Best low power video card for (mostly) headless PC?

[jimbob200521]

So I have my server sitting right next to my desk hooked up to a second display which is also connected to my main PC. It currently has a video card installed that is about 100x more excessive than the PC needs. I would like to purchase something dirt cheap that uses less power than the Radeon HD 4670 currently installed. The PC is accessed via Remote Desktop 99% of the time but occasionally I do use the video card for BIOS access, troubleshooting, etc.

So my question is what's the lowest power video vard (PCIE) that I could snag for cheap to get into this PC? All it really needs to be able to do is push 1920x1200 to the monitor and nothing more. Thanks guys

 

[happy medium]

So I have my server sitting right next to my desk hooked up to a second display which is also connected to my main PC. It currently has a video card installed that is about 100x more excessive than the PC needs. I would like to purchase something dirt cheap that uses less power than the Radeon HD 4670 currently installed. The PC is accessed via Remote Desktop 99% of the time but occasionally I do use the video card for BIOS access, troubleshooting, etc.

So my question is what's the lowest power video vard (PCIE) that I could snag for cheap to get into this PC? All it really needs to be able to do is push 1920x1200 to the monitor and nothing more. Thanks guys

Lowest power? this gtx1050 card needs no power connectors, the fans shut off when not playing games, so its silent, its a very small card, and it only cost $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125920&cm_re=gtx1050-_-14-125-920-_-Product

The next best card would be a used gtx950. They should be about $75 or less. Make an offer.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/iphone-6s-64gb-unlocked-gtx-950-broken-iphone-5.2495177/

 

[Bacon1]

Lowest power? this gtx1050 card needs no power connectors, the fans shut off when not playing games, so its silent, its a very small card, and it only cost $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125920&cm_re=gtx1050-_-14-125-920-_-Product

The next best card would be a used gtx950. They should be about $75 or less. Make an offer.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/iphone-6s-64gb-unlocked-gtx-950-broken-iphone-5.2495177/

He isn't trying to play games at all, no reason to spend over $40. Its a (mostly) headless server PC.

So my question is what's the lowest power video vard (PCIE) that I could snag for cheap to get into this PC? All it really needs to be able to do is push 1920x1200 to the monitor and nothing more. Thanks guys

Is it display port, hdmi, dvi or vga for the monitor?

Any GPU should be able to handle at least that resolution no issue.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131709

DVI, VGA, HDMI and low profile support fanless and $20 after $9 MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125402

Same as above but no MIR so $30.

You can even go refurb, just a lot of those had shipping costs.

 

[happy medium]

He isn't trying to play games at all, no reason to spend over $40. Its a (mostly) headless server PC.



Is it display port, hdmi, dvi or vga for the monitor?

Any GPU should be able to handle at least that resolution no issue.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131709

DVI, VGA, HDMI and low profile support fanless and $20 after $9 MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125402

Same as above but no MIR so $30.

You can even go refurb, just a lot of those had shipping costs.

I thought he would want something that's a little modern and actually has drivers being made for it still.

to me~ $75 is "dirt cheap" for a modern, low power, silent, video card.

 

[daxzy]

OP: For the most part, you can just search on eBay for an old PCIe video card like some fanless Nvidia Quadro/ATI X300/1300 series PCI-E cards. Tons available on eBay for less than $10 shipped. That passively cooled HD5450 linked by @Bacon1 is also a lot better than the cheapo eBay cards, if you can wait for the MIR.

to me~ $75 is "dirt cheap" for a modern, low power, silent, video card.

Yea, we know based on your poor man's guide that your idea of dirt cheap is divergent from about 90% of folks.

 

[ElFenix]

GT 710 is the correct answer. Fanless, super low power, and only a year old so I can't imagine Nvidia dropping support anytime soon.

 

[Bacon1]

to me~ $75 is "dirt cheap" for a modern, low power, silent, video card.

That Zotac has a 6pin req

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA85V4UY7181

TDP is 90w

The Radeon HD 5450 I linked is only 19w TDP.

GT 710

Good find:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487221

Fanless looks like it's bulky (2 slot) but the single fan version for $30 AR should work well.

 

[jimbob200521]

Lowest power? this gtx1050 card needs no power connectors, the fans shut off when not playing games, so its silent, its a very small card, and it only cost $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125920&cm_re=gtx1050-_-14-125-920-_-Product

The next best card would be a used gtx950. They should be about $75 or less. Make an offer.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/iphone-6s-64gb-unlocked-gtx-950-broken-iphone-5.2495177/

Thank you for the suggestions but both those cards are way more than I need for a PC that outputs to a monitor only as a necessity.

He isn't trying to play games at all, no reason to spend over $40. Its a (mostly) headless server PC.



Is it display port, hdmi, dvi or vga for the monitor?

Any GPU should be able to handle at least that resolution no issue.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131709

DVI, VGA, HDMI and low profile support fanless and $20 after $9 MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125402

Same as above but no MIR so $30.

You can even go refurb, just a lot of those had shipping costs.

Honestly DP, HDMI, DVI, or VGA doesn't really matter as the monitor it's hooked up to has all of those to spare haha

I like the 210 you linked to, I may have to snag that. Cheap, enough horsepower to drive the OS and that's about it which is exactly what I'm looking for. I checked out the 710 as well which for $5 more I may snag just to have a bit of extra oomph if the need arises in the future for any reason. I will check out some power consumption info on both cards first but I don't think I can go wrong with either.

OP: For the most part, you can just search on eBay for an old PCIe video card like some fanless Nvidia Quadro/ATI X300/1300 series PCI-E cards. Tons available on eBay for less than $10 shipped. That passively cooled HD5450 linked by @Bacon1 is also a lot better than the cheapo eBay cards, if you can wait for the MIR.



Yea, we know based on your poor man's guide that your idea of dirt cheap is divergent from about 90% of folks.

Would the older cards, while cheaper, be as power efficient as some of the low end newer stuff or are we only talking a few watts difference here?

GT 710 is the correct answer. Fanless, super low power, and only a year old so I can't imagine Nvidia dropping support anytime soon.

I checked out the 710 and at $35 it's hard to go wrong. Definitely on my list to check further into.

 

[daxzy]

GT 710 is the correct answer. Fanless, super low power, and only a year old so I can't imagine Nvidia dropping support anytime soon.

Nvidia already dropped support for Kepler. Furthermore, even if it did have driver updates, what possible fixes could there be for a headless server?

 

[jimbob200521]

That Zotac has a 6pin req

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA85V4UY7181

TDP is 90w

The Radeon HD 5450 I linked is only 19w TDP.



Good find:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487221

Fanless looks like it's bulky (2 slot) but the single fan version for $30 AR should work well.

I found this one from eVGA that looks good, as well. No rebate to mess with but comes out at $34.99 and no VGA which isn't a bad thing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487306&cm_re=gt_710-_-14-487-306-_-Product

 

[Bacon1]

I found this one from eVGA that looks good, as well. No rebate to mess with but comes out at $34.99 and no VGA which isn't a bad thing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487306&cm_re=gt_710-_-14-487-306-_-Product

Looks like the same card I linked, it has multiple options:

GT 710 Dual Slot, Passive - $38
GT 710 Single Slot, Dual DVI - $40 - $15 MIR (same as you linked, but new, and cheaper AR)
GT 710 Single Slot, Low Profile - $40 - $10 MIR

I'd go with either of the last two options depending on if you want vga / low profile option or not. If you dont want to bother with the MIR the passive one would be silent but takes 2 slots due to the fan size.

 

[ElFenix]

Nvidia already dropped support for Kepler. Furthermore, even if it did have driver updates, what possible fixes could there be for a headless server?

Security hole?

Edit: looks like the 210 is still getting driver updates of some kind (though on a much older fork) so is also an option.

As for power, pretty much anything that is low profile and sold with no fan strapped to it is low power. Handful of watts difference at max, I'd assume. Maybe there's a power chart at toms with some of these years-old graphics cards on it.


Edit2: if you're near a Fry's they've had some 710s for $10 AR lately.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Nvidia already dropped support for Kepler. Furthermore, even if it did have driver updates

WUT? Nvidia hasn't dropped support for Kepler cards. They still support Fermi on up.

Granted, Fermi and Kepler may no longer be receiving performance optimizations for games in the drivers, but what does that matter? This is for a headless server, not a gaming box.

 

[sm625]

Just get a quadro NVS 300 off ebay for $10. It's a 17 watt gpu. Might not be the absolute lowest power, but there's a seemingly limitless supply of these cards around.