Cheap-ish Graphics Card recommendation?

[Fruitloop]

I'm gradually fixing up an old computer for my son, it's got an old ASUS P8H61-M mobo, so far I've stuck a SSD in it, at some point I guess we'll replace the motherboard, cpu and memory sticks. The main stumbling block at the moment seems to be the onboard graphics which are pretty terrible. Son wants to use (and write) minecraft shader packs, but it can't handle displaying them at all.

Can I get a decent grapics card for under a hundred quid, that will work with the crusty existing setup, but not be too awful when we get round to upgrading it?

Any advice gratefully received, I haven't really built PCs for years and I'm hopelessly out of date!

 

[souljacker]

I've got a GTX-1060 3gb in my PC and it runs everything fine, not in ultra modes obv but still pretty well. They are under £100 if you shop around.

 

[mauvais]

Graphics cards have used the same physical connector and standard for a long time now, so fundamentally the answer is yes.

For any given card, you need to check that it will physically fit in the case - they can be too long - and that the PSU is compatible, both in terms of power output and the physical connectors. The latter have been stable for some time now too although you might need a plug adapter for some newer ones.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I honestly wouldn't bother at the moment. Prices are stupid at the moment, if you can even get something decent a whole mix of things that involves Covid and Cyrpto Mining. Even old cards are getting almost twice the price they were a year ago and this goes right through to the second hand market.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I've got a GTX-1060 3gb in my PC and it runs everything fine, not in ultra modes obv but still pretty well. They are under £100 if you shop around.

They really aren't!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

One thought if you desperate and have a decent internet connection is to pay for a streaming service. I paid for Geforce Now, which was pretty cheap, however I've had a look and sadly that doesn't support Minecraft.

I know there is another poster who uses Shadow PC, which is the most flexible, but also the more expensive, seems to be about £13 a month.

 

[Fruitloop]

That's really interesting, I did have a look at a couple of models and wondered why everything seemed to mental expensive. Used to be if you were prepared to tail behind the market a bit (which I always do), then you could pick up stuff that wasn't the absolute latest for not much money at all. Maybe we'll take a look at the CPU/mobo/memory thing first, as it looks like we can get a reasonable cheap set for an 11 year old for less than a halfway decent graphics card.

 

[Fruitloop]

Thanks all, super helpful

 

[souljacker]

They really aren't!

Just checked prices and you are right! That's surely due to the chip shortages though? Even the one I own and bought at least 2 years ago is about £100 more expensive. Ebay prices are better though.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Just checked prices and you are right! That's surely due to the chip shortages though? Even the one I own and bought at least 2 years ago is about £100 more expensive. Ebay prices are better though.

Yup. It's mental. Lots of places don't even have them in stock. I was thinking of building a gaming PC rather then going with the next gen of consols (which I belive have also put pressure on fabs).