Quality Graphics Card for a Novice PC Builder

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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Hi.

My name is Stephanie and I am a novice when it comes to building a PC. I want to build a powerful gaming computer - within reason - and although I have read extensively on the process of building your own PC I would very much appreciate any advice from experienced builders and gamers here on the forum. I would like to purchase a fast, quality graphics card to suit an i7 processor (16 GB memory, 1 TB Hard Drive) and a 25-27'' LED monitor. I play a variety of easy and demanding PC games such as Lego's series of film games, Medal of Honour, Championship Manager, FIFA, Call of Duty etc so I would like to eliminate the usual sluggishness of my system to give me a fluid gameplay experience.

Many thanks! : )
 
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If you're looking to spend about $1000 on a monitor, then you will probably be getting a monitor with a 2560*1440 resolution (at least, that's what I'd do). With such a resolution I would go for a GTX 670/680 from Nvidia or a HD7950/7970 from AMD. All of those cards are within your budget.

If you spend more, you'll be getting cards with a terrible cost/performance ratio. A GTX 680 or HD7970 should be able to play the games that you want to play on high/ultra detail.
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ASHISH65

ASHISH65

Splendid
Oct 15, 2012
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Take this(only cpu) -

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qapn
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qapn/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Qapn/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($220.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid CPU Cooler ($57.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1091.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-08 07:50 EDT-0400)
 
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ThomasJ93

Honorable
Apr 10, 2013
597
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11,160
Depends on how much you're willing to spend on a graphics card. I could give you the advice to buy a GTX Titan for $1000, but I doubt you really need that.

If you can tell us how much you're willing to spend, what resolution you will be playing at (1920*1080 or higher) and if you want the most eye candy when it comes to graphics, we'll be able to give you a good advice on what graphics card is suitable.
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
31
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Hi, thanks so much for your message. I'm sorry, I completely forgot to specify my budget. I am willing to spend up to £2000 ($3000) for my entire computer and up to £700+ ($1000+) on my graphics card. I'm not sure what monitor I will pick but I would ideally like a high quality one to compliment my graphics card (maybe £600+ / $900+) - which do you think would be best for me? Thanks everybody for your kind and considered help thus far! : )
 
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ThomasJ93

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Apr 10, 2013
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If you're looking to spend about $1000 on a monitor, then you will probably be getting a monitor with a 2560*1440 resolution (at least, that's what I'd do). With such a resolution I would go for a GTX 670/680 from Nvidia or a HD7950/7970 from AMD. All of those cards are within your budget.

If you spend more, you'll be getting cards with a terrible cost/performance ratio. A GTX 680 or HD7970 should be able to play the games that you want to play on high/ultra detail.
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Hi there, sorry, I forgot to specify my budget! I'm looking to spend around £700+ ($1000+) on my graphics card and £600+ / $900+ on a good quality monitor (24'' or 26'') to compliment my card. Do you have any recommendations for both? Thanks so much! : )
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
31
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Hi Thomas, thanks so much for your swift reply, it's very much appreciated. As a novice, I'm sometimes inclined to think that the more expensive, the better the equipment - that is obviously not the case and I'm glad to have your advice! I'm definitely going to look up your suggestions, thanks again! : )
 
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ThomasJ93

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Apr 10, 2013
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I would go for a Dell Ultrasharp U2713H monitor with that budget. This is a 27" monitor with a 2560*1440 resolution. It has an IPS panel, which gives very sharp colours.

 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Thanks Madcap42 for your considered advice - it would appear that the 670/680 are popular graphics cards, if I go for the 670 will it be able to handle my games as well as the 680 in terms of speed and detail? Thanks again! : )
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Wow! That's one nice monitor with a nice price. I've had a look on youtube and it's exactly what I would love. Everytime I've been to my local computer store the employees have always tried to get me to spend big on monitors which don't really seem that great but this looks really nice. Would the 680 graphics card look good and run well on this monitor? Thanks once again!! : )
 
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madcap42

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Jan 2, 2012
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100% so i used a single one for ages in a amd fx 8150 and i7 3770k played bf3 ultra settings no problems in the i7 and am currently using 120 hz monitor with this setup
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Nice! : )
I'm I wrong in assuming that a matte screen, such as provided in the Dell, is much nicer for playing games because it has anti-glare?
 
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ThomasJ93

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Apr 10, 2013
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Matte or glossy is a matter of personal preference. One of my screens is a glossy one, with the other one being matte. Personally I prefer the glossy one. I also use this one to game on. The only issue I sometimes have, is that the sun is shining on it.
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Thanks very much Thomas, your help and everyone else here has been invaluable! : )
 
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DharmaRecruit

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May 8, 2013
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Thanks Thomas, I was initially thinking of purchasing an i7-3770k - I have an i7 in my laptop at the moment and it's pretty speedy so I think I will go for an i7.
 
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