PC gaming help
 

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[Closed] PC gaming help

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My daughter wants to play Fortnite (of course) and her PC only has an integrated graphics card.

The specs say a minimum of GeForce 660 GTX is required. What is the cheapest option to get sufficient performance? I'm a bit wary of just speccing to the minimum, but I want to spend as little as possible.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 4:33 pm
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Looks like GTX is much better than GT even if the number is lower...


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 4:37 pm
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To try to understand Nvidia cards you need to know the ‘code’

So, GTX660 is: GTX (not GT which is the non-gaming line really)

the next two numbers is it level in the line-up

They typically go 10 to 80, 80 being the best.

mid-range 50 is pretty much entry level for gaming.

Another thing to look for it ‘TI’ at the end, ‘Ti’ doesn’t mean anything in particular other than ‘better’.

The short answer is GTX1050TI, or if you can find one perhaps a GTX750TI if it’s really cheap.

They come in SFF so they fit a desktop and not just mini-towers and big gaming boxes, they don’t need they’re own power, they’re powered off the board and they run most games at 60FPS in 1080 at decent graphics levels

My Sons PC runs a 2GB GTX750TI and plays Fortnite really well, and my work 4GB GTX1050TI will run it at ultra settings in 1080.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 5:26 pm
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Thanks! 1<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">050 GTX is going to be far too expensive for this project though.</span>

Next question: there are unbranded cards on eBay that are about 1/3 the price. Of course they won't be fantastic, but will they work? Bear in mind I'm looking for the minimum outlay to play the game, don't really care what it looks like.

Knock-off 1050 GTX Ti For £50 or there's a BIN for a eVga 750 ti at the same price. That's about my max really.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 5:31 pm
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I’d go for the branded s/h 750ti myself.

AMD cards are typically a bit cheaper, but I don’t understand them.

Lots of vids of people online playing games on ancient cards though.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 6:32 pm
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I actually got GTAV to run on a 1gb gt730 once, it wasn’t great, but it worked.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 6:33 pm
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The Equivalent amd cards are rx 560 or 570

Mid range Rx 580

Top of the Range Rx Vega 64.

I have a I5 7600k and Rx 480 8gb and it runs all modern games at 1080p without flinching.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 6:46 pm
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What's your budget?


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 7:09 pm
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s/h GTX750ti or a new 1050ti IMO


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 7:13 pm
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s/h GTX750ti or a new 1050ti IMO

Are you saying these should be the same price?

Budget £50 or less.


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 7:17 pm
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I'd be a bit weary of a unbranded cards going too cheap.  There are some fake cards on ebay etc that are older cards that have been flashed somehow to look like something better.

Seems to be Nvidia cards.  A google search of 'fake graphic cards;/ 'fake chinese graphic cards'.

However, I've heard of someone getting a fake 750ti, then reported it to ebay, then get to keep the card 🙂


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 7:36 pm
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Look for a GTX 950 or GTX 960 second hand.  Look for upto your budget


 
Posted : 28/10/2018 8:13 pm
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they don’t need they’re own power, they’re powered off the board

i thought most cards need there own power supply now? i know my GTX970 does as did the card it replaced although it was that long ago i can't remember what that was.


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 12:06 am
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660 is not the minimum, it is the recommended.  Is the CPU up to scratch?


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 12:21 am
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CPU is a quad i5 3.1GHz.

I miss read that about the minimum then. Might make it cheaper still if I went down a number. But used 750 still seem to be a good price point.

This is an office refurb PC though, so might I need a new PSU?


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 8:13 am
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i thought most cards need there own power supply now?

Some entry level gaming cards don't . Some Gtx 1050s don't, some do. As they are right on the edge of the power limit of what can be taken straight off the motherboard. I'd imagine most 1050ti would need a direct feed from the power supply but you'd have to check on a card by card basis as some manufacturers configure the cards differently.

Graphics cards are a lot more power efficient than they used to be.

Slightly off topic but my rx480 will go into a kind of low power hybernation mode when not gaming, even the fans shut down and it will fire back up when needed.

My old old gtx 285 required 2 power feeds at a total minimum of 40a @12v... It's performance is probably about akin to a 1050ti or rx460 Iol


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 8:28 am
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Hmm, the absolute minimum is Intel HD4000 apparently. So it might even work as-is. So any upgrade will help.


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 8:35 am
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This is an office refurb PC though, so might I need a new PSU?

Depends . Office PC's do often come with very small PSUs but there will be a label on the unit specifying it's output power.. You'd need to check that against the cards requirements. If the card has a socket for a power feed the PSU may not even have a cable for it (will be labeled 12v pcie) you want to be looking at how many amps can be supplied on that cable vs the cards requirements.


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 8:47 am
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Nice, only triple my budget too.


 
Posted : 29/10/2018 8:02 pm

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