GPU for old PC (if worth)

[leyo96]

Hello to everybody,
This is my first thread on the forum, even if I've used it before for really valuables infos despite I wasn't a member, so if I did something wrong just tell me.
So, as stated on the title, I'll want to know if it is worth to put a GPU (if yes, what gpu) on an old pc that I won't use as primary, but in another house where I usually sleep 1/3 days a week where I'll like to game a bit.
I know I won't be able to play triple A modern games, but still it would be nice to play same good old games (haven't played half-life 2 yet) or really light recent games (e.g. Southpark the stick of truth, limbo, ecc).
Here are the specs:
-CPU: Intel Pentium dual-core E6600 3.06GHz w/ stock air cooler (no OC)
-PSU: Power LC420H-12 (max 420W)
-MOBO: Asus P5G41T-M LE
-RAM: 1x Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz C9 4GB
-OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Thanks in advance for the help and support!

 

[Herc08]

Well it depends on what type of GPU you are trying to put in there.

 

[leyo96]

Well it depends on what type of GPU you are trying to put in there.

The best GPU that won't be bottlenecked by the CPU, if is worth and not too expensive

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Hello and congrats on your first post!

You could play some light games with that CPU and a low-end GPU. It's difficult to judge how much you should spend with it being worth the money.

Your motherboard supports Core 2 Quad CPUs. If it were me, I would purchase a Q9400/9500 on Ebay, whichever is more in your budget. Then look at buying a decent used GPU such as a GTX 750 Ti (Not from China/Hong Kong). If you select a right priced CPU and GPU, this would only cost around $100 total. Those Core 2 Quads can actually play modern AAA games when paired with a decent GPU.

 

[leyo96]

Hello and congrats on your first post!

You could play some light games with that CPU and a low-end GPU. It's difficult to judge how much you should spend with it being worth the money.

Your motherboard supports Core 2 Quad CPUs. If it were me, I would purchase a Q9400/9500 on Ebay, whichever is more in your budget. Then look at buying a decent used GPU such as a GTX 750 Ti (Not from China/Hong Kong). If you select a right priced CPU and GPU, this would only cost around $100 total. Those Core 2 Quads can actually play modern AAA games when paired with a decent GPU.

Thanks for the answer.
My budget if I can have a nice gaming experience is max 150€ (consider them as 150$).
With a 750 ti what performance can I expect? (resolution, quality, fps).
Consider also a nice cooler for overclocking.

 

[ichigokunbaka]

msi ati/amd 7750hd 2gb gddr3 is what i used in my dual core its slot powered and can run great games for 30$ off craigslist find something like this or nvidia gtx 560 and above, if you have a power supply that lacks 6 or 8 pin u can get the 4-6 pin adapter on cards that need it also make shure you have a look at case length and slot room for cards with 1+ slot needs such as ones with large radiators and aftermarket coolers .good luck and get a multi meter to check those caps to keep from blowing out any components . i also recommend cleaning power supply before upgrade and check for capacitors that look like..--> ) <---- on the top they should be flat.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Hello and congrats on your first post!

You could play some light games with that CPU and a low-end GPU. It's difficult to judge how much you should spend with it being worth the money.

Your motherboard supports Core 2 Quad CPUs. If it were me, I would purchase a Q9400/9500 on Ebay, whichever is more in your budget. Then look at buying a decent used GPU such as a GTX 750 Ti (Not from China/Hong Kong). If you select a right priced CPU and GPU, this would only cost around $100 total. Those Core 2 Quads can actually play modern AAA games when paired with a decent GPU.

Thanks for the answer.
My budget if I can have a nice gaming experience is max 150€ (consider them as 150$).
With a 750 ti what performance can I expect? (resolution, quality, fps).
Consider also a nice cooler for overclocking.

$16 - Used Q9400 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9400-2-66GHz-6M-1333-Quad-Core-Processor-/142205718752?hash=item211c1f10e0:g:sHwAAOSwJ7RYScLy

$70 - Used R7 260X - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-Radeon-R7-260X-2GB-Video-Card-/252675539871?hash=item3ad4a2c39f:g😛IUAAOSw2xRYS0uM

$30 - CRYORIG H7 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4UF2DZ6565

Total: $116

*Other options for GPU:

On sale RX 460 $96 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202228&cm_re=rx_460-_-14-202-228-_-Product

Used GTX 750 Ti $85 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-nVidia-GTX-750-Ti-2GB-GDDR5-/262754081132?hash=item3d2d5d196c:g:KNUAAOSwImRYQckE

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

msi ati/amd 7750hd 2gb gddr3 is what i used in my dual core its slot powered and can run great games for 30$ off craigslist find something like this or nvidia gtx 560 and above, if you have a power supply that lacks 6 or 8 pin u can get the 4-6 pin adapter on cards that need it also make shure you have a look at case length and slot room for cards with 1+ slot needs such as ones with large radiators and aftermarket coolers .good luck and get a multi meter to check those caps to keep from blowing out any components . i also recommend cleaning power supply before upgrade and check for capacitors that look like..--> ) <---- on the top they should be flat.

A $30 GPU to play some light games is pretty good. That's what I would do if I didn't want to put a C2Q in there.

A GTX 560 Ti is also an option with either CPU as it's only $50 on Ebay.

I say spending $50 with that Pentium E6600 would be the most I'd spend. If you spend that much, might as well get the $15 Q9400.

 

[leyo96]

First, thanks to everybody!
Then let's do a recap:
-CPU: Q9400 I can't find it at less than 35€ in italy
-CPU fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 35€
-GPU: r7 260x sapphire 55€ used (he can bring it at my house). Total: 125€
OR GTX 750 ti, nothing less than 90€ (might be lucky on an ebay auction for a gainward 2gb 750 ti, still not less than 70€), so it'd be total 160€
OR Nvidia GTX 560 Ti MSI hawk for 55€. Total: 125€.

So, what should I do?
or

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

First, thanks to everybody!
Then let's do a recap:
-CPU: Q9400 I can't find it at less than 35€ in italy
-CPU fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 35€
-GPU: r7 260x sapphire 55€ used (he can bring it at my house). Total: 125€
OR GTX 750 ti, nothing less than 90€ (might be lucky on an ebay auction for a gainward 2gb 750 ti, still not less than 70€), so it'd be total 160€
OR Nvidia GTX 560 Ti MSI hawk for 55€. Total: 125€.

So, what should I do?
or

I would go with the R7 260X and the Q9400. Hyper 212 EVO should be good enough.

 

[leyo96]

First, thanks to everybody!
Then let's do a recap:
-CPU: Q9400 I can't find it at less than 35€ in italy
-CPU fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 35€
-GPU: r7 260x sapphire 55€ used (he can bring it at my house). Total: 125€
OR GTX 750 ti, nothing less than 90€ (might be lucky on an ebay auction for a gainward 2gb 750 ti, still not less than 70€), so it'd be total 160€
OR Nvidia GTX 560 Ti MSI hawk for 55€. Total: 125€.

So, what should I do?
or

I would go with the R7 260X and the Q9400. Hyper 212 EVO should be good enough.

Thanks for the answer!
If I go with that setup do you think my PSU would be fine and do you think the 4GB of ram would be bottlenecking, it's pretty cheap to get a second RAM

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

If this is your power supply: http://www.lc-power.com/index.php?id=183

It only has 15A on the +12V rail, which is only 180W of available power. You will need a better quality power supply that has at least 25A on the +12V

 

[leyo96]

If this is your power supply: http://www.lc-power.com/index.php?id=183

It only has 15A on the +12V rail, which is only 180W of available power. You will need a better quality power supply that has at least 25A on the +12V

Yeah, thats's the PSU...
So, what would you reccomend me?
And what gaming performances I might expect from the Q9400 OC and the Sapphire r7 260x?

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

I would pick something from the third tier that is budget friendly. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

*And an extra 4gb of RAM wouldn't hurt to have.

You could expect low-med settings at 30-40fps on 1080p playing latest games like Battlefield 1. The R7 260X is capable of 50+fps, it just depends on how the Q8400 performs and how much you can OC.

 

[leyo96]

I would pick something from the third tier that is budget friendly. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

*And an extra 4gb of RAM wouldn't hurt to have.

You could expect low-med settings at 30-40fps on 1080p playing latest games like Battlefield 1. Higher framerate on lower resolution.

What power (W) should I go for? (and at least 25a on the 12V)
Btw, thank you really much for the help and support

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

A 430W PSU on on that tier 3 list should be enough. It really depends on the +12V and how many Amps are on it. A good 430W PSU might have 32A /+12V which would actually be 384W. If you look it up a system with an R7 260X consumes around 220W under load. So the 430W with 32A/+12V would be plenty.

Volts x Amps = Power(W)

Not all power supplies output the advertised amount of power.

 

[leyo96]

A 430W PSU on on that tier 3 list should be enough. It really depends on the +12V and how many Amps are on it. A good 430W PSU might have 32A /+12V which would actually be 384W. If you look it up a system with an R7 260X consumes around 220W under load. So the 430W with 32A/+12V would be plenty.

Volts x Amps = Power(W)

Not all power supplies output the advertised amount of power.

Corsair CX500 (W) is 60€ new; It's a tier 3 bronze 80

or EVGA PSU 430W 42€ new, I don't know the tier, is 80 white

or EVGA 500 (W) B1 57€ new, 80 plus bronze.

The total I'd spend would be around 200€, still worth it?

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

A 430W PSU on on that tier 3 list should be enough. It really depends on the +12V and how many Amps are on it. A good 430W PSU might have 32A /+12V which would actually be 384W. If you look it up a system with an R7 260X consumes around 220W under load. So the 430W with 32A/+12V would be plenty.

Volts x Amps = Power(W)

Not all power supplies output the advertised amount of power.

Corsair CX500 (W) is 60€ new; It's a tier 3 bronze 80

or EVGA PSU 430W 42€ new, I don't know the tier, is 80 white

or EVGA 500 (W) B1 57€ new, 80 plus bronze.

The total I'd spend would be around 200€, still worth it?

That's all up to you my friend. If you want to play AAA games, then it might be the cheapest way to doing that. If you want to just play more low-spec games, then maybe just a low-spec, low-power GPU is all you need. I wouldn't trust that power supply with much more than maybe a GT 730 GDDR5 as it's only rated at 25W.