Is a nvidia 520 1g decent?

[Ashenor]

Friend is looking to buy a prebuilt PC, he does not know how to build one, i don't want to build it.

He is mainly looking to play Magic the Gathering online, and the new counterstrike when it comes out.

PC has

AMD FX-4100
8G DDR 3
500G HD
Nvidia 520 1G

It's $509, i am sure he could build for cheaper but for what he's looking to do is that decent?

Figure down the road worst case he can toss something better in, he was trying to stay around $500 with a prebuilt.

Thanks

 

[Crap Daddy]

To put is simply, no. Maybe he can toss in a HD7750, much better card that can be had at around $100 or if he can spot one at around the same price even a 7770.

 

[Arkadrel]

This will give you a good idea:

You see a Nvidia GT 430 is better.
You see a AMD 6450 is better.

Its like... the slowest Discrete card you can still buy

It's $509, i am sure he could build for cheaper but for what he's looking to do is that decent?

The GPU is reaaally slow, so slow the Intel HD4000 or Trinity APU IGP are faster.
Its a card for old CPUs that come without IGPs, that only use it for 2D office work.



For 509$ he can get better, he should build himself and get better value.




Here (order from newegg and put together yourselves):

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-A55M-DS2 ~49$ (after rebate)

CPU:AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz ~109$

Ram:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (Model CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9) ~54$

Harddrive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS-RK 500GB 7200 RPM ~69$

PSU (power supply):
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) ~44$

Case:
Fractal Design Core 1000 Micro ATX Computer Case w/ 1 x 120mm fan ~39$

CPU cooler:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO ~30$

DVD drive (sata (assumeing ur old pc doesnt have)):
ASUS Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive ~18$

New PC, uses the IGP (gpu inside the cpu) that comes with the LLano APU (2x faster than a 520), costs ~412 $.


ex:

 

[Binky]

It's a horrible card.

 

[Arkadrel]

Friend is looking to buy a prebuilt PC, he does not know how to build one, i don't want to build it.

Be a good friend, order the parts I linked above (and put it together for him),
save him 100$ and give him a PC that ll be twice as fast in games.

The differnce between:
520 = 17 fps
A8-3870k 's IGP = 38 fps

Is huge, you can play games decently at 30+ fps,.... much lower and things really arnt that enjoyable.

 

[Binky]

Be a good friend, order the parts I linked above (and put it together for him),
save him 100$ and give him a PC that ll be twice as fast in games.

Your build seems to exclude an OS. Add ~$100.

 

[Arkadrel]

@Binky

damn your right.... Maybe he's a student and can get it for like ~64$.
But how do you know the other pc hes getting comes with windows 7? or that he doent already own a windows copy?

Or he *could* try linux, basically free lol

 

[amenx]

gt520.. sounds like the descendant of the FX5200.

 

[Ashenor]

Actually he is a student maybe we will do that then. I figured it was pure crap, i actually gave him a old PC of mine to use for right now until we figure something out. Anything else you would tweak on that list if i buy from newegg? I also have a microcenter right by me. I would assume his budget is $550ish with a OS which he is a student.

 

[Binky]

With a microcenter close to you, the exact (best) build might change depending on what motherboard/cpu combo they have on special that week.

If there's no overclocking expected, you can probably save the $20-$30 on the cpu cooler and just use the stock cooler. Or, just watch slickdeals for a special - I often see the Corsair A50 for $10 or less after rebate, and the Hyper 212 for $20 or less. The case might also change since you can probably score something similar for the same or less.

 

[Ashenor]

Cool thanks Binky i will check it out.

 

[Nintendesert]

Hell just have him run Windows 8 for now and do it for 90 days while he saves some pennies to buy it or Windows 7 later.