Best PCIe X1 Graphics Card

[benm697]

Hello,
My little brother recently purchased a computer (against my advice). To say the least the computer is incredibly underpowered (surprise surprise). At the moment, it is running an AMD Kabini, 8GB RAM, and integrated graphics. His goal is to be able to play DayZ stand alone at 30fps. At the moment he is getting around 20. This is where this gets tricky. The motherboard does not have a PCIe x16 port, only a X1. Now, I understand completely that this slot is NOT made for graphics card and is not optimal for it. However, I see two options here:

1. Replace the motherboard
2. Buy one of the few PCIe X1 graphics cards.

At the moment option #2 seems more realistic for us because I do not live with my brother and simply do not have the time to change the motherboard.

After doing some research I find that this is the best graphics card for his needs:
http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-Express-Graphics-ZT-71107-10L/dp/B00LZKWVJW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453085372&sr=1-1&keywords=zotac+2gb+pcie+x1

What do y'all think? Is using a X1 to X16 adapter a good idea to use a more appropriate graphics card? Obviously Im not looking for the latest and most powerful thing, just something he can use to run CS:GO and Dayz on.

Thanks a ton guys.

 

[Supernova1138]

Return that computer and tell your brother to get something appropriate for gaming. No gaming graphics card is going to run well on PCI-E x1, there's just too little bandwidth, there's a reason the only cards that come in PCI-E x1 are extreme low end GPUs not fit for more than basic display and rudimentary 3D graphics.

You have another problem aside from graphics, and that is the Kabini APU. Kabini is a very low powered CPU aimed more at low end laptops, and ultra small form factor systems, it is not suitable for any sort of modern gaming. Even if you replaced the motherboard with an AM1 board that is capable of taking a PCI-E x16 card, you would run into severe CPU bottlenecking, and probably still wouldn't be able to get 30FPS, even with a really good graphics card. At minimum you are looking at a CPU and motherboard replacement along with a graphics card to get DayZ running on that machine.

 

[benm697]

@supernova, thanks for the response. Quick semi-related question:
I have the opportunity to pick up an old Dell 540 Studio for very, very cheap. Its CPU is a Core 2 Duo 2.9Ghz. Is that too out of date for modern gaming? Will it bottleneck if I put a install a decent GPU?

 

[Supernova1138]

Core 2 Duo is pretty outdated at this point, with that particular CPU being about 8 years old now. Between its age and the fact it only has 2 cores, it would struggle on newer games. You need a reasonably modern quad core, or a newer Core i3, which is a dual core CPU with hyperthreading that allows it to behave as a quad core for newer games. I suppose the old Core 2 Duo would fare better than the Kabini APU, but not by a whole lot.

 

[benm697]

Okay, thanks for the info, one more question though. In order to get the best possible performance out of the original computer we were discussing what would i need to do? As far as I understand, the Kabini 2.05ghz is the fastest AM1 processor on the market. Would installing this graphics card make any difference at all?
http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-Express-Graphics-ZT-71107-10L/dp/B00LZKWVJW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453085372&sr=1-1&keywords=zotac+2gb+pcie+x1

 

[Supernova1138]

The card would be bottlenecked so badly by the PCI-E x1 interface that it wouldn't be any faster than the onboard graphics. That original system has zero upgradability. Literally the only reasons to put a PCI-E x1 graphics card in there would be if the onboard graphics died and you wanted a quick and cheap drop in replacement, or you wanted to run more monitors than what the onboard graphics could support.

 

[Ptparker88]

hyper threading only gets you 1 to 10 frames in gaming. If he is getting 20 fps with that weak of a comp then you could look at the gt 730 or 630 etc.... i had one this in my step sons computer and was actually impressed considering i got it at best buy for $35. make sure you get one with a fan on it though. but i would recommend another computer. is it a quad core processor?

 

[benm697]

It is a quad core. Can you provide links to what you are talking about? remember it has to be PCIe x1

 

[sjodiep]

I highly recommend replacing the available pcie x16 motherboard, because many types of old gpus powered with very friendly prices.

I would rather increase the gpu because gpu can do cpu tasks at once, though this tortures the mobo chipset due to the load of data and gpu flows due to working 2x

but the problem is if you use a powerful old gpus, the cost of electricity is really inefficient (wasteful).

all depends on you, want the latest gpu with more and more efficient features or old school and wasteful but powerful and cheap. may your little brother be happy