Need GPU recommendation for very budget PC

[Mojoed]

New GPU or new PC?

Criteria: PC for youtube, flash education/games, email, internet and low-end gaming. (Like lower-end gaming than the low-end build thread) If I choose a GPU upgrade, I'd like to keep it around $125. If I go the new system route, ~$400ish.
Country: USA
Brand preference: None
Current Parts: I have everything except for a GPU for current system. If I ditch this thing, I would need everything except KB, mouse, monitor and speakers.
Overclocking: No
I plan on having this system ditched or upgraded in the next week.


I bought a cheap ($79) refurbished computer for my 6 year old son with the intent of him using it for educational purposes, youtube, email and gaming. I figured this thing would run the games he plays, albeit slowly but I had no idea just how bad this thing is for "kid gaming."


The specs are as follows:


HP DC7800 (desktop computer, 4" tall)
Dual Core Pentium E2220 2.4GHz
2GB RAM
80 GB HDD
Windows 7
Power Supply: 240w MAX
Monitor Resolution: 1366x768
All drivers, BIOS, software is up-to-date.


Well at first my son loved it, then he realized he could barely play Terraria and Minecraft.


My question is, should I just ditch this thing and get him a cheap refurb i5 system for gaming, or is there a low-profile GPU out there that would work without me having to upgrade the 240w PSU? There is a PCI-E slot available.


Either option, I need recommendations please.


Lastly, I assume his gaming tastes will grow as he does. Whatever decision I make, the system will need to handle more advanced games at playable (20-30fps) on low to medium graphical settings at 1366x768. I would like to get 2-3 years out of whatever he ends up with.

Thank you!

 

[WittyRemark]

It's $430 PC, but you can make changes in it to bring it down to $400, like a smaller hdd and reuse your case ,cheaper graphics card and whatnot .

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X9gjvK

 

[melloyellow]

Maybe a geforce gt730? You can get one with 384 cuda cores @900mhz and gddr5 ram for like $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133542

It seems to run OK for this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN-NY_ajhFw

 

[nsafreak]

Ditch it and get a budget i5/i3. The amount of RAM is anemic, even for minecraft, and the CPU is one from the early days of Core 2. That system would probably be ok for all other uses listed with an upgrade to 4GB of RAM but the CPU is really holding it back even in minecraft.

 

[Burpo]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-MSI-NVI...729?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27f27b6581

 

[Mojoed]

It's $430 PC, but you can make changes in it to bring it down to $400, like a smaller hdd and reuse your case ,cheaper graphics card and whatnot .

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X9gjvK

Thank you for that link WittyRemark. It seems like a solid little build for light gaming!

Maybe a geforce gt730? You can get one with 384 cuda cores @900mhz and gddr5 ram for like $60:

That seems like a very solid card considering my circumstances, and according to Toms, it's 9 tiers above the HD 5450 which was a decent card back in the day. Thank you for the recommendation mellowyellow!

Ditch it and get a budget i5/i3. The amount of RAM is anemic, even for minecraft, and the CPU is one from the early days of Core 2. That system would probably be ok for all other uses listed with an upgrade to 4GB of RAM but the CPU is really holding it back even in minecraft.

I'll have to consider this advice as well. The RAM and CPU would certainly hold back many games. In your opinion, would the CPU bottleneck be *that* bad when only running at 1366x768? Thanks for the advice.

 

[mfenn]

Your E2220 at stock clocks was a slow/budget CPU when it was new in 2008. I don't think I would toss any money at that machine if it's not working as-is. Luckily, Ken does a $500 build (w/ Windows) that can game. If you have a Windows license that you can use, then the build comes to $410.

 

[Mojoed]

What do you think of this, mfenn, or anyone else? Just brainstorming here. Would it better serve my needs?

http://www.neweggflash.com/Product/...=4485850&SID=fb309e80aead43daaea41428cb00a54f

along with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133542

About $150 total.

 

[Ken g6]

What do you think of this, mfenn, or anyone else? Just brainstorming here. Would it better serve my needs?

http://www.neweggflash.com/Product/...=4485850&SID=fb309e80aead43daaea41428cb00a54f

That's practically identical to your current machine. Right down to the Core 2 and the small form factor that are limiting your current machine. The hard drive's slightly larger, and the CPU slightly slower.

If you really don't want to spend $400 (or if you need Windows in that budget), let us know. We'll see what we can find, and it's got to be better than that.

Edit: Say, is this store within driving distance for you?

 

[Mojoed]

That's practically identical to your current machine. Right down to the Core 2 and the small form factor that are limiting your current machine. The hard drive's slightly larger, and the CPU slightly slower.

If you really don't want to spend $400 (or if you need Windows in that budget), let us know. We'll see what we can find, and it's got to be better than that.

Hmm, I was under the impression that my sons current CPU (E2220) is the previous generation to the Core2duo, and the Core2duo was a pretty significant leap. I'll look into it, I'm probably wrong.

I could probably scavenge a 1TB HDD, power supply and an old Antec Sonata case to keep costs down in the event of a new build... Gonna go see what I have! Thanks for the reply.

 

[WittyRemark]

What do you think of this, mfenn, or anyone else? Just brainstorming here. Would it better serve my needs?

http://www.neweggflash.com/Product/...=4485850&SID=fb309e80aead43daaea41428cb00a54f

along with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133542

About $150 total.

If it was a core2quad, I would've said yes.
But since that's not the case here so don't waste any money on it,it'll just go to waste.
Also buying stuff just because it's "cheap" and buying it several times is only going to hurt you in the long run($79 and then $150 and then throwing it in the trash after a year and buying stuff again).

mfenn suggested a very good i3 rig, I second that as it'll give you more flexibility for future upgrades.
You can also remove the hdd ,and buy a cheaper GPU ($60-$70) I think you can squeeze it all under $400 ,and even lower if you buy some used stuff.

 

[eton975]

Hmm, I was under the impression that my sons current CPU (E2220) is the previous generation to the Core2duo, and the Core2duo was a pretty significant leap. I'll look into it, I'm probably wrong.

I could probably scavenge a 1TB HDD, power supply and an old Antec Sonata case to keep costs down in the event of a new build... Gonna go see what I have! Thanks for the reply.

No. E2220 was same gen as the Core2 series, but cut-down for the lower-end market.

You have a few options:

Get low-end graphics card like R7 240, 250, GT 730. You may also try and overclock CPU, but that has risks.

Look for good used system with good upgradeability.

Totally new build? I see this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($95.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus A78M-E Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.59 @ Directron)
Case: Antec NSK4100 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $446.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-11 06:12 EST-0500
AMD APU-based build. Upgradeable later on, and integrated graphics should be fine for Minecraft.

Second option:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.59 @ Directron)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec NSK4100 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $497.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-11 06:23 EST-0500

More expensive but should perform better. If not overclocking, could downgrade CPU to Pentium G3220/Celeron G1840.

 

[melloyellow]

What do you think of this, mfenn, or anyone else? Just brainstorming here. Would it better serve my needs?

http://www.neweggflash.com/Product/...=4485850&SID=fb309e80aead43daaea41428cb00a54f

along with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133542

About $150 total.

imo, you don't need a whole new computer.

option 1: gpu only - $60 for gt730 or similar
option 2: gpu + cpu/ram - maybe find a q6600 or e8400 and/or some ram on ebay or fs/ft and see what that costs. I think those cpus should be compatible with your mobo, but double check before you buy. should be under $150 total
option 3: gpu + cpu/mobo/ram - buy that new AMD APU or Intel Pentium/Celeron cpu/mobo/ram set and reuse your case/psu/hd/win7. you might need a new optical drive and hard drive though if it's IDE/PATA. double check your case/psu is standard and not some weird proprietary system. probably about $200-$250 total

I suspect gpu upgrade only is sufficient though. I have an e6600 system that runs league of legends fine at 1920x1080, and it looks like that pentium you have is probably like 90% as good as the e6600. Also, you can try the gpu first, and if it's not good enough, you can keep the gpu and upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram so there's nothing lost there by trying gpu first.

here's some more data about how well different systems are working for other people. look especially at the systems with ddr2 ram:
http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Hardware_performance

 

[Ken g6]

If you don't go for a new system, I would go for some low-end video card like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133542

Along with some SSD, like this Crucial MX100 128GB, for all those non-gaming programs. Total ~$120.

 

[Mojoed]

That's practically identical to your current machine. Right down to the Core 2 and the small form factor that are limiting your current machine. The hard drive's slightly larger, and the CPU slightly slower.

If you really don't want to spend $400 (or if you need Windows in that budget), let us know. We'll see what we can find, and it's got to be better than that.

Edit: Say, is this store within driving distance for you?

Same state, but about a 4.5 hour drive to Microcenter unfortunately. However I will be traveling to Boston in a week, and I could hit up the Microcenter there!

 

[Mojoed]

imo, you don't need a whole new computer.

option 1: gpu only - $60 for gt730 or similar
option 2: gpu + cpu/ram - maybe find a q6600 or e8400 and/or some ram on ebay or fs/ft and see what that costs. I think those cpus should be compatible with your mobo, but double check before you buy. should be under $150 total
option 3: gpu + cpu/mobo/ram - buy that new AMD APU or Intel Pentium/Celeron cpu/mobo/ram set and reuse your case/psu/hd/win7. you might need a new optical drive and hard drive though if it's IDE/PATA. double check your case/psu is standard and not some weird proprietary system. probably about $200-$250 total

I suspect gpu upgrade only is sufficient though. I have an e6600 system that runs league of legends fine at 1920x1080, and it looks like that pentium you have is probably like 90% as good as the e6600. Also, you can try the gpu first, and if it's not good enough, you can keep the gpu and upgrade the cpu/mobo/ram so there's nothing lost there by trying gpu first.

here's some more data about how well different systems are working for other people. look especially at the systems with ddr2 ram:
http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Hardware_performance

Thanks for the link mellowyellow. I'd be a bit concerned about the Q6600 + GPU upgrade due to the 240w max power supply. I still haven't decided yet, but that GT730 might do the trick. Now that I think about it, I think I have a 4GB DDR2 kit laying around. I'll go check.

 

[Mojoed]

If you don't go for a new system, I would go for some low-end video card like this:



Along with some SSD, like this Crucial MX100 128GB, for all those non-gaming programs. Total ~$120.

I'm with you on the SSD. It's just so painful to game, or anything else really with a traditional HDD. I'm going to pull all my spare parts together and think about the new build idea and the GT730 idea. Thank you very much for your help. I'll report back.

 

[Mojoed]

Okay final update just for some closure.

I tried the GT730 card and it ended up as a pretty good upgrade, but not quite good enough. I think the CPU may have been holding me back here.

I ended up donating the PC to a 74 year old woman who had been using a positively ancient P3.

So to close this out, I ended up going with an modified i3 build with a 750ti as suggested by a few in this thread. I ended up spending more than I wanted from my initial "budget GPU upgrade" request, but it's done now and the system runs super cool, quiet and sips power.

And most important of all, my six year old absolutely loves it.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[mfenn]

Glad it worked out!