Best Budget Graphics Card - Under £60

[Andaho]

I'm to build a PC for my sister and she wants it cheap as possible but my brother-in-law would like to be able to play games on it and use photoshop for playing with photos they'll take with their new 8mp camera - They currently only have a 1Ghz PIII with a geforce 2, so anything today will be a huge improvement... But which will give the best bang for the buck at under £60? - I think I'm ruling out the 8500 as there's no need for DX10... so I'm just wondering between these really: 6800, 7300, 7600? Or any suggestions?

I actually have the ATI X1950Pro in my new PC and very happy with it, but it's the first ATI card I've had so I don't know anything about the lower spec ones.

Recommendations?

[Mithrandir]

There are a number of factors to take into account.

1) Which motherboard do they have (for the gpu slot: can be PCIe or AGP)
2) What Power supply do they have (watts and 12v rail rating) as this can determine whether their system can handle the 'newer' cards.

[Andaho]

I'm going to be ordering and building the system next week. So it will have PCI-E and probably the SilverPower 400W PSU scan sells for £25 - either that or the FSP 350W that's also £25. I'll be going for an AMD dual core, as it's a budget machine - I beleive that will give more value for money over the E21x0 range of intels - do correct me if I'm wrong. I'll also be going with one of the cheapest gigabyte of abit mobos for whichever cpu I choose. - Also curious about the AMD 690 mobo chipset that has an ATI X1300 graphics? how does it compare to a seperate budget graphics card?

So, now you know info of the machine, what graphics card?

[staffsMike]

E21XX will overclock very nicely in a G33 motherboard due to them only being 800mhz fsb and the G33's having a native 1333mhz FSB.

So the E2180 could potentially run 3.3Ghz without overclocking the motherboard. Obviously you will need sufficent cooling for it so factor in at least another £15 for an arctic freezer 7 pro.

That said AMD will be a lot better for just running at stock settings. Essentially it would cost around £100 for the intel route at the minimum (for a good mobo) So using that as a guide a decent 690g motherboard is only £35 leaving enough for around a 2.6ghz AMD.. which are very respectable performers.

Back to the graphics card. The 7600 is probably your best bet for sub £60.

[Andaho]

The 7600 is probably your best bet for sub £60.

Would it be beter than the 8500 for example?

Also remember I'm after the best value for money... I'm not just after the biggest model number for £60.

[s_kinton]

Would it be beter than the 8500 for example?

Also remember I'm after the best value for money... I'm not just after the biggest model number for £60.

The 7600 will be a better performer than the 8500, if thats what you're asking.

[Andaho]

Ok, I was looking at the price of the 7600... scan have 1 for £44 that's out of stock so can't buy that... the other 2 they have are £73 & £77. At that price they don't sound very good value for money because I could get the much faster X1950Pro for £79.

So I'm still looking for a good suggestion on a budget card; what about the X1650Pro for £41?

Someone must know a budget card that's the best value for money? - the 7600 is a rip off when compared to what you can buy for the same money.