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General discussionCheap graphics card advice?(31 posts)(31 posts)
(31 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 03, 2018
Before going for the newest generation of GPUs, make sure your motherboard supports them.
Posted April 03, 2018
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BlueMooner: Any thoughts or suggestions?
A GeForce 710 is terrible in terms of performance and I would not call it a good investment even if it is one of your cheaper options.

I suggest you wait for a sale or hunt for a discount and get a 740 with 2GB GDDR5 at least - they should go for around $50 as well with 33-50% off, and since they are older generation cards discounts shouldn't be that hard to find.

P.S.: And yeah, as kalirion has already mentioned, do check if your motherboard has the right kind of GPU slot - you will need a PCIe slot for these newer GPUs, whereas back in 2006 AGP slots were still quite popular (they made both PCIe and AGP compatible Nvidia 7600 GTs).
Post edited April 03, 2018 by WinterSnowfall
Posted April 03, 2018
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MaximumBunny: Do surveys, paid offers, microsoft rewards, and enter hardware giveaways. If you need specific links to valid ones then pm me. As long as you're 18+, have a computer + internet, and are in the US you're good to go on some free cash/pocket money.

Microsoft Rewards for example is an easy and guaranteed $60 a year. In 2 years you have $120, enough for a gtx 1050 level card or some peripherals. The survey sites I do can be anywhere from $45-$100 a month. Slower methods would be something like Amazon's mturk for money. Too much work to effort ratio for me though.

Basically the ideal solution is for you to find more ways to make money and reduce your overhead rather than settle and/or harm your economic situation with "splurges". You're clearly in a bad situation if a $40 or under graphics card like a 710/740 or whatever it is will be too much for you. You also can't be too busy irl to be so poor or worse, to be some student that thinks his degree will get him money in the long run.

And don't "I never win any giveaways" me. You lose 100% of the giveaways you never enter. Persistence is the important part and people who give up lose out. :)
Actually this a very good advice and since you're in US, the chances to win something are greater due to many gaming companies do periodical contest only in US (Bethesda, Sony Playstation, Nintendo, to name a few).
Follow those companies in twitter or www.reddit.com/r/giveaways/ to enter to innumerable contests that companies start every day.
But as this gentleman says: Persist! Persevere! Endure!
You will win something eventually if you keep participating.
Posted April 03, 2018
I would triple those 50$ in sportbetting and buy a Geforce 1050ti
Posted April 04, 2018
I suggest the Nvidia GT 1030, with only 30 watts power consumption and about 95% the performance of a 750 Ti, it's an excellent choice. By comparison, the 710 is a horrible card for gaming, especially modern titles and it's a waste of money, the cheapest choice isn't the best one in this case.

Meanwhile the 1030 is very capable, it can play many titles at 1080p (not max details), it's great for MMOS (there are many good free2play titles) and it still won't break the bank. For the record, I use one of these cards in one of my budget systems, I really have no complaints and it's giving me more than I expected.
Posted April 04, 2018
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BlueMooner: Any thoughts or suggestions?
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WinterSnowfall: A GeForce 710 is terrible in terms of performance and I would not call it a good investment even if it is one of your cheaper options.

I suggest you wait for a sale or hunt for a discount and get a 740 with 2GB GDDR5 at least - they should go for around $50 as well with 33-50% off, and since they are older generation cards discounts shouldn't be that hard to find.

P.S.: And yeah, as kalirion has already mentioned, do check if your motherboard has the right kind of GPU slot - you will need a PCIe slot for these newer GPUs, whereas back in 2006 AGP slots were still quite popular (they made both PCIe and AGP compatible Nvidia 7600 GTs).
It's not even just about the PCIe slot. Older mobos may not support the new fangled UFEI video bios used by current and most last gen GPUs.

I have a Radeon 4850 and thought of getting a GTX 1050ti for about $150 on Black Friday (before the prices skyrocketed), but then realized it probably wouldn't work
Post edited April 04, 2018 by kalirion
Posted April 04, 2018
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kalirion: It's not even just about the PCIe slot. Older mobos may not support the new fangled UFEI video bios used by current and most last gen GPUs.

I have a Radeon 4850 and thought of getting a GTX 1050ti for about $150 on Black Friday (before the prices skyrocketed), but then realized it probably wouldn't work
I was under the impression that all UEFI-compatible cards had a fallback legacy BIOS option as well (at least in theory), but the problem was with mobos that supported an earlier UEFI standard.

But yeah, as always, using new hardware in combination with old hardware is a bit of a gamble - that's why I'd keep the GPU generation as old as it is bearable in order to get some decent OpenGL / DirectX hardware support as well.
Post edited April 04, 2018 by WinterSnowfall
Posted April 05, 2018
Where i'm at a business is closing. sad to see... but at 75% off, the $60 card was $15.

So here's a cheap card!

ASUS HD 6450 Radeon...
Posted April 05, 2018
Because I'm limited to half height cards, all the cards I get are cheap. I was using a Nvidia 2XX before, but now I'm using a Radeon R7 240 because screw Nvidia.
Posted April 05, 2018
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Darvond: Because I'm limited to half height cards, all the cards I get are cheap. I was using a Nvidia 2XX before, but now I'm using a Radeon R7 240 because screw Nvidia.
Hmmm could get a tower case for like $50 and move it so you can have full length cards...
Posted April 05, 2018
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rtcvb32: Hmmm could get a tower case for like $50 and move it so you can have full length cards...
That would involve moving my everything from one case to another. I'm using a mostly stock Optiplex 780 SFF, so...
Posted April 05, 2018
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Darvond: Because I'm limited to half height cards, all the cards I get are cheap. I was using a Nvidia 2XX before, but now I'm using a Radeon R7 240 because screw Nvidia.
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rtcvb32: Hmmm could get a tower case for like $50 and move it so you can have full height cards...
I presume you meant full HEIGHT.
Posted April 05, 2018
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rtcvb32: Hmmm could get a tower case for like $50 and move it so you can have full height cards...
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Themken: I presume you meant full HEIGHT.
I recall my Gravis UltraSound was long enough to not fit into my PC case....
Posted April 05, 2018
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Themken: I presume you meant full HEIGHT.
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drmike: I recall my Gravis UltraSound was long enough to not fit into my PC case....
Yes, that can be an issue too.
Posted April 05, 2018
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rtcvb32: Hmmm could get a tower case for like $50 and move it so you can have full height cards...
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Themken: I presume you meant full HEIGHT.
Logically, yes height...

Though i've had video cards that i have to re-arrange where everything is plugged in since the card would be on top of the CPU and fan... So being full height and length is good.
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Community
General discussionCheap graphics card advice?(31 posts)(31 posts)
(31 posts)