What determines whether a video card is good for gaming or not?

MyKeyblader · Nov 30, 2014

Hello everyone! I recently bought a cheap video card (only $40!) and even though it has 1 GB of DDR3 memory, i've read many articles and forum threads that say it isn't very good gaming. Does clock speed determine if a card is good or not? any help is much appreciated.

Gam3r01 · Nov 30, 2014

Architecture above all else determines a card's performance.

Clock speeds do matter, as does amount of memory, and memory type all matter but not much. The physical GPU core on the card is the main factor.

Also, DDR3 is very outdated.

MyKeyblader · Nov 30, 2014

Gam3r01 :

So what type of architectures are good for gaming? I appreciate the help

aaronfield · Nov 30, 2014

MyKeyblader :

Pretty much age. With newer cards theyve squeezed out higher efficiencies. Higher efficiencies means they can put get more performance out of less power. 1GB of DDR3 is very dated, I'm guessing its a gt610. If so then yes, thats a bad card for gaming. Clock speed matters but is not the determining factor unless comparing apples to apples (780 vs. 780 SC). Memory bandwidth also plays a factor although you don't really need anything above 256-bit. I hope I've helped.

Aaron

aaronfield · Nov 30, 2014

MyKeyblader :

Tahiti, Hawaii, Kepler, Maxwell. Those are just architectures. A good budget gaming card would be a 750ti.

Gam3r01 · Nov 30, 2014

It depends on budget and goals. The best way to check is by looking at benchmarks of cards, and determining what you need/want.

MyKeyblader · Nov 30, 2014

aaronfield :

MyKeyblader :

Pretty much age. With newer cards theyve squeezed out higher efficiencies. Higher efficiencies means they can put get more performance out of less power. 1GB of DDR3 is very dated, I'm guessing its a gt610. If so then yes, thats a bad card for gaming. Clock speed matters but is not the determining factor unless comparing apples to apples (780 vs. 780 SC). Memory bandwidth also plays a factor although you don't really need anything above 256-bit. I hope I've helped.

Aaron

You're very close, its actually a gt 620. Thanks for the help, i think i get it now. And btw nice Zero Punctuation profile pic.

Gam3r01 · Nov 30, 2014

Shoutout to ZP

MyKeyblader · Nov 30, 2014

Gam3r01 :

lol yeah. thanks for the help btw

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