Basic gpu?

[senidge]

Hi, i'm new to graphics cards and was just wondering which one people might recommend

It will only really be used for everyday stuff in windows 7 and the main use for the pc is as a DAW as i record stuff at home, so i guess it needs to be as quiet as possible.

my specs are

Intel q8300 2.5
samsung 320gb f1 spinpoint HDD
ASUS P5KPL-AM IN/GB Mobo
and the Novatech 550w (winpower) PSU, although this is getting replaced pretty soon .

I only really want to spend up to £50 at most. anything worth buying ?

Thanks

[smifis]

When doing builds for people, i've always just stuck in an nVidia 9500GT. great for the price IMO.

[brainiac361]

cant get quieter than passive:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Graphics-ATI/ATIHD4300Series/Novatech/4350512MBPCI-E.html

perfect for video only, as it does this:
Hardware processed 1080p video playback of Blu-ray and HD DVDs

[senidge]

Great, thanks guys. i'll consider both.

[Superewza]

What about the 5450? Can be had for £40 in passive (unfortunately not with the funky reference cooler though :( ), 512MB DDR3 flavour and has a tiny power draw of just 20W maximum due to using newer 40nm technology.

http://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ati_radeon_hd_5450-540x384.jpg

That said the GT220 performs better and is only a little bit more, but this model uses GDDR2 and can't be the quietest of cards.

http://www.greenlyph.com/new/images/ASUS-GT220-11-TEK.jpg

But if you wanted to be really 'future proof' then you can grab a passive/IceQ4 4670 for just a little over your budget.

http://img.hexus.net/v2/news/sapphire/4670-ultimate.jpghttp://www.winnercomputers.com.au/images/HD4670_IceQ.jpg

[bezza]

The ICEQ coolers are very quiet. Had one in my old machine and couldn't hear a whisper from it.

The Novatech PSU you have will be louder than the GPU in most cases anyway. If you're replacing, Corsairs get a good review around here and are generally quiet. Wonder about the Coolmaster ones though - anyone with any experience of these:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/PowerSupplies/Coolermaster/

And as a final point, you might want to think about overclocking your CPU at some point. Would perhaps wait until you have the new PSU though.

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

good call on the 5450 afaik they perform between the gt220 and the gt240

[blondeandy]

I've used the 9500gt for replacements on a ccouple of peoples pc. Its a nce card :)

[DTX]

Like the look of the 5450, it will have directx 11. The 9500GT and the 4670 cards will give a bit more performance I would imagine although if you're just looking to do everyday stuff then that 4350 would be fine.