Best graphics card for a 250 watts PSU

[Guest]

Is there any good 1GB or 512MB low priced graphics card that I could upgrade.

My PC specs:
Name: Acer Aspire M3201
PSU: 250watts
CHIPEST: AMD 780G
RAM: 3GB (upgrading soon)
CPU: AMD Phenom X4 9150e
GPU: Integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200

 

[hotter-than-Vishera]

What will you be using this system for?

 

[Guest]

I'm going to use it for gaming

 

[rcald2000]

Today might be your lucky day. I happen to have a older, but working, PCI card that is 512MB. I will give it to you for free, but it is not powerful enough to play any 2015 demanding games, such as GTAV or Witcher 3. I was literally just looking for a friend to give it away to. It is PCI, not PCI Express, but most modern motherboards have at least one PCI slot. Let me know within the next hour, otherwise I'm going to give it away to someone else. Message me privately with your address if you want it.


HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512mb Video Graphics Card Dual DVI H467QT512

 

[hotter-than-Vishera]

I'm going to use it for gaming

It will only make a difference for extremely old games. I'm talking about games made around 2003.

Modern 1GB cards still need at least a 400W power supply.
For any modern games, you need to invest in a complete and total rebuild because your computer is 7 years old, and it was never designed for actual gaming anyway. You'll have to replace the motherboard to upgrade the processor, which will be needed to support modern cards. You'll also need a much, much stronger power supply, as 250W will not do the job. And of course you do need more RAM, preferably 8GB.

 

[rcald2000]

Also, 250 watts is more than enough to play it. The card only needs the slot; no extra 6 pin power connectors. I bought it about 5 years ago as a replacement for an x1950 pro that I used to have. As I mention in the previous response, this card is a Radeon HD 4670 512 MB card.

 

[rcald2000]

I just looked it up for you by Googling "HD 4670 TDP". According to AMD's site, the TDP of this card is 70 watts.

http://www.geeks3d.com/20090618/graphics-cards-thermal-...

Please email me with your shipping address within the next half hour, if you want the card. Otherwise I'll give it to another friend. Take it easy.

 

[Viking2121]

Also, 250 watts is more than enough to play it. The card only needs the slot; no extra 6 pin power connectors. I bought it about 5 years ago as a replacement for an x1950 pro that I used to have. As I mention in the previous response, this card is a Radeon HD 4670 512 MB card.

I would not pick a 4670, only reason for that is AMD wont support it, and getting it to work on Windows 7 with any newer drivers can be a bit more work then what ya would like.

I'd pick a R7 250 which will walk circles around the 4670 comes with 1gb or 2gb of vram. It only uses 70 watts so it will work on a 250watt PSU. And drivers are much more easy to get, and will support windows 7 and the up coming windows 10 and DX12 or the Mantal API witch will help a lot in your case.

You can get the card for around 60 - 70 bucks on amazon.

 

[hotter-than-Vishera]

Also, 250 watts is more than enough to play it. The card only needs the slot; no extra 6 pin power connectors. I bought it about 5 years ago as a replacement for an x1950 pro that I used to have. As I mention in the previous response, this card is a Radeon HD 4670 512 MB card.

I would not pick a 4670, only reason for that is AMD wont support it, and getting it to work on Windows 7 with any newer drivers can be a bit more work then what ya would like.

I'd pick a R7 250 which will walk circles around the 4670 comes with 1gb or 2gb of vram. It only uses 70 watts so it will work on a 250watt PSU. And drivers are much more easy to get, and will support windows 7 and the up coming windows 10 and DX12 or the Mantal API witch will help a lot in your case.

You can get the card for around 60 - 70 bucks on amazon.

Well, the 250 would be appropriate assuming his motherboard even has a PCIE 2.0 slot. His computer was designed to not use a graphics card since it's just basic, so there may not be a PCIE slot at all. Custom motherboards made cheaply by OEMs like HP and Acer don't necessarily have PCIE slots, I've seen it happen before. And even if it can hold a PCIE slot, is his CPU strong enough to actually use the card he has?

I now agree though that if you get a graphics card that does NOT require a PCIE power cable, you will be okay. The PCIE slot limits the power delivery to 75 watts, so that card will not use more than 75 watts. 80 is about how much his CPU will use under load. That's a little under 100 watts below the rated capacity. Sometimes though if the PSU is cheap, it may not react nicely as it passes half capacity. Most manufacturers recommend a 300 watt power supply at the very least, and many R7 250 cards recommend/require 400 watts of system power. You could get away with the right R7 250 but it's a dangerous walk in my opinion. Upgrading the power supply will ensure all your components are safely and sufficiently fed, and you can get a power supply that is likely to be better build quality rather than whatever piece of hardware the OEM found it cheapest to use. Also, if he does do a rebuild for more modern games in the future, his power supply will be ready to cover any such upgrade.

 

[Viking2121]

Also, 250 watts is more than enough to play it. The card only needs the slot; no extra 6 pin power connectors. I bought it about 5 years ago as a replacement for an x1950 pro that I used to have. As I mention in the previous response, this card is a Radeon HD 4670 512 MB card.

I would not pick a 4670, only reason for that is AMD wont support it, and getting it to work on Windows 7 with any newer drivers can be a bit more work then what ya would like.

I'd pick a R7 250 which will walk circles around the 4670 comes with 1gb or 2gb of vram. It only uses 70 watts so it will work on a 250watt PSU. And drivers are much more easy to get, and will support windows 7 and the up coming windows 10 and DX12 or the Mantal API witch will help a lot in your case.

You can get the card for around 60 - 70 bucks on amazon.

Well, the 250 would be appropriate assuming his motherboard even has a PCIE 2.0 slot. His computer was designed to not use a graphics card since it's just basic, so there may not be a PCIE slot at all. Custom motherboards made cheaply by OEMs like HP and Acer don't necessarily have PCIE slots, I've seen it happen before. And even if it can hold a PCIE slot, is his CPU strong enough to actually use the card he has?

I now agree though that if you get a graphics card that does NOT require a PCIE power cable, you will be okay. The PCIE slot limits the power delivery to 75 watts, so that card will not use more than 75 watts. 80 is about how much his CPU will use under load. That's a little under 100 watts below the rated capacity. Sometimes though if the PSU is cheap, it may not react nicely as it passes half capacity. Most manufacturers recommend a 300 watt power supply at the very least, and many R7 250 cards recommend/require 400 watts of system power. You could get away with the right R7 250 but it's a dangerous walk in my opinion. Upgrading the power supply will ensure all your components are safely and sufficiently fed, and you can get a power supply that is likely to be better build quality rather than whatever piece of hardware the OEM found it cheapest to use. Also, if he does do a rebuild for more modern games in the future, his power supply will be ready to cover any such upgrade.

It has a PCI-E lane, if it didn't I wouldn't have mention the R7. The 400 watt requirement for the card is a bit overkill on AMD's part, more so then how Nvidia goes about their requirements. But I agree its pushing it, But I would not get a 4670, or he would end having to upgrade again to support the free windows 10 upgrade as AMD would not release driver for that card which was mostly my point.

Now by reading up on the PSU that comes with that system, its not a horrible unit, it can be better.

But agree, to play it 100% safe, I'd get some name brand 400 watt PSU, Corsair has a CX430 watt which isn't the best, but can be had for 49.99.

Probably just me, I'd run it, but I always push things to its limits lol.