Buying a cheap graphics card for my Dad

[Bungral]

As the title says... I'm re-building my Dads computer and it will need a new graphics card. He doesn't play any games so it really does just need to be basic. Budget is around £30 - £40 I reckon.

Been looking at these:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126987

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140301

Or on the cheap cards should I be looking at ATI?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140617

What should I buy... Not necessarily out of those either.. Any ideas / opinions are welcome

 

[Ham]

Whats the specs of the rest of the machine?

It never hurts to stick something 1/2 decent (eg 3850) in if the rest of the machines up to it. Never know when a 2nd game capable machine can be useful

 

[Bungral]

Whats the specs of the rest of the machine?

It never hurts to stick something 1/2 decent (eg 3850) in if the rest of the machines up to it. Never know when a 2nd game capable machine can be useful

Na honestly... It's on a budget sorta.

He's getting all my cast-offs. E6600, 2GB 800MHz OCZ Platinum, 500GB Barracuda, P5N-E SLI mobo, ummmm 580w Hiper Type-R and a cheapo graphics card. He will use it for making DVDs and

ing about with music. 100% no games.

 

[Toxteth O'Grady]

This may be all your Dad needs. 17 quid delivered. Link



TOG

 

[Bondi007]

A 8400GS will do you for standard day to day use.

 

[!TIMMY!]

XFX Nvidia 7900GS?

 

[Bondi007]

that one looks good and all but you don't have to look hard because they are allot of budget cards out there for everyday use.

 

[Rastalovich]

That`s about the size of it really. A cheap card can be had for under £20. An 8400 would be a `nice` card to have, as long as it`s cheap. 7900 is a great price for £39, it`ll play a decent game too.

 

[Bungral]

DX10 on the 8 series though.

Might go for a decent 8400 then.

 

[Pat123]

what does DX10 matter if he isnt going to game?

Get the 7900GS

 

[!TIMMY!]

I was looking @ the 7900GS for my old 939, but I might get a 4850 and throw in this 8800GT into it.

 

[Nick259]

The 9500GT should be coming at the end of this month to replace the 8500GT, It should have roughly the same preformance as an 8600GT, which might push the prices of these other budget cards down. Just a thought, but I would just buy a 2400pro if you need it soon.

 

[inconspicuousj]

7900, no doubt about it. you can do most tasks with a 7300, so with a 7900 it'll have no problem. it'll probably run autocad and related software pretty well too and that stuff is fairly "heavy"

 

[Bungral]

Forgot about this... Went with the 7900GS in the end.. Should turn up tomorrow

 

[!TIMMY!]

I hope it is all good. I went for a 7900GT with AC Cooler from ebay in the end.

 

[Bungral]

Yeah man it is all good.

I've stolen it for the time being as I've gotta send my GTX 280 back and aint getting it replaced. Have sold my 8800GT too so am stuck with this for a couple of weeks. Tis ok though as my Dads mobo was DOA so that's gone back too.

Overclocking on this thing isn't too bad either.

From 450MHz to 610MHz on the core & 660MHz to 710MHz on the memory so far. Core is maxed out but memory has more to give. Can crash the system it seems though so having to do that slowly.

Edit: Ok so shortly after the original post I managed to crash my system. 610 on the core and 742 on the memory is fine and dandy but up it by 1 bloody MHz on the memory and screen throws a fit and can't be fixed so ya just have to cut the power. Tis a strange one.

 

[Bungral]

Oook so the GTO overclocks from 650MHz on the core up to 704MHz and from 667MHz on the memory up to 842MHz... Quite impressed with the memory.

That has been crunching under ATITool for stability. Swapped the thermal goo on the GPU to MX II and idle it sits at 40 degs and rises to a max of 49 degrees under full load and overclocked stressed by ATITool.

 

[monkey7]

Why is no one looking at ATi? I have the Asus HD3450 in my budget rig. It's passive (better for office use), overclocks fairly (reached the limits of ATi overdrive and I'm too lazy to download anything else), and plays a decent game too (CoD4 1280x1024 no AA playable).

And I picked it up for €30

 

[Bondi007]

ATI is starting to get tempting with there cards but nvidia are pulling good cards too

 

[cl0ck_ed]

where did you find a 7900gs for £40-50??? lol