Are you in the market for a new graphics card? Do you require assistance in making your decision? We’ve identified five key factors to consider when selecting a GPU in this tutorial.
The most crucial component in your upcoming build will most likely be your graphics card, especially if you’re a first-time builder planning on building a gaming PC. We’ve already talked about what to look for in a processor and motherboard, and today we’ll talk about how to pick a graphics card.
We’ll go over five distinct things to look for in a graphics card in this quick guide. You’ll be in a lot better position to choose the GPU that’s suited for you if you grasp these five characteristics.
1. AMD vs. NVIDIA
The first thing you should know about graphics cards is that they are only made by two companies: NVIDIA and AMD.
Despite the fact that NVIDIA and AMD are the only GPU manufacturers, they licence their GPUs to other companies. ASUS, Gigabyte, EVGA, MSI, and other companies sell their own graphics cards using AMD or NVIDIA GPUs.
On their video cards, these vendors often offer a variety of cooling techniques, clock rates, and software. While the GPUs in different resellers’ graphics cards may be the same, the cooling and software (and thus performance) can vary to some extent.
Which company makes the best graphics cards?
It’s crucial to note that if you don’t care about supporting one manufacturer over another (as some people do) and only care about performance, price-to-performance will be the most important consideration in deciding which graphics card to buy.
NVIDIA presently has the superior value graphics cards across the board, in my opinion, at the time of writing this post.
However, video card prices fluctuate regularly, and graphics card performance is divided into several categories. NVIDIA-based video cards will provide you with a higher price-to-performance ratio in some tiers. In other tiers, you could find that an AMD-based video card offers the best price-to-performance ratio.
As a result, there is no single answer to the question of which GPU manufacturer is the best. It all depends on your budget and the deals/sales that are available when you want to get your graphics card.
Which Graphics Card Reseller is the Best?
You could be wondering which graphics card reseller gives the best video card in addition to who is better amongst AMD and NVIDIA.
The truth is that the majority of well-known video card resellers provide excellent possibilities.
So, the answer to the question of which reseller makes the greatest graphics cards is identical to the question of who is superior between AMD and NVIDIA: it all depends on current costs.
The consumer graphics card market is now in a state of chaos. Crypto miners have decreased the supply, causing prices to skyrocket. However, video card pricing for individual GPUs were continually fluctuating even before crypto mining affected the market for video cards.
On select days, an EVGA GTX 1060 6GB graphics card can be found for $299. The identical card may rise to $329 the next day, but Gigabyte’s GTX 1060 6GB graphics card has dropped to $289.
Furthermore, pricing may vary greatly from one merchant to the next, especially if one is having a bargain.
As a result, shopping around and comparing prices is a good idea.
Here’s a list of the top video card resellers.
- ASUS
- EVGA
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- Zotac
- Sapphire
- XFX
If you’re on a budget and have already decided on a GPU, it’s a good idea to go with the lowest option from the brands listed above. It’s possible that the more expensive choices feature superior cooling or a quicker clock rate. The performance difference between a base model and one with a faster clock rate or better cooling isn’t necessarily that significant in real-world situations.
You can spend extra if you have more money and want a higher-end cooler. If you don’t have a lot of money, the most expensive option will save you some money. You can either save the money or spend it on something else.
2. What Games Do You Enjoy Playing?
The type of games you play will also influence your graphics card selection.
This principle states that if you play graphics-intensive games, your graphics card should be faster.
League of Legends, Dota 2, Minecraft, and other games will all demand a faster GPU than The Witcher 3, PUBG, and Battlefield 1.
You can save money by purchasing a lower-cost entry-level graphic card if you just play less-demanding games.
If you plan to play graphics-intensive games, you’ll want to upgrade to a higher-end card.
3. What is your monitor’s resolution and refresh rate?
It’s crucial to consider the resolution at which you’ll be playing your games.
To render each frame on a higher definition monitor, more pixels are required. If there are more pixels to render per frame, your GPU will have to work harder.
In other words, as games are exhibited at greater resolutions, they become more demanding.
If you want to construct a gaming computer that can play 4K games, you’ll need high-end graphics cards.
If you only plan to play on 1080p monitors, you can save money by opting for a less expensive graphics card that can still run 1080p games.
It’s vital to keep in mind that you can upgrade your monitor later, but you don’t have to change your graphics card right now. This way, once you have the higher-end display, your graphics card won’t need to be upgraded to support it.
Refresh Rate
Monitor resolution is a key consideration if you’re looking for a new GPU. You’ll need to know what the refresh speed of the monitor you have or the one you plan on purchasing.
As rendering more pixels per frame can be more demanding on a GPU’s GPU, so should forcing it to render more frames per seconds.
High-resolution monitors can deliver smoother gameplay. They will make your graphics card work harder.
If you want to build a powerful computer for competitive gaming, and need a fast refresh rate monitor to give you an edge over your competitors, you will likely need a better-end graphics card with a faster refresh rate.
4. Compatibility
You need to ensure that your motherboard, processor, and motherboard all work together. Also, make sure your graphics card works with the other components.
To ensure your graphics card is compatible with your part list, here are two things to look at.
- Your power supply
- Your Case
Although there are some compatibility issues with graphics cards, they are very rare and minor. Your power supply and case are the most important components to verify that your graphics card works with each other.
Power Supply
Your graphics card will be the most energy-hungry component of your system. You need to ensure that your power supply can support the graphics card.
There are two ways to accomplish this.
The Not Quite as Good Way
- The minimum recommended wattage for your graphics card can be found on its spec sheet.
- A power supply should have more wattage than the minimum required.
The Better Way
- You can check the minimum +12v rail rating that your graphics card requires (you may use this to do this).
- A power supply with a higher rating for its +12v rail should be purchased (spec sheets are available on the PSU).
The +12v line on your power supply will power your graphics card. The +12v line indicates whether your power supply is capable of handling your graphics cards.
To avoid cheap imitation power supplies, the +12v rail can be used. Many power supply manufacturers claim to be capable of providing larger wattage ratings than they actually are. The +12v voltage rails of these low-cost power supplies are a stronger sign of their poor quality than their wattage ratings.
The +12v rail isn’t the only metric for determining the quality of a power supply. Check out our Power Supply Buyer’s Guide for the finest options in each price category.
Connectors for PCIe
The type of power supply and PCIe connection ports of the graphics cards you’re considering should also be checked.
The majority of graphics cards require a power supply connection. A PCIe connector is required to connect your power supply to your graphics card.
The graphics card PCIe power connector ports do not work in the same way. The PCIe connector will require more pins as graphics cards get more powerful. Common PCIe connectors and connectivity requirements are listed below:
- 6-pin
- Pin 6+2
- 8-pin
- 2 x 8-pin
A mid-range graphics card, such as the GTX 1060, requires a 6-pin connector.
Two eight-pin PCIe connectors may be required for high-end graphics cards like the GTX 1080 Ti.
Make sure your power supply and graphics card have the right PCIe connectors to support your graphics card before you buy them. Both the power supply and graphics card spec sheets have this information.
Cases are on sale for a limited time.
It’s also a good idea to double-check that your graphics card will fit in the case you’ve chosen and that it’ll work with your computer.
Smaller form factor cases, such as micro-ATX or mini-ITX, are more prone to this issue. It can, however, happen in smaller mid-tower cases, especially older ones.
There is a simple technique to make sure that the graphics card you want fits into the case.
You should double-check the length of any graphics card you’re considering (it’ll be noted on the specs page).
You should double-check the maximum graphics card clearance of the case you’re considering (it should be noted on the specs sheet).
Make sure the length of the graphics card you’re choosing isn’t longer than the case’s clearance.
That concludes our discussion.
5. Bottlenecks and System Balance
A typical error I find in first-time PC builders is over- or under-spending on their graphics card in comparison to the rest of their system.
A processor can be $300 more expensive than a graphics card, which costs $100. Alternatively, you may spend $400 on a graphics card and $100 on a processor.
These situations can cause a system bottleneck. This means that a $400 graphics card can’t reach its full potential when combined with a $100 processor in most applications, especially gaming.
There are some scenarios where spending more or less on your graphics card is acceptable, such as when planning an update in the not-too-distant future.
When it comes to computer design, the word “bottlenecking” is probably overused.
If you don’t have any specific reasons for overspending or underspending on your graphics card, you might try to strike a balance with your parts list to avoid causing any system bottlenecks.
This may mean that instead of paying $400 on graphics cards and $100 on processors, you’ll instead spend $300 on graphics cards and $200 on processors.
You may also need to spend less on your graphics card in order to buy a good power supply that can handle it. First-time builders frequently use a low-quality power supply in the hopes of saving money and getting a better graphics card.
This concept of “balancing” your system applies to all of your parts.
Your processor, graphics card, and RAM will all have an impact on the performance of your system. Storage on solid-state drives (SSDs) can also play an important role. If your power supply, motherboard, and casing are not maintained, you may experience secondary issues that damage your system’s performance.
To obtain a sense of how a balanced list should look, check at our pre-made parts lists. You can also contact us by email:
Gaming Computers Under $1,000
For more over $1,000, you can build a gaming PC with high-end technology.
Which GPU is the best fit for you?
The five considerations outlined above will help you determine which graphics card is ideal for your computer.
