Budget to midrange graphic card recommendations?
retiretomaui
Posts: 392
Morning all!
I'm going to rebuild an old ABM Aptiva case that's about 15 years old and make it into a neo-retro machine with new innards. My concern is the CPU and graphics card combo. I'm on a budget and am not looking for a screaming gaming machine or anything like that. I was considering the AMD Athlon X4 series for a cpu. The most recent Athlon X4 versions are essentially A10 and A12 cpus without the built in Radeon graphics and as I'd be getting a discrete graphics card anyway, it looks like a good way to save money. So...
Which graphics card would you all recommend with this setup?
- Athlon X4 8800 or above cpu, probably 9000 series once it's released to the general public. It's currently just an OEM release, I believe.
- Minimum 16GB of ram, eventually upgradeable to 32.
- 2 TB hard drive.
I'll be salvaging a lot of components like drives from other machines to save on cash, so I can afford to spend a little bit more on the RAM and discrete card, say $200-350 on the card. Obviously, the more graphics memory, the better. I'm also probably going to go AMD because yes I'm an AMD fanboy, but really because it's a nice cost effective option and as a hobbyist using DAZ to illustrate a few book covers and graphic stories I probably don't need a top of the line I7 rig or anything like that. I'm looking at system stability and cost efficiency.
Thank you for any pointers or suggestions,
Bob
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
you ARE upgrading the mobo, right? Any newer gfx card, even a budget card is going to need a newer slot than 15 years old ;).
Laurie
A couple of notes:
Go nVidia for the graphics card. Iray is nvidia only.
For $200-$350, you have a lot of options for GPU. If you are willing to run the beta (or wait until it goes to release) go wtih a 1000-series nVidia card. 1050 Ti cards (4GB) are under $200. 1060 cards (6GB) are around $250, and for $350, you can get a 1070 (8GB). I'd recommend going for the 1070, personally.
If you don't like/use Iray, and do all your work in 3DL, just get motherboard with built-in graphics that will support the most system memory, and max it out as much as possible. (32GB, or 64GB if possible)
Depending on the salvaged parts, you may not be able to use them. Old IDE drives (hard drives, optical drives, etc.) can be used if you buy additional SATA-to-IDE converters, but the drives themselves are pretty inexpensive these days (2TB consumer grade Hard drive shouldn't be more than $100, and a blu-ray writer can be had for under $70.) Newer motherboards won't have regular PCI slots, either.....just PCI-E.
AMD X4 CPUs are a bit outdated at this point. You'd be better off getting the A10 or A6 and just disabling the built-in GPU. Finding motherboards that support the old socket the X4 uses might be tricky. An AMD FX 8320E 8 core 3.2GHz CPU is $90 at microcenter.com.
Don't skimp on a new PS. Get something 80+ bronze certified or better. Depending on how much you have running in there, start at a 500W, and if you intend to have more than one GPU, you'll probably want higher wattage.
Make sure the motherboard and slots will work with the old case. Formats and support layouts for motherboards change over time. Make sure it'll fit an ATX motherboard.
you ARE upgrading the mobo, right? Any newer gfx card, even a budget card is going to need a newer slot than 15 years old ;).
Yep, certainly. It's an ATX case, so that limits the motherboard choice a bit, but it's still workable.
An AMD FX 8320E 8 core 3.2GHz CPU is $90 at microcenter.com.
Heating issues. The FX series has a reputation for running on the hot side and as this is an older case I'm concerned about the ventilation. Going with a slightly less pwoer hungry cpu will hopefully help in this regard. I've had several students experience severe overheating issues with FX cpus. Granted, they're overclockers but they also tended to use extra fans and one had a liquid cooling setup.
Thanks for the advice! I was thinking of Nvidia as I"ve had great luck with them in the past.
Bob
If overheating may be a problem then go for something like an MSI Aero 1070 GPU. They suck the cool air in from the bottom of the card and then blast the hot air out of the back of the case, so it's not heating the interior of the case.
Cheers,
Alex.
Water cooling the CPU is easy and a lot cheaper these days. Get something like a Corsair H80i V2 CPU water cooler. Quieter than heat-sink/fan combos, and a lot more consistent temps, and better cooling too. It does add a bit to the cost of a build, but WELL worth it. Especially doing 3D, which is often very demanding on the CPU (3DL renders will run on the CPU, so they'll keep it pegged near 100% the whole time it is rendering.) A lot of better motherboards now also have pump power connectors.
If you are ok with getting an A-series (Socket FM2) CPU like the AMD A10-7860k (quad core, 3.6GHz) CPU. Just disable the onboard GPU via the motherboard. No problems. They run $100 at microcenter.com
Personally, I have had no heating issues with FX-series AMD CPUs. They do tend to run a little hotter than the Intel counterparts, but not excessively so. I think a lot of the 'issues' people report are from not properly installing the HSF combo.......