I Need Graphics Card 101

Skips

New Member
I'm going to admit something. I've bought graphics cards before, but I actually have no idea what makes a graphics card decent. I've always just relied on reviews.

Recently, for example, I was looking at THIS card, and I'm very, very confused. This card is 4GB, but there are other GTX's for the same price that only have 2GB.

What's the significance of the amount of GDDR5, CUDA cores, etc? What's the most important? I'd really appreciate some clarification.
 

linkin

VIP Member
www.hwcompare.com

Lets you compare video cards, specs, etc.

Basically, video memory size is only important when running certain games or multiple screens off of the same card.

I have a titan which has 6GB of video memory. As of yet (running a single screen) I have yet to see it over 2800MB.

At this point in time, I would only go for a card that has 2GB or more, as games will only get more intensive with memory usage (and GPU power hungry in general)

The 670 is a good card, I upgraded from one. Depending on your screen resolution and the rest of your system specs, it may or may not be suitable.

So, please include your system specs, your budget, and what you intend to play :)
 

Compaq

New Member
Also with video cards you need to look at the size of the memory bus in relation to how much memory.
For example some cards give the big 2gb memory but they run a 128bit bus that card cannot use the 2gb, so its kinda useless.
 

salvage-this

Active Member
Not exactly. 128 bit bus can use 2gb of memory. It could even use 4gb. However a game that needs 4gb might need more bandwidth than a 128 bit bus can provide. You would either need faster memory, or a wider bus.

As a general rule 192bit is a good base 256bit and above are better. Don't get hung up on it. For most gaming cards, just trust the manufacturer.
 

pcbuilding101

New Member
I actually have a good intro for beginners to video cards. You can find it [Link removed by Aastii].

It's by no means comprehensive. But I think you'll learn something about your GPU and the GPU you're looking at by reading through it.

It's not very long, so take a quick look and let me know what you think :)
 
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