for something used (someone please recommend me something USED or REFURB under the budget). Any good suggestions? I just want the best amount of performance for the budget I have.
 
Perhaps the fastest clocked i3 with the HD3000 IGP may suffice? Or, add that $70 to the processor and that puts you in i5-2405S/2500K territory.

If you must have dedicated GPU, I'd lean towards either this GTS 450 or this HD 5670.
 
Well if you do want to game some, a 5770 might be slightly over your budget but would probably perform more like you want.
 
if 70 dollars is your limit you may want to look around for second hand cards. if you look in the right places you can find used GTX 260's or GTX 275's in that price range which would definitely work much better for you with those games.
 
look for a second hand card. HD4850, HD5770, 9800GTX, GTS250, HD4870, GTX260 you will be able to find for $70 or less used. All a lot faster than new $70 video cards such as the HD5670 or GT240.

example:
HD4850 512mb $40 shipped (i just did a quick search on the hardocp for sale forums so pease keep looking for other deals; 1GB card maybe?).
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1621043&highlight=4850

Used GTX260s look like they are going for ~$70 shipped.
 
Last edited:
sirmonkey1985 said:
if 70 dollars is your limit you may want to look around for second hand cards. if you look in the right places you can find used GTX 260's or GTX 275's in that price range which would definitely work much better for you with those games.
Click to expand...

Those would be great choices. Hopefully he isn't using a low power PSU or ITX case.
 
I wouldn't really recommend a 5670 (definitely not the 1GB, waste of money). Also, you didn't mention what resolution you'd be playing at, and what settings you want to play at? A 5670 might be perfect for a low-res screen for medium - high settings.

I'd say either a 5670 or 6670, if you don't want to find second hand cards or don't have a good enough PSU for them.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
I wouldn't really recommend a 5670 (definitely not the 1GB, waste of money). Also, you didn't mention what resolution you'd be playing at, and what settings you want to play at? A 5670 might be perfect for a low-res screen for medium - high settings.

I'd say either a 5670 or 6670, if you don't want to find second hand cards or don't have a good enough PSU for them.
Click to expand...

the thing is you can find a GTX 260 for around 70 bucks which is better than both of those cards. or heck a 4870 can be had for around the same price or less and beat both of those cards. honestly i think second hand is the only way to go with the budget he has.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
the thing is you can find a GTX 260 for around 70 bucks which is better than both of those cards. or heck a 4870 can be had for around the same price or less and beat both of those cards. honestly i think second hand is the only way to go with the budget he has.
Click to expand...

Shellshocker might pop up a great deal. It's happened in the past.
 
I want to echo the others asking for your resolution. There's no proper way to recommend a card without it.
 
I've actually got a GTS 250 (PNY - 1gb) that I'm looking to sell for $75. If $70 is your budget though I can do $70 shipped. LMK if you're interested
 
killerfrenzi said:
I'm building something with a i3 2100 in it and I need a gpu. My budget is for the gpu is $70 and I need some recommendations. I want to keep this low as possible since not only is this a budget build, I'm only keeping this build for about 1.5 years before I give it to my parents. I don't think my mom is going to be playing starcraft 2.

I'm planning to do the usual multitask of having firefox, itunes, and a game client up.

I'm going to play starcraft2, dota2, and diablo3 on it.

at first I thought about getting a 5570 since that's still ALRIGHT for my needs, but I want to see what are better options.

I don't mind going for something used (someone please recommend me something USED or REFURB under the budget). Any good suggestions? I just want the best amount of performance for the budget I have.
Click to expand...

Oh man you didn't get a Quad Core Llano A8-3850? It rocks a built in AMD Radeon HD 6550D! :p The fastest based graphics processor on a die?
Plus you could always add in any 6570 (they start @ 69.99 on newegg for 35-50% CFX graphics scaling improvement! :rolleyes:
19-103-942-TS


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHeARjODypU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHeARjODypU[/ame]
 
Tbh, I don't think the APU is worth it yet. They need to drop the price on the motherboards and the chips a bit for it to be worth it. I think the $140 3850(?) should be around $110, and the motherboards should be around $50 not $80. They barely offer anything over other AM3 boards.

But, it's new, and people will want to buy these, so it makes sense that AMD is selling it so high. I want to see more APU's, though. Ones that can play games on their own with playable FPS, without the help of another card.
 
450 said:
Hopefully that'll be soon.
Click to expand...

I'd think it would be soon, by the end of the summer anyway. I'm not sure what they'll go up to in terms of performance though, anyone know?

I'd hope they could get to a 6870, but I highly, highly doubt it :p

Probably a 6770 max I'd think, but that's still good.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
I'd think it would be soon, by the end of the summer anyway. I'm not sure what they'll go up to in terms of performance though, anyone know?

I'd hope they could get to a 6870, but I highly, highly doubt it :p

Probably a 6770 max I'd think, but that's still good.
Click to expand...

6770 is still quite powerful, and if that was the new standard, I'd be satisfied.
 
My brother's 2100 build has an really old 8800GT and he games at 1367 x 768 fine. Although, I haven't tried SC2.
 
450 said:
6770 is still quite powerful, and if that was the new standard, I'd be satisfied.
Click to expand...

Of course. I'm most excited about this in the mobile area, though... if they don't overprice it too much.

My friends all have laptops and only want laptops, so if they were to buy a laptop with a 6770 APU for $600, they could play games with me :p

That's the one thing I hate about being a PC gamer, I have no friends to play with... ever. All of my friends are console guys, and the thought of spending $800 on a PC when they have a perfectly good console that plays the games they want on their TV is laughable.

I'm just the type of guy that likes having the best I can get, though. I love enabling all the eye candy and playing in actual 1080p, not standard res upscaled to 1080p.

I sold my PS3 a week ago, because I never play it, but when I went from playing black ops on my 42" Plasma @ 1080p on my PC, to my PS3, I thought my PS3 was broken because of how terrible it looked. Seriously.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top