Cheap Video Card for Gaming

[newbee0818]

Hi. I just downloaded Dota 2 and it seems that my PC can't handle the game.

My PC specs is:

OS: Windows XP 32bit

Processor: AMD athlon(tm) II x2 250 Processor 3.0 Ghz

Motherboard: ECS - MCP61M-M3

GPU: Nvidia GeForce 6150SE nForce430

Memory: 2gb ddr3 kingston

PSU:: Techwill Model P4-600W (generic)


It seems that my GPU is too old and low. Any advice what video card should I buy? The cheaper the better And aside from my GPU, what else should I change or buy?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Mike_Tech]

Well your whole machine needs updated really. Ideally you should be using a 64-bit OS like Windows 7 64bit of Windows 8.1 now, XP is out of support and very old, and lacks crucial support for new graphics technologies like the latest incarnations of Direct X, also newer cards will not support XP.

You can build a competent gaming PC for under £500 nowadays with a little careful component selection though.

If you absolutely must use that machine for a bit longer then I'd recommend scouring Ebay for something cheap and cheerful like a Radeon 65xx or similar. Be better if you give us a budget

 

[Usman Sajid]

HD 6670 , hd 7750 , r7 250x , GTX 750/ti.
They are all budget video cards but not meant to play games at high settings even at low resolution but are much better than ur current card.
A GTX 750 or GTX 750 ti would be great, but a minimum graphic card for gaming is r7 250x , below it is hd 7750 which is an average budget card and below is hd 6670 which performs low but has great value for money

 

[Usman Sajid]

Well your whole machine needs updated really. Ideally you should be using a 64-bit OS like Windows 7 64bit of Windows 8.1 now, XP is out of support and very old, and lacks crucial support for new graphics technologies like the latest incarnations of Direct X, also newer cards will not support XP.

You can build a competent gaming PC for under £500 nowadays with a little careful component selection though.

If you absolutely must use that machine for a bit longer then I'd recommend scouring Ebay for something cheap and cheerful like a Radeon 65xx or similar. Be better if you give us a budget

64 bit is needed if u have 4gb + ram. and maybe he plays old games which run on XP and those games dont require a 500pounds game maybe a good gpu will do the job.

 

[i7Baby]

The cheaper the better? I've found the better graphics cards are actually more expensive.

Budget?

 

[Mike_Tech]

Well your whole machine needs updated really. Ideally you should be using a 64-bit OS like Windows 7 64bit of Windows 8.1 now, XP is out of support and very old, and lacks crucial support for new graphics technologies like the latest incarnations of Direct X, also newer cards will not support XP.

You can build a competent gaming PC for under £500 nowadays with a little careful component selection though.

If you absolutely must use that machine for a bit longer then I'd recommend scouring Ebay for something cheap and cheerful like a Radeon 65xx or similar. Be better if you give us a budget

64 bit is needed if u have 4gb + ram. and maybe he plays old games which run on XP and those games dont require a 500pounds game maybe a good gpu will do the job.

Not just for 4GB of RAM some modern programs will not run in a 32-bit environment, and this will only become more common as 32bit OS's are phased out completely.

 

[Zaflart]

Newegg has a good deal on this XFX Radeon HD 5450 29.99 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150659&cm_re=pci_express-_-14-150-659-_-Product

As has been mentioned, your system has reached it's end of life, for a gaming rig. You're limited to using a PCI-E x 16 card.

 

[Zaflart]

HD 6670 , hd 7750 , r7 250x , GTX 750/ti.
They are all budget video cards but not meant to play games at high settings even at low resolution but are much better than ur current card.
A GTX 750 or GTX 750 ti would be great, but a minimum graphic card for gaming is r7 250x , below it is hd 7750 which is an average budget card and below is hd 6670 which performs low but has great value for money

None of those cards will fit his motherboard. It's only PCI-E x 16

 

[Mahisse]

Do NOT buy a HD5450. That card is not for gaming at all. It's just a card with a cheap HD solution. Frankly, you cannot choose a worse card for gaming

If you can get hold of a good old 9800GTX or something similar for free (many people have such old cards lying around these days) that would be a good upgrade for what you have now but you can go with gtx 750 ti. Graphics cards a backwards compatible with older PCIE versions.

 

[Zaflart]

Well your whole machine needs updated really. Ideally you should be using a 64-bit OS like Windows 7 64bit of Windows 8.1 now, XP is out of support and very old, and lacks crucial support for new graphics technologies like the latest incarnations of Direct X, also newer cards will not support XP.

You can build a competent gaming PC for under £500 nowadays with a little careful component selection though.

If you absolutely must use that machine for a bit longer then I'd recommend scouring Ebay for something cheap and cheerful like a Radeon 65xx or similar. Be better if you give us a budget

64 bit is needed if u have 4gb + ram. and maybe he plays old games which run on XP and those games dont require a 500pounds game maybe a good gpu will do the job.

I used 4gb RAM on a 32-bit OS, using RAMdisk, ten years ago.

 

[Zaflart]

Do NOT buy a HD5450. That card is not for gaming at all. It's just a card with a cheap HD solution. Frankly, you cannot choose a worse card for gaming

I know it's not a good card, (by today's standards) but for $30 it's the cheapest solution and it'll run Dota 2 just fine.

SPARKLE GeForce 210 $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187209&cm_re=pci_express-_-14-187-209-_-Product

I'd not put more than $40 into a PC which is so old.

Edit: Clarification

 

[Zaflart]

Do NOT buy a HD5450. That card is not for gaming at all. It's just a card with a cheap HD solution. Frankly, you cannot choose a worse card for gaming

If you can get hold of a good old 9800GTX or something similar for free (many people have such old cards lying around these days) that would be a good upgrade for what you have now but you can go with gtx 750 ti. Graphics cards a backwards compatible with older PCIE versions.

9800GTX is a 2.0 card, it won't fit.

 

[Mahisse]

Do NOT buy a HD5450. That card is not for gaming at all. It's just a card with a cheap HD solution. Frankly, you cannot choose a worse card for gaming

If you can get hold of a good old 9800GTX or something similar for free (many people have such old cards lying around these days) that would be a good upgrade for what you have now but you can go with gtx 750 ti. Graphics cards a backwards compatible with older PCIE versions.

9800GTX is a 2.0 card, it won't fit.

Yes it will. As i wrote, the graphics card are backwards compatible. It's not limited to PCIE 2.0. It support 2.0. Even 3.0 cards would work with his motherboard.

Also, what I can find out from the web his motherboard has 2.0 PCIE ports.

 

[Zaflart]

Wow sorry, I just woke up and was thinking RAM. I'm wrong, PCI-e slots ARE back-wards compatible >,<

 

[Zaflart]

Do NOT buy a HD5450. That card is not for gaming at all. It's just a card with a cheap HD solution. Frankly, you cannot choose a worse card for gaming

If you can get hold of a good old 9800GTX or something similar for free (many people have such old cards lying around these days) that would be a good upgrade for what you have now but you can go with gtx 750 ti. Graphics cards a backwards compatible with older PCIE versions.

9800GTX is a 2.0 card, it won't fit.

Yes it will. As i wrote, the graphics card are backwards compatible. It's not limited to PCIE 2.0. It support 2.0. Even 3.0 cards would work with his motherboard.

Also, what I can find out from the web his motherboard has 2.0 PCIE ports.

fwiw it's got 1 x 16, 1 x 1 and 2 x PCI

 

[Usman Sajid]

Zaflart go back to sleep , how come u think its ram when u said pci e x16? and all card will fit in his motherboard even a gtx 980

 

[newbee0818]

Thanks for the answers guys. I really appreciate it.

My budget is around 60$. I just want to play Dota 2 at 1024 x 768 resolution smoothly. So what specific card now should I buy?

 

[Mahisse]

Where in the world are you? I think a used GPU would probably be the best way for you to go.

A GTX 650 for 65$ on Amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00966IU4M/ref=sr_1_2_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1411555413&sr=8-2&keywords=gtx+560&condition=used

 

[newbee0818]

^I'm from Philippines. Thanks, I'll consider that. And if I want to buy a brand new GPU what can you suggest? And what would be the difference?

 

[Mahisse]

Well not many have insight on the Philippines market so you may be better off on local forum.. But around here you will have a difficult time buying a brand new card for 60$ (Western Europe)

 

[Usman Sajid]

Try to get the most expensive card .