Low budget Graphics card for 1080p Skyrim

[cyberninja105]

I am looking for a Nvidia graphics card below $100, (if possible below $70) The card needs to run Skyrim on high or medium Settings at 1080p with a FPS of no less then 30fps. I would prefer to get nvidia but if necessary i will settle for something else. Unfortunately I am at a bit of a struggle considering a GTX 750 Ti would be bottlenecked by my processor. I am not going to change the processor because I want to upgrade my Dell Optiplex as much as possible using Factory CPU and motherboard.

Cpu: pentium e2200 2.4ghz dual core (can't overclock)
RAM: 4x2gb 8gb 800mhz
Motherboard: dell optiplex 745
PSU: pending.

So far my best options are GT 630 and GT 740

Main PC:
Intel I5-4460 3.2 Ghz| MSI Twin Frozr V GTX 970| AsRock Z97 Extreme 3| Kingston V300 120gb & Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB | G.Skill areas 8gb 1600MHz | Cooler Master G550M | Windows 10

 

[Archaic59]

Best option-

EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $99.99 After Rebate
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-04 09:26 EDT-0400

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Next best option-

XFX Radeon R7 250X 2GB Core Edition Video Card

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 250X 2GB Core Edition Video Card ($83.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $83.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-04 09:24 EDT-0400

 

[synphul]

I would say one of those Archaic59 suggested. You're right, your cpu is going to bottleneck it pretty good. How much ram do you have? Why are you trying to play skyrim on that pc instead of your main rig listed? It might do ok on medium/med high if that's all the fps you want out of it. Though you might have to turn down some settings, settle for lower res graphics and hold back on the mods.

I certainly wouldn't dump a whole lot more into that pc, it's in need of a major overhaul. If I'm not mistaken shadow quality in skyrim is handled by the cpu so try turning that down as well to increase performance. The lack of cores, old architecture and low clock speeds are all working against you. It's not the most demanding game out but skyrim prefers stronger components and would be more suited to your main pc.