Looking for Gaming Graphic Card for less than 200$

**ExeQt** · September 15th, 2012, 11:29 AM

Hello,
I have no experience whatsoever in this field of technology so I'd appreciate any help from you folks.

So basically I need to decide on a Graphics card for gaming that would function perfectly for the latest games (Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2 etc) and would not fall from the 'reccommended' criteria in the next 1-2 year(s).

My budget is up to 200$

Any help appreciated!

**JLK03F150** · September 15th, 2012, 11:40 AM

We need to know about the rest of your current system in order to help. What is your PC's make & model? What processor, how much RAM, current video card and what make & model power supply unit?

**ExeQt** · September 15th, 2012, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by JLK03F150

We need to know about the rest of your current system in order to help. What is your PC's make & model? What processor, how much RAM, current video card and what make & model power supply unit?

My system is pretty underwhelming (the PC is 4 years old), so tell me if I can do anything to change my system or maybe it's not worth it to fix and might be better to get new PC (you tell me).

But here're the specs:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 CPU @2.8 Ghz
Installed memory (RAM): 2 gb
Current video card: Nvidia GeForce 9400GT
Graphics Memory size: 512 MBytes
Mainboard Graphics Interface: PCI-Express (Link Width x16, Max. Supported x16)
PC Power Supply: AC 230V

**JLK03F150** · September 15th, 2012, 12:51 PM

230V PSU? Where are you located? You need to open your case and look at the label on the power supply because wattage dictates how powerful a graphics card you can use.

The 9400GT was underwhelming when it was new, but the E7400 CPU is still capable IMO.

What operating system are you running? A RAM jump from 2GB to 4GB might be beneficial.

**ExeQt** · September 15th, 2012, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by JLK03F150

230V PSU? Where are you located? You need to open your case and look at the label on the power supply because wattage dictates how powerful a graphics card you can use.

The 9400GT was underwhelming when it was new, but the E7400 CPU is still capable IMO.

What operating system are you running? A RAM jump from 2GB to 4GB might be beneficial.

Sorry I meant the AC Voltage was 230,
The power supply says 'ATX 550Watt'.
I'm using Win 7

And about the Processor, is it really a big issue? because if it can't run games properly I would have to get a new PC.

**ShyguyXPC** · September 15th, 2012, 03:10 PM

Does it list a Brand and Model for the Power Supply?

The CPU may bottleneck some higher end cards, but JLK was saying that it should still be quite capable for current games.

It is on the lower end now days, but its still above minimum specs for most games. I think if I remember right GW2 requires a 2GHz Dual Core or better.

I hate using this site, but its what I find on a quick google search:

Guild Wars 2 System Requirements and Guild Wars 2 requirements for PC Games

Borderlands 2 is a bit more forgiving, in that it can go as low as a Celeron Dual core, but has to be 2.4Ghz or better for those.

Borderlands 2 System Requirements and Borderlands 2 requirements for PC Games

Most of these games your talking about are MMO's and highly CPU intensive, so eventually down the road in the next year or so, you might want to upgrade the CPU, whether its a whole new system, or you can find a faster clocked Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad for cheap to toss in and upgrade the system to.

**ExeQt** · September 15th, 2012, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by ShyguyXPC

Does it list a Brand and Model for the Power Supply?

The CPU may bottleneck some higher end cards, but JLK was saying that it should still be quite capable for current games.

It is on the lower end now days, but its still above minimum specs for most games. I think if I remember right GW2 requires a 2GHz Dual Core or better.

I hate using this site, but its what I find on a quick google search:

Guild Wars 2 System Requirements and Guild Wars 2 requirements for PC Games

Borderlands 2 is a bit more forgiving, in that it can go as low as a Celeron Dual core, but has to be 2.4Ghz or better for those.

Borderlands 2 System Requirements and Borderlands 2 requirements for PC Games

Most of these games your talking about are MMO's and highly CPU intensive, so eventually down the road in the next year or so, you might want to upgrade the CPU, whether its a whole new system, or you can find a faster clocked Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad for cheap to toss in and upgrade the system to.

It says 'Empire MLT' on the Power Supply.

And please excuse me for the ignorance but what advantage does a Quad core have over a Dual core in terms of running said games?

Also, assuming I have met the reccommended specifications for the Quad core, will the CPU immediatly be correspondingly as good? isn't it possible to have a crappy CPU coupled with a good Quad core microprocessor? (in an intel processor product e.g. Core 2 Quad)

**ExeQt** · September 16th, 2012, 04:10 AM

Shameless bump

**ShyguyXPC** · September 16th, 2012, 07:52 AM

can't reply right now, will after I get home from work tonight.

**ExeQt** · September 21st, 2012, 01:37 PM

bump

**ShyguyXPC** · September 21st, 2012, 02:54 PM

so thats where this thread went to, I got home that night, and was too tired to do anything, didn't log back in again until the next day, and could not find where this thread was at.

never heard of the brand of PSU, could be a low end cheap unit, which you'd want to have replaced with a good quality unit.

And please excuse me for the ignorance but what advantage does a Quad core have over a Dual core in terms of running said games?

Depends. If the game is optimized for a Quad core, then it will run the games much more efficiently, with more options enabled, smoother gameplay and better frame rates.

though the last two also weigh heavily on the GPU.

But if the game is only single or dual core optimized, having a quad core can help in other ways. Such as freeing up CPU resources for the OS and other background tasks to use the other cores while the game gets more CPU resources from the primary core/cores.

typically most games will run on a very fast Dual core, just fine, and great. Quad core gaming still has yet to make it big. there are some games out there, but most are still dual core at most.

A faster Quad core (say for example you had a 3GHz Dual core, and a 2.4GHz Quad core, the Dual core will run said game much better, but the quad core will handle the game much better if there is other stuff running in background such as Voice chat, IM, Email, web browser, etc).

Also, assuming I have met the reccommended specifications for the Quad core, will the CPU immediatly be correspondingly as good? isn't it possible to have a crappy CPU coupled with a good Quad core microprocessor? (in an intel processor product e.g. Core 2 Quad)

Not sure what you mean on this statement.

most of that didn't make much sense.

unless you meant a crappy GPU, instead of CPU, since the Quad core IS the CPU.

**ExeQt** · September 21st, 2012, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by ShyguyXPC

so thats where this thread went to, I got home that night, and was too tired to do anything, didn't log back in again until the next day, and could not find where this thread was at.

never heard of the brand of PSU, could be a low end cheap unit, which you'd want to have replaced with a good quality unit.

Depends. If the game is optimized for a Quad core, then it will run the games much more efficiently, with more options enabled, smoother gameplay and better frame rates.

though the last two also weigh heavily on the GPU.

But if the game is only single or dual core optimized, having a quad core can help in other ways. Such as freeing up CPU resources for the OS and other background tasks to use the other cores while the game gets more CPU resources from the primary core/cores.

typically most games will run on a very fast Dual core, just fine, and great. Quad core gaming still has yet to make it big. there are some games out there, but most are still dual core at most.

A faster Quad core (say for example you had a 3GHz Dual core, and a 2.4GHz Quad core, the Dual core will run said game much better, but the quad core will handle the game much better if there is other stuff running in background such as Voice chat, IM, Email, web browser, etc).

Not sure what you mean on this statement.

most of that didn't make much sense.

unless you meant a crappy GPU, instead of CPU, since the Quad core IS the CPU.

The cleared up some stuff, and made me want to lean more towards purchasing a new PC.

However, I still do not know which good graphics card to purchase at my budget.

If you can name out some products that are good for my price range please help me and do so.

**111theracer** · September 21st, 2012, 05:36 PM

The best for $200 is this :
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Get The GTX 560 'ti' version if u can.

**ShyguyXPC** · September 21st, 2012, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by 111theracer

The best for $200 is this :
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Get The GTX 560 'ti' version if u can.

$215 is not $200.

Factor in they will need a new "Quality" Power supply, and your looking at $150 range of cards.

Even if not factoring in the PSU, the 560 Ti is not the best for $200 range.

Radeon HD 7850 is.

Hell, though I have 2 of those 560 Ti's linked above in your post, there are several others for $200 or less.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics Cards, GeForce GTX 500 series, GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi)

Just grab one of those and OC them to the FPB models clock speeds, easily enough. I have my FPB's OC'd to SuperClock Models specs.

Radeon HD 7850: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics Cards, Radeon HD 7000 series, Radeon HD 7850

Of these I would recommend the 2GB models.

If they could spend over the $200 budget, with a PSU factored in, then the Geforce GTX 660 would be the best recommendation:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Video Cards & Video Devices, Desktop Graphics Cards, GeForce GTX 600 series, GeForce GTX 660

But thats $230 + $40-50 for the PSU.