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Started by wertie8297 | | 22 answers
What Graphics Card Should I Choose?
I recently got an Intel Xeon E5-2470v2 out of an old server box that I got from a bin (Score), and I need a graphics card. I intend on using the computer for gaming, and if possible, recording. The type of games I would like to play are DayZ and Battlefield 4. As cheap as possible but also with good performance (I don't mind if it's something like $500, just as long as it's worth the money).

Thanks,
wertie
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May 23, 2014 2:22:16 PM

photonboy said:
BF4 and Mantle:
1) AMD does not "crush" NVidia. It varies quite a bit and basically works better when the CPU is relatively weak. Some of the numbers I saw were as low as 10% improvement (same AMD setup not compared to NVidia).

2) There were also some problems with MANTLE and I'm not sure what the state of this is now.

3) Finally, NVidia has been doing DX11 optimizations and getting better performance out of some games including BF4.
http://www.maximumpc.com/nvidia_takes_mantle_enhanced_d...

"It then provided these specific numbers comparing a GeForce 780 Ti vs. an R9 290X on Mantle:

StarSwarm - 16% faster

Battlefield 4 - 12% faster

Thief - 7% faster"


Probably closer to the truth: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/180088-nvidias-questi... A motley crew of deceivers they are and some of the extra performance in 337.5 is coming from the fact that nvidia has upped the boost frequency in drivers for all their cards... again, and increased the gpu max temps before it will throttle, which people are reporting as overheating and higher running temperatures for their cards.

I don't believe for one second those supposed "benchmarks" especially if they aren't using 64 player multiplayer servers. I've compared multiple BF4 videos I've made to those with nVidia cards. Running Mantle, even the 780ti has a hard time beating my $300 280x.

Not impressed.
GTX 780ti 337.50 drivers w/comparable pc hardware, BF4 Golmud Railway "Optimal settings" (assumed to be Ultra)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEUa3PEEI-I

My 280x BF4 Golmud Railway Ultra Settings Mantle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpUGy6vMAjo&feature=you...

  1. Battlefield 4 Frame Time Analyzer Results:
  2. File imported: C:\Users\****\Documents\Battlefield 4\FrameTimeLog005.csv
  3. Branch #1 executed.
  4. Imported 31349 points of data.
  5. Frames: 0 points of bad data tossed.
  6. CPU Frames: 0 points of bad data tossed.
  7. GPU Frames: 0 points of bad data tossed.
  8.  
  9. Frame Time Avg CPU Frame Avg GPU Frame Avg
  10. 88.32 FPS 88.292 FPS 92.276 FPS
  11.  
  12. Max FPS Max FPS (CPU) Max FPS (GPU)
  13. 182.149 FPS 200.401 FPS 182.482 FPS
  14.  
  15. Min FPS Min FPS (CPU) Min FPS (GPU)
  16. 49.826 FPS 32.404 FPS 53.533 FPS
  17.  
  18. Time Spent: FPS %: FPS %(CPU): FPS %(GPU):
  19. Above 200 FPS: 0 % 0.19 % 0 %
  20. Above 144 FPS: 1.43 % 1.87 % 1.95 %
  21. Above 120 FPS: 5.14 % 5.4 % 7.91 %
  22. Above 100 FPS: 20.58 % 21.06 % 27.57 %
  23. Above 90 FPS: 41.79 % 40.35 % 53.06 %
  24. Above 60 FPS: 99.86 % 99.77 % 99.93 %
  25. Above 45 FPS: 100 % 99.98 % 100 %
  26. Above 30 FPS: 100 % 100 % 100 %
a b 4 Gaming
a c 343 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:30:35 AM

photonboy said:
Good one.

BTW, 8GB is plenty for now and it is likely to be YEARS before a game will benefit more considering Windows can use as little as 1GB and very few games use more than 3GB.

Plus, you can always buy more in two years if you do and it should be cheaper by then.


depends on what you do, 8GB will not be enough (Gaming to extent) But other tasks (if you do any others?), no.
a b 4 Gaming
a c 343 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:29:04 AM

" AMD does not "crush" NVidia"

Changing my words, I said the R9 290 crushes the GTX 550.
a b 4 Gaming
a c 185 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:27:24 AM

Good one.

BTW, 8GB is plenty for now and it is likely to be YEARS before a game will benefit more considering Windows can use as little as 1GB and very few games use more than 3GB.

Plus, you can always buy more in two years if you do and it should be cheaper by then.
May 21, 2014 5:23:42 AM

unknownofprob said:
Monitor Samsung Series 7 24"-27" 1920x1080p, offer great viewing experience and quality products.

Graphics card, under $500, Monitor Under $390.
Ok thankyou. I have to go now, thankyou for your help

a b 4 Gaming
a c 185 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:22:34 AM

BF4 and Mantle:
1) AMD does not "crush" NVidia. It varies quite a bit and basically works better when the CPU is relatively weak. Some of the numbers I saw were as low as 10% improvement (same AMD setup not compared to NVidia).

2) There were also some problems with MANTLE and I'm not sure what the state of this is now.

3) Finally, NVidia has been doing DX11 optimizations and getting better performance out of some games including BF4.
http://www.maximumpc.com/nvidia_takes_mantle_enhanced_d...

"It then provided these specific numbers comparing a GeForce 780 Ti vs. an R9 290X on Mantle:

StarSwarm - 16% faster

Battlefield 4 - 12% faster

Thief - 7% faster"
a b 4 Gaming
a c 343 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:21:38 AM

Monitor Samsung Series 7 24"-27" 1920x1080p, offer great viewing experience and quality products.

Graphics card, under $500, Monitor Under $390.
May 21, 2014 5:19:29 AM

unknownofprob said:
yes 1920x1080 is 1080p.

1600MHz 16GB (2x8GB) of ram is a good amount to have right now, later on, 8GB won't be enough for gaming.

I live in Australia and it'll be around $200 for a good set, G-Skill Trident-X 1600Mhz 2x8GB from MSY.


Ok. So how much am I looking at for the graphics card, and what monitor do you recommend?
a b 4 Gaming
a c 343 U Graphics card
May 21, 2014 5:17:30 AM

yes 1920x1080 is 1080p.

1600MHz 16GB (2x8GB) of ram is a good amount to have right now, later on, 8GB won't be enough for gaming.

I live in Australia and it'll be around $200 for a good set, G-Skill Trident-X 1600Mhz 2x8GB from MSY.

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