GPU for Homebuild

[bluesteak]

I recently started a thread here in the Homebuilt section. All my 'starter' questions can be found there.

I'm posting here because I've been using this great article on Graphics Card Hierarchy and was wondering; how low should I go? Given that the recommendation on the article is, "I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher," I can't stop thinking that I should get the 3rd tier down and be safe for awhile. Would that be overkill? I'm not building a supreme gaming machine, but it should be able to hold its own with the newer games. I lean toward the GeForce cards btw.

I have decided that I'll be going 1080p monitor, either 24" or 27". Also I plan on using this MOBO, but I havent received any feed back on that choice yet. It has a build in GPU and I would like to use the SLI capability on the MOBO with a new card. Also this board uses DDR3 memory but I've seen GDDR5 on some videocards and I'm not exactly sure of the difference/compatibility. Lastly, I get a little nervous about all the parts/slots being compatible, I don't want to order some expensive paperweights.

Thanks everyone.

 

[refillable]

Don't worry about DDR3 and GDDR5 things, because DDR3 is system memory and GDDR5 is graphics memory. They are different things and doesn't depend on each other and you can run them together no problem.

The motherboard is compatible, and if you are worried about onboard graphics, just make sure you plug the monitor cable to the card, not the motherboard. Because if you put it or plug it to the motherboard the system would boot to the integrated graphics. So when you plug in the cable from the monitor to the card the system would boot to the graphic cards. And one more thing, if you don't have the kind of cable of your monitor in the card, get yourself a suitable adapter for you.

For a mid-range gaming system I'd recommend 6850 or GTX 460 1GB and above. Get the GTX 460 because you said you are a geforce fan .

 

[bluesteak]

Thanks for the reply. Even when I go monitor to card will I still be able to use my build in gpu? One of the categories I used to select the MOBO was having HDMI, but I guess that wasnt so important as long as the videocard has it, correct?

 

[refillable]

Yes, most video card now should provide HDMI in it. Just check in the specification or details of the graphics card you will buy whether it has HDMI or not.

 

[s9y143]

almost every new card has HDMI or mini HDMI u dont worry i suppose u are not going to buy AGP one

 

[bluesteak]

s9y, not gonna lie, all you did was confuse me haha.

So I'm thinking either EVGA 01G-P3-1361-KR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card from newegg

OR

EVGA 01G-P3-1363-KR GeForce GTX 460 SC Video Card - 1024MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), 2x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x Mini-HDMI, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot, SLI Ready from tigerdirect

Also I can get the first one on tigerdirect for $10 cheaper.

 

[bluesteak]

Going with the second link.

 

[refillable]

Yeah, it should be good with you. Tiger Direct has free shipping so it would be cheaper.

 

[bluesteak]

Thanks for your help!

 

[refillable]

Your welcome! Good Luck and have a good day .