Computer performance
boriseng, Wed Oct 28 2015, 09:05AMSo I'm wondering about buying a desktop system with a bit more performance than bare entry-level, but what should I be looking for in graphics adapters? I'm out of touch with hardware specs and I'm not looking for a gaming monster just something that can handle more than minimum detail settings.
Re: Computer performance
Discharge, Fri Oct 30 2015, 07:44PM
I'm sort of assuming you're building a PC to some extent, rather than just buying one off a shelf?
Graphics cards have a lot of different numbers to compare. Not nearly simple as ram or CPU etc.
If you know you want multiple monitors, or your monitors have particular connectors your graphics card needs to have, that is a superficial way to narrow down your search.
Generally, better graphics cards have more memory. It is fairly safe to assume that a 2GB graphics card is better than a 1GB card, though it is a lot deeper in reality. That gives you a start when you're looking at a card.
When I am getting a new graphics card, I like to look at the steam hardware survey. http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
It shows what's popular with gamers right now. I go down the list until I find one that's in my price range and read some reviews to check no big problems.
This site has benchmark statistics on different graphics cards. If there are a few you are looking at, or you want to see if it's really worth shelling out for the next model up, this comes in handy.
One thing to look out for is power requirements. Modern graphics cards normally need more power than a pci-e slot can deliver and will have an additional power connector that you plug into your PC power supply. Before you buy a graphics card, check the connector on the graphics card is a connector your PSU has. There are different size connectors (8 pin, 6 pin etc) and there's no guarantee your PSU has the right one. I expect there are probably adaptors mind.
It's worth just checking your power requirements don't exceed the maximum power output of your PSU also.
If you're buying a tower off a shelf, some/most of the above may not apply...
Discharge, Fri Oct 30 2015, 07:44PM
I'm sort of assuming you're building a PC to some extent, rather than just buying one off a shelf?
Graphics cards have a lot of different numbers to compare. Not nearly simple as ram or CPU etc.
If you know you want multiple monitors, or your monitors have particular connectors your graphics card needs to have, that is a superficial way to narrow down your search.
Generally, better graphics cards have more memory. It is fairly safe to assume that a 2GB graphics card is better than a 1GB card, though it is a lot deeper in reality. That gives you a start when you're looking at a card.
When I am getting a new graphics card, I like to look at the steam hardware survey. http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
It shows what's popular with gamers right now. I go down the list until I find one that's in my price range and read some reviews to check no big problems.
This site has benchmark statistics on different graphics cards. If there are a few you are looking at, or you want to see if it's really worth shelling out for the next model up, this comes in handy.
One thing to look out for is power requirements. Modern graphics cards normally need more power than a pci-e slot can deliver and will have an additional power connector that you plug into your PC power supply. Before you buy a graphics card, check the connector on the graphics card is a connector your PSU has. There are different size connectors (8 pin, 6 pin etc) and there's no guarantee your PSU has the right one. I expect there are probably adaptors mind.
It's worth just checking your power requirements don't exceed the maximum power output of your PSU also.
If you're buying a tower off a shelf, some/most of the above may not apply...
Re: Computer performance
boriseng, Sat Oct 31 2015, 08:39AM
I really haven't made my mind up. I'm a bit annoyed really because I can play vanilla minecraft quite happily by setting fast graphics.
I can play World of Tanks but on minimum detail.I gave up on War Thunder.
I'm not that enthusiastic about self-build right now, I quite like the idea of just getting a better laptop but I'm aware that laptop graphics are always going to be a bit behind compared to towers. I'd like a small form factor tower but that will probably limit the power supply.
boriseng, Sat Oct 31 2015, 08:39AM
I really haven't made my mind up. I'm a bit annoyed really because I can play vanilla minecraft quite happily by setting fast graphics.
I can play World of Tanks but on minimum detail.I gave up on War Thunder.
I'm not that enthusiastic about self-build right now, I quite like the idea of just getting a better laptop but I'm aware that laptop graphics are always going to be a bit behind compared to towers. I'd like a small form factor tower but that will probably limit the power supply.
Re: Computer performance
squaffle, Sat Oct 31 2015, 11:56AM
As far as Graphics cards go I just upgraded to a GTX 970, for it's price it's very powerful so deff a reccomend from me. Everything's on high or ultra now so happy on that score
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
is quite good for sizing up what's hot and what's not
squaffle, Sat Oct 31 2015, 11:56AM
As far as Graphics cards go I just upgraded to a GTX 970, for it's price it's very powerful so deff a reccomend from me. Everything's on high or ultra now so happy on that score
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
is quite good for sizing up what's hot and what's not
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