Asus P5N-D MoBo - need a "bandaid" Video Card

[camzag94]

Hey ya'll ! I was wondering if I could have some recommendations on video cards for ASUS PN5D. i was looking on pc-specs.com and other forums(mostly about crapped out video cards and options for this mobo) and the GTX 660-690's are well recommended, and the MSI GT640 is pops around as well.

Been had this unit for 8 years, replaced video card once and added some extra gbs of ram. Purpose of unit is for music software + video games (not top of the line ).

Mobo:
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 - Single VGA mode: x16 - SLI mode: Hardware ready for x16, x16
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI 2.2

System : Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9450 Quad 2.66GHZ cores, 12MB l2 Cache
8GB Corsair Memory , Win7 64bit


Options so far : EVGA GeForce 660-690 GTX, MSI GeForce GT 640.

Would any of the above options be compatible with my machine? Anything higher end that wont bottleneck my cpu ?
Imagine I had a GeForce 9600 GT previously so anything is an improvement now.
Looking to spend up to 100-130$ so I can feed my habits without breaking bank or building a new rig.

Cheers!

 

[Technician1]

You can use any pcie16 card if you have the slot and sufficient power. What is your PSU make, model and wattage and what unused pins do you have on it?

 

[Smart_Guy]

I'd recommend a GTX 680 4GB (this 4GB point makes a difference now). Make sure you have at least the recommended total of 550 Watt PSU with 40amps video card 2x6 pin power rails of +12v.

The GTX 690 is a dual GPU card that uses 2GB VRAM per GPU to give a total of 4GB physical amount; the advertised size. This works like SLI, which means both GPU's will not always work together depending on the game and that the VRAM is considered 2GB utilized by games, not 4GB. It could also be bottlenecked by the CPU specially at stock (Core 2 CPU are OC champs, by the way). Not sure about that point tho. Some games are CPU intensive and it could be true.

The GT 640 does not fit here

 

[BikerEcho]

No way around bottlenecking that CPU. I would buy a new computer

If you still want to upgrade the graphic card, i would buy something used (like the 680 SmartGuy mentioned. however check your power supply) or increase the budget to 160$ for a GTX 1050ti.

 

[BikerEcho]

Found it for 140$
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1292188-REG/evga_04g_p4_6251_kr_geforce_gtx_1050_ti.html

 

[Smart_Guy]

My searches showed that the GTX 680 performance is close to the 1050 Ti's and sometimes equal. There are practical tests on Youtube. I think a clean used overclocked 680 4GB of ~$100 would be a good bargain compared to a 1050 Ti $140. Otherwise if the price is closer to that of 1050 Ti, then it is the better bet.

If you want to SLI, however, then the above 680 is the better choice as it supports SLI and if sold as a set it would be cheaper per card. That however requires more PSU power.

Just remember, we still don't know the the CPU could bottleneck even a GTX 660. This has to be confirmed first. It's old and slow. See if you can over clock it with the current setup to at like 3.4Ghz

 

[cb600fshornet]

Any modern card will be a massive improvement over the 9600GT. I would recommend going for a newer card rather than anything lower than a 6 series. Something like a GTX750Ti would run rings around a GT640 or your old 9600GT, and you shouldn't have to upgrade the power supply etc either.

 

[Smart_Guy]

That no PSU need to upgrade is a good point. The 1050 Ti does not require extra +12v connections too and uses less power than the 9600 GT, so by default that system can run it.

I take what I said before back, or rather half of it. If the current PSU does not have enough power for a GTX 680, then forget about it and get a card like the above mentioned. If you get lost, just find a card with less than 95 watt draw (what your current 9600 GT uses) and you'll be fine for sure in the PSU department in your current setup.

 

[BikerEcho]

If the 680 and 1050ti perform about equal, i'll rather pay the extra 40$ for power efficiency.
That's also gonna result in lower noise and heat output. Not to mention it's a new card instead of used.

 

[Celery]

Let's not go overboard with video cards on older systems. His needs don't sound like he need a super duper turbo charged dual exhaust model.

Practically any video card is going to be better than the onboard crap. I have a 4 year old i5 system now and being doing well with an HD6670 now an HD7770.

Get at least a 128 bit card for great resolution.