Cheap Graphics Card

[Blaze]

So my friend is looking to buy a graphics card to play Tera and Star Wars the Old Republic.
The thing is, he is on a budget, a really tight one, and the card has to be under $50 with shipping included. :D

I looked around and found VisionTek ATI Radeon HD 4350, which he used before from a friend and ran both games fine. (Though from XFX instead.)
However, the card he used had 1 GB where this card on Amazon only has 512 MB, would this be an issue?

I tried looking around for a 1 GB card but since this is an older card it seems it's impossible to find.
Just asking if the video memory would suffice for the games, since he used the card model, it should work, I'm just worried about the memory difference and if it'd make any sort of impact.
Though if anybody has a better card for the price range, feel free to suggest it.

[Grauniad]

Blaze, the first, and most important question is what type of interface? AGP (really, really old), PCI (older) or PCI-e (more recent)?

Then I'd not get a card with 1/2 the memory, that does have a severe impact on performance.

AMD Radeon cards have just experienced a nice price drop for the previous 7000-series cards. I saw some of your HD 7770's a day or so for about $69. So it may well be that there is a cheaper card in there somewhere. Post the interface and I'll have a look. if he does have an older interface, he may be out of luck.

Edit. If you go for a newer card, we may have to make sure his PC's power supply (PSU) can handle the additional load. SO make model and as many specs of the PC may be necessary.

Edit2: As always, don't shop Amazon for PC components. Their way to locate and select components really, really suck compared to Newegg.

Here is a search for AMD Radeon HD 6000-series cards under $50. The 6000, series is two generations of cards more recent than the one you listed. The cards I selected have various levels of PCI-e requirements, so you may have to make sure they conform to your friend's computer.

You can use the Passmark Video Card Benchmarks to compare cards with what you knew worked and between one another.

[teknotiss]

just got an asus radeon HD 6670 (cool running, allegedly dust proof  :D, 2Gb DDR3 dx11 etc. oh and low power use and a quiet fan) for £69.99 at a shop and you can get them for £56 ($70 ish?) or so online (couldn't wait dead machine :'() but more data about your friends system would help people advise you better  8)

[Blaze]

He has used the 4350 before, so it's PCI-E.

Sent the link to him (on a skype call with him until 3 p.m, when I have to get my sister from school) and am having him take measurements of the inside of his case.
He wants to buy it by Friday, which I just realized is tomorrow. :D

The Radeon HD 6450 looks like it'd work, the last card was PCI-E 2.0 wheres this one is PCI-E 2.1, I don't know if there is a physical difference that would prevent him from putting it in.
I'll update with the case measurement once he gets them, along with his power supply output.

[Blaze]

So He got the measurements which are 7" in width 14 1/2 " length.

Now, I ran him through a power usage calculator, he has a 127W PSU at this time, and uses ~107W without a card.
The card he wants puts him over his Power Supply.
Luckily, I kept my old one, which has a supply of 300W, so I'm going to attempt to get it to him since it's just collecting dust down in the basement. :D

He is going to order the card Saturday (changed the day for some reason), now I just need to figure out the cheapest way to get it to him.

PSU is 6" x 5-1/2" x 3", anybody got some suggestions on the best way to mail this to him?
He is only two hours away from me, if that matters. :D
I don't think driving there is an option since I still don't have my license and I don't think my dad or grandparents would spare four hours just to deliver that.

Also, when the card was added to the calculator them minimum is said was only 130W, though it recommended 180W, in the event it's possible to go slightly over a PSU's supply and I don't know. ::)

[Grauniad]

USPS (Post office) is your best bet. Don't use the flat-rate priority boxes. Box it up yourself and take it to the counter and ask them to tell you the price and how long it will take for 1st class, priority mail and standard mail. The cheapest options are not on their website. Most charges will be weight-based, so be prepared for a surprise.

I'm surprised at the 127W PSU.  They usually are not that finely attuned. But I don't know the make/model.. so..

You could take a chance on the PSU/card combo being *just* right, but that may be an expensive gamble. I'd not do it.

[Blaze]

USPS (Post office) is your best bet. Don't use the flat-rate priority boxes. Box it up yourself and take it to the counter and ask them to tell you the price and how long it will take for 1st class, priority mail and standard mail. The cheapest options are not on their website. Most charges will be weight-based, so be prepared for a surprise.

I'm surprised at the 127W PSU.  They usually are not that finely attuned. But I don't know the make/model.. so..

You could take a chance on the PSU/card combo being *just* right, but that may be an expensive gamble. I'd not do it.

Yeah, I'd rather not risk it and just get him the PSU, he said he'll cover shipping so long as it's not overly expensive, as for weight, it's only ~3 pounds.
When I weighed it, I came up around 2.6 but I got on a scale and took my weight then held it and took it again, so I'm probably off. ::)

And Thanks for the suggestion, I'll dig up the box my PSU came in and use that, since it's just a blank box.

[Blaze]

Well digging this thread up since stuff came up, he can't get the agreed upon card and it turns out I need to be really specific with this guy since he misread the label on his PSU and it was 300W as well. :-\

Either way, he'll still cover the shipping cost, I didn't need it so no loss to me, and it's newer than his so probably better for him to use it anyhow.

Now, the main reason I'm digging this up is he can no longer afford a $50 card, and is begging me to look for something that can run Star Wars The Old Republic, that is in the $40 range.
I do not know why $10 makes such a difference, but it is what it is.
And it's better than looking for something in the $30 range that could run it.
I found nothing that came close.

I'll be looking around, but if anyone has something off the top of their head, help would be greatly appreciated, since I'm about to tear my hair out talking tech with one who does not speak tech...

[Blaze]

Nevermind, after some intensive searching, stumbled upon a card that was perfect, and it turns out the same thing I picked out last time.
I think I'm going to bed early tonight, long day...