MSI GeForce GT 730 2gb worth it for me ?

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Brucealmighty

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Jul 18, 2016
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I need some advice if this card is good enough for my needs. I don't play the new heavy games, I don't have time for it, I do play some old online games sometimes - Lord of the Rings online, and some browser RTS games - World of Tanks..., and watching movies/tv shows.

I found someone near me selling this exact card for just 12-13$
http://

At first I thought it must be a 64 bit card but then I noticed this model is a 128 bit, but I don't know if the DDR instead of a GDDR makes much difference in performance.

I have an old i5-2500 pc with 4gb
 
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clutchc
On the issue of the 64 bit vs 128 bit GT 730 (and this only pertains to the GT 730)... like I said, the lower bandwidth 64-bit version has a faster GPU than the older, slower 128-bit version. Normally, higher bandwidth is better, but if the GPU is weaker it doesn't matter. Just Google "128 bit gt 730 vs 64-bit gt 730" if you want further evidence.
The GT 730 is the only card I am aware of that this pertains to. To make matters more confusing, there are 3 versions of the GT 730: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-730/specifications

Video RAM: DDR is normally the designation of system memory. GDDR is the designation for Graphical memory used in gfx cards. They are indeed different animals. But the...
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clutchc

clutchc

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That is the slower of the GT 730 models. Believe it or not, the 64 bit model is faster than the 128 bit model because the latter uses a slower GPU. DDR and GDDR are used interchangeably. The proper term is GDDR, but most folks just say DDR. Same thing; (Graphical) Double Data Rate memory. The gfx card you listed uses the slower DDR3 VRAM. $13 is probably about what it is worth. Medium settings at 720p resolutions in older games. Not designed for serious game play. But better than the integrated iGPU that you have with the i5-2500.

How much are you willing to spend on a video card?
 
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Brucealmighty

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Jul 18, 2016
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How much I 'm willing to spend? well not much but mostly because I just don't have any use for a really high-end card and I might leave the country for a very long time (year plus) soon, so doesn't make sense to me to spend much on something I will stop using in a couple of months. I just saw this model selling for ~50$ on Amazon and other similar sites, and figured 12-13$ is really cheap.

About DDR vs. GDDR, I 'm not completely set on your explanation. I saw cards from the same company, same model only one version with GDDR and another with DDR, so there has to be a difference doesn't it?

I understand what you meant by the 64 bit being faster because it has a higher clock, but I read a review about this and it says there that the 128 bit will perform much better still due to the double bus - 28.8 gb/sec vs. 14.4 gb/sec on the 64 bit.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/budget-graphics-cards/msi-geforce-gt-730-2048mb-graphics-card-review-3599292/

I still have an old geforce 8800 gts 640mb somewhere, it is old but still a beast on old pc with its 320 bit bus, I just don't like its power consumption and the fact it does not have any hdmi ports (it only has 2 DVI-I ports).
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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Apr 22, 2009
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On the issue of the 64 bit vs 128 bit GT 730 (and this only pertains to the GT 730)... like I said, the lower bandwidth 64-bit version has a faster GPU than the older, slower 128-bit version. Normally, higher bandwidth is better, but if the GPU is weaker it doesn't matter. Just Google "128 bit gt 730 vs 64-bit gt 730" if you want further evidence.
The GT 730 is the only card I am aware of that this pertains to. To make matters more confusing, there are 3 versions of the GT 730: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-730/specifications

Video RAM: DDR is normally the designation of system memory. GDDR is the designation for Graphical memory used in gfx cards. They are indeed different animals. But the terms are mistakenly used interchangeably. Even by those who know better. GDDR is different and faster than DDR. If you see a gfx card listed with DDR3 or DDR5, it is indeed GDDR, not DDR. DDR is not used in modern gfx cards.
 
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