GPU For Extreme Budget Gaming Rig

[arjackson555]

I just built my first PC looks a little something like this:

Intel E6600 OC @3.66 ghz
Gigabyte p43 MB
4gig G Skill RAM
1TB Seagate HD
Radeon HD 5450
Win7 Ultimate
Thermaltake 430W PSU

I built the entire thing for under $300. I upgraded from a PC I built over 10 years ago. With a single core athlon and 1 gig ram.

I'm a casual gamer, mainly WoW and I'd like to explore some FPS'ers plus I play movies to my TV via HDMI. I know the GPU I have is the bottom of the barrel 5000 series. So I'm thinking I could squeeze a bit more out of my budget machine with a better GPU.

These are what I'm thinking

GTX 460 1gb
Radeon HD 5850, 6850 or 6870

My big question is, with my small power supply would any of these cards be a problem? Which one should I go with? Price is a big factor here too so keep that in mind.

Thanks,
Tony

 

[SlowSpyder]

With an overvolted PhII @ 3.6GHz and a Vapor-X 5870 my system pulled something around 310 watts at the wall running Furmark, according to my Kill-o-watt. I never loaded up the CPU 100% on all cores and the GPU with Furmark at the same time, though.

A 5850 is going to suck less power than my 5870 and your CPU will use less power than mine. I'm not familiar with that power supply, but I would think it should be ok with a 5850. And given 5850 prices currently, it's the best option out of the bunch in my opinion.

 

[BFG10K]

Total system power draw with any of those cards will be well under 300W so the PSU shouldn't be a problem if it's reasonable quality.

As for the cards, here are some relative rankings: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/...te-2/22/#abschnitt_performancerating_mit_aaaf

Keep in mind that if you run low detail levels (e.g. 1680x1050 with no AA) you'll probably be CPU bound so they'll show little to no performance difference anyway.

 

[aphelion02]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102932
/thread

 

[RussianSensation]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102932
/thread

With that processor, this sound like the best deal. Faster than both the 460 and the 6850.

 

[Elfear]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102932
/thread

+1

I loved my 5850.

 

[wirm]

Is this card like 11 inches long? Might not fit into some cases.
Good value though

 

[hdfxst]

Is this card like 11 inches long? Might not fit into some cases.
Good value though

it's 9 in. long.

 

[aphelion02]

I believe that Sapphire card is a shorter non-reference design.

 

[Muyoso]

It is a shorter design. I just bought one of these and its awesome aside from ATI's driver issues. It still barely fit in my case though. I have an Antec P182, and there is about an inch of clearance between the card and the hard drives, just enough for the power connectors to sneak in.

 

[aphelion02]

Wow, is the P182 that small? I have an Antec 900, and I got a reference 5870 to fit (albeit with a lot of pain, and even then just barely).

 

[Grooveriding]

The 5850 at that price is just outstanding. I would pick that up for sure.

 

[arjackson555]

+1

I loved my 5850.

Thanks for the help guys, this was actually the card I was eyeing up. And the reviews seem great.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Welcome to the forums btw

 

[gorobei]

the 5850 is a nice deal and probably the best bang for buck option if it is in his price range, BUT his tt430 psu is way too old and only comes with 1 pcie 6pin (5850 needs 2 x 6pin). In truth it is probably closer to a 300w with very old technology(think p4 and athlon s939). he would need a new psu to be safe.

a safer bet, given the psu, would be a 5770 since it is only a 1 x 6pin.

 

[Hyperlite]

EVGA GTS450 $90 MIR on amazon right now, not a bad alternative...5770 is a little faster.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[StinkyPinky]

430W can handle the 5850 despite what AMD may say.

I had a 485W PSU with an overlocked Q6600, four hard drives, and an overclocked 5850 and it ran it fine. Never had an issue.

I still use my 5850. It's great. I only play at 1680x1050 so it runs every game at highest settings just fine (except for perhaps Crysis).

 

[aphelion02]

EVGA GTS450 $90 MIR on amazon right now, not a bad alternative...5770 is a little faster.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

That is such a massive downgrade I wouldn't even consider it. I don't consider it a gaming card, even.

 

[MagickMan]

That is such a massive downgrade I wouldn't even consider it. I don't consider it a gaming card, even.

It is pretty awful, it's like an expensive yet mediocre HTPC card.

 

[Muyoso]

Wow, is the P182 that small? I have an Antec 900, and I got a reference 5870 to fit (albeit with a lot of pain, and even then just barely).

There is a hard drive cage directly in the way, so there is literally no way to run an 11 inch card and still have hard drives in there. The case is easily the biggest I have ever had and I was still amazed at how much of a tight fit it was. Had to redo all cable management to make it fit well.

 

[aphelion02]

EVGA GTS450 $90 MIR on amazon right now, not a bad alternative...5770 is a little faster.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

If you look at the benchmarks, the 5850 is about twice as fast as the 450. Thats just a terrible card, not really suited for gaming at all, especially not at 1080p.

 

[MangoX]

Wow. That 5850 for $140 with no rebate and free shipping is a killer deal!

 

[Muyoso]

Wow. That 5850 for $140 with no rebate and free shipping is a killer deal!

And it will be an even better deal once Sapphire releases an update to Trixx that allows us to modify the voltages.

 

[MangoX]

And it will be an even better deal once Sapphire releases an update to Trixx that allows us to modify the voltages.

Are you sure that it's not that these cards lack hardware voltage? I mean, XFX is known to remove voltage control from their non-reference cards.

 

[toyota]

have any of you guys even asked what model psu that is? surely you know that there is a thermaltake 430 watt psu with only 18 amps on the 12v. and in review it actually could only make 16 amps on 12v. plus that is when it is brand new. if that is what he has then there is no way he can run any decent card.