suggest a cheap gfx card

S

Config:

Phenom II X2 555BE, Gigabyte 785GMUS2H, 4gb ddr-2, psu: cm real power pro 460w, cm310 elite, samsung 2233sw. Budget: 5-6k

My comp already runs hot at 55 degrees during normal work. So, want something which runs cool. Or will i need a CPU cooler (suggest one within 1.5k which will fit my cabby if necessary. I have a sideways and rear fan already installed). For the price, I am not expecting great but decent performance which should at-least blow apart my onboard radeon 4200. Is buying a second hand card an option?

before getting a new processor fan, try decrease processor voltage. stock voltage should be around 1.45V. lower it to 1.25V & check for stability. if system is running fine under load lower voltage more. this way load temperature should come down quite a bit. else get Cooler Master TX3.

but if the first trick works, add that 1.5k to your GPU budget & get something like HD6770. for 5-6k, you'll get HD6670 1Gb.

Nice suggestion there Sam - HD6770 is the way to go if OP can reduce his cpu temp by lowering cpu volt and I would suggest him to get MSI R6770 Twin Frozr II/OC or MSI R6670-MD1GD5 ( this one also has two fans ) and if he have to get a cpu cooler ;-)

BTW, I've reduced my cpu volts and it actually helped in keep the cpu temp even lower. IF OP is intending to Oc ( to churn out max juice out of P2 555BE ) I would suggest him to increase the budget and get a Hyper 212+ anyway ;-)

S

Thanks for your suggestions. I think will go for the TX3 cooler as I am not into overclocking and it is also easier to fit into already installed motherboard. Cool and Quiet automatically dampens my CPU voltage so not trying that...The card is around 7k. I think i will also add another stick of ram. Hope everything fits into the CM310. Its not the best cabby out there but i will hate to replace it now

Saurav2007 said:
Cool and Quiet automatically dampens my CPU voltage so not trying that

from what i have seen, cool & quite loweres voltage to ~1.2V when processor is downclocked to 800Mhz. but for same voltage i am running my X4 635 @ stock speed. when cool & quite kicks in, voltage drops to 0.9V.

Saurav2007 said:
I think i will also add another stick of ram.

if you game & opt for HD6670/6770, 4Gb is sufficient.

Saurav2007 said:
Hope everything fits into the CM310. Its not the best cabby out there but i will hate to replace it now

for the price it is a quality cabby. and if you don't intent to go multiGPU or fit a lot of fan, keep it.

@topgear, thanks. done the same on my proccy. temperature lowered by 5-8 degree. or he can try applying a new quality TIM. this way too he can keep his GPU budget at ~7k = HD6770.

^^ even my A2 630 is idling at ~0.9v with 800 Mhz speed ( CnQ enabled ) ;-)

Op can try some good TiM like Arctic MX2/MX4 or Tuniq TX4 - they are around 400-500 bucks and better than stock TiM comes pre applied with the stock HSF ;-)