Helping a friend find a GPU for his old computer

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1

Hey guys!

It has been awhile since I posted anything on this forum, but a friend asked me a question today at school and I knew that this would be the best place to ask my question.

My friend recently bought the new Star Wars Battlefront game. We have both been Star Wars and Battlefront I and II fans since we were kids.

He cannot currently run the game on his computer because he doesn't have a graphics card.

His computer has the following specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz
6 gigs of ram
64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium

I do not have the information about his motherboard, but I know he is using stock cooling.

He wants a graphics card that will run the game (even at low settings) for under $100

This might be an impossible request, but I am hoping that someone on the forum has a suggestion. You guys helped me build a beast of a gaming rig a year ago and I am more than happy with it to this day.

Thank you for you time!

Patrick (Stanley) - pckmcc

My PC specs:
*Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
*NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
*MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
*Kingston Fury Red Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
*Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
*Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
*MSI Radeon R9 290 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
*NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case
*Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
*Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
*BOSE® 354495-1100 Companion 2 Multimedia Speaker System Series 3

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I did find this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127784&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814127784&gclid=CjwKEAiAvauyBRDwuYf3qNyXmW4SJACX9-fXkxcqcGAKPZzx9s00mrYTvDzgfcCtpVDMWHSS4CQqrhoCw9rw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

What is your opinion on it? It's in his general price range, and it benched ok on http://www.userbenchmark.com/ but I am not sure if it meets the requirements for Battlefront

3

I know it can get sketchy, but I've had a lot of luck with used GPU's. Some from eBay (protected) and some from Craigslist (obviously unprotected). I picked up a used 7970 with aftermarket cooler for $120 of Craigslist and I still run it today! Guy had the box and everything.

There are going to be a lot of crazy deals next weekend though. I would hold of until then and see what you can find. Lots of great refurbished items too.

1 Like
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OH and not matter what you get, make sure his PSU is capable of providing enough power!

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Ok! Awesome! Do you think that a 750ti is a good card? I will ask him about the psu.

I have had some poor luck on eBay in the past and no luck on craigslist with past purchases. Maybe it is time to try again :)

6

the cpu is below min specs.
you might be able to pull it off, but only if you get a gpu well above min specs to make up for the cpu.

7

750ti

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Would the 750ti meet that requirement? Or would he be better off buying or building a new computer?

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750ti would be alright it's a good entry level card. The CPU, while old, is still quad core. It will run

10

750 meets it but barely. with a cpu below min idk. maybe he might get it running at a playable frame rate at min specs but theres not enough information. hes better off building a new system. at best he'd be handicapped.

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How much would his budget for a new PC be?

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I will ask him. Just a second :)

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THe Q9400 isnt that bad exaly.
you just need to overclock that thing.

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even without an overclock it would pair nicely with any gpu you could get under 100... get a used 7850 2gb off ebay or something.
Hell you can get a 7950 for about 120.

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@SoulFallen Found this one on eBay! Looks like a steal!

@MisteryAngel That is good to know! I will ask him if he is willing to try that. How far do you think I could take his clock speed on that CPU?

@Streetguru He hasn't responded to my text yet. He probably went to bed. I will let you know what he says tomorrow. I also asked him about his current PSU.

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depends a bit on the mobo and cooling ofc.
It will be hard to say.
But it will be an epic journey to try, since its an legacy bios, so old school overclocking.

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So, did he answer how much the budget on a new PC would be?

Well here's a cheap build anyways, should be able to handle the game about the same level as the current consoles

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BcWZMp
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BcWZMp/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($46.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($48.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $307.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-18 01:04 EST-0500

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Just edited my last post because I didn't want to keep breaking up the conversation flow and confuse people :) He probably won't respond till tomorrow. He has been off steam for 40 minutes

Dude! That is awesome! I want to go an get those parts now! What GPU would you use? Would you use the AMD Radeon HD 7950 or the Nvidia 750ti? There was no graphics card on the build.

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i would suggest to wait till your friend has answerd about his budget.
it will make more sense to know what he is capable to spend.
Then we can help to look into options.

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http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=R9+270X&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D1&_salic=1&_sop=15&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1

this sort of thing ends at about 100