Which GPU should I buy?

[Simmo1404]

I'm finally buying a graphics card. I have limped by on integrated graphics since last July, but my computer is struggling a bit since I bought my second monitor.

My current rig:

i5-3450 @ 3.7GHz, 8GB 1600MHz, Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Mid-Tower case, 500W PSU and 2x1080p 24" monitors.

Needs/uses:

Smooth operation of 2x1080p monitors for watching 1080p video on one whilst sometimes doing other tasks on the other. Single monitor gaming (KSP, but not much else atm). I don't play many games, and if I do they'll not be very demanding - mostly oldies on sale on Steam (so far Assassin's Creed 1, Tropico and Portal).

I will happily overclock, as I did the CPU and RAM, but I have an eye on keeping the temperatures down too.

Budget:

I don't want to disclose a budget, as I do not want to be recommended the best card at the top of my range. Instead I hope that you will recommend the card best suited to my requirements without it being excessive. I am happy to go with either strategy of buying a more expensive card now to last me ~4 years, or to buy a less expensive card now and upgrade to another less expensive, but more powerful and more efficient card in 2-3 years for about the same total cost. (The latter might be better suited as my current demands are not too great)

Research so far:

It appears that most of the AMD range is priced linearly with respect to performance, according to numerous non-synthetic benchmarks, with a premium growing exponentially towards the top end.

Nvidia cards are slightly more expensive for the performance, but are more efficient, so run cooler. (Is this correct?)

Questions:

How much can Radeons normally undervolt? Would this negate the efficiency advantage that Nvidia has?

Will there be a significant benefit from the next-gen cards from Nvidia or AMD, especially the 20nm process, making them worth the wait?

Thanks, Overclockers.

1404

 

[ArchAndroid]

If you are just using two monitors for work with minimal gaming then a 7750 would seem like the card. It has all the latest features: 28nm, PCIe 3.0, GCN core, GDDR5. This one looks decent for £70.

 

[fishingcat]

I'll answer a couple of your questions, although asking for recommendations without a budget is rather pointless.

Will there be a significant benefit from the next-gen cards from Nvidia or AMD, especially the 20nm process, making them worth the wait?

I would expect the next proper generation to bring a considerable performance improvement. However it's a while off and for your needs I wouldn't bother waiting. You can always sell your old GPU and upgrade if you want to when the time comes.

Nvidia cards are slightly more expensive for the performance, but are more efficient, so run cooler. (Is this correct?)

Not really, I believe Nvidia cards are more efficient, but actually run hotter in many cases. An AMD with a decent cooler will run pretty cool (even with a ****** cooler and overclocked my HD 7870 XT doesn't break 70 degrees while stress testing).

I'd honestly recommend AMD across the range, but I won't recommend you a specific GPU without a budget.

 

[Simmo1404]

Ok, thanks fishingcat.

I don't think it pointless to post without a budget. When I posted this before elsewhere, I received no other responses but for the best GPUs as close to my maximum budget. By highlighting that the appropriateness is more important to me than budget, I am hoping to get more considered responses than I did at the other place.

To include ArchAndroid too, is a 7750 fine when I would get a considerable performance increase by going to a XFX 7770 at £83? For the 7790, 7850 and above, it seems to revert to a linear scaling of performance/price.

Is 1GB of VRAM sufficient for two screens? Though I only plan to game on one.

Thanks.

 

[ArchAndroid]

1GB is sufficient for doing work or watching videos on two screens. You may not be able to game on both screens with highly demanding games but the older games should run fine. If you only game on one screen at 1080p, 1GB will be fine for all but the most demanding games (where you may have to turn down anti-aliasing to get it to run smoothly).

Stepping up to a 7770 is a very good decision because the extra performance is worth the small premium in price. If you are going to overclock, grab any 7770. If you want out of the box performance (i.e. pre-overclocked), go for either the Asus 7770 1GB at £100 and with a core clock of 1120MHz (the highest performing card) or the Gigabyte 7770 1GB which is £90 this week and has a slightly lower core clock of 1050MHz. Both of these cards seem like the best options in the 7700 range.

 

[Simmo1404]

Thanks for the help ArchAndroid. I'll have a look at those options tonight.