Suggest a graphics card for 5 - 7K Budget max..

[elangoas]

Hi All,

Below is my PC config..

Mother board - Intel DG33FB
Processor - Core 2 Quad 6600
RAM - 8 GB DDR2 (800 Mhz)
Hard Disk - 4TB ( 2TB x 2) Seagate
Power supply - Corsair VS 550
OS - Windows 7, 64bit

Requirement - To connect to my Sony 46 inch FHD LCD thru HDMI.

Purpose - Movies, music, browsing, web games, youtube..

I had Zotac Nvidia GT 610 (2GB Synergy edition), recently concked off {No display output on HDMI (or) VGA }.. This is out of warranty now & so i can't claim it..

Now that i have already used Zotac GT610 for more than 2 yrs, wanted to move up the chain a little...

Plz suggest a graphics card upto 7K max.. Purchase will be thru offline/online.. (Targeting Christmas/new year sale) in India... Basically any good deal...

 

[manniraj]

Look at this as well as other similar ones on some other online sites. Good for both video and also decent games I think. I use the GT440 series since more than 4 years and still going strong. Definitely a big step upgrade from your existing card.

 

[elangoas]

Look at this as well as other similar ones on some other online sites. Good for both video and also decent games I think. I use the GT440 series since more than 4 years and still going strong. Definitely a big step upgrade from your existing card.

Thanks Maniraj.. Slightly over my budget... However, i found GALAX GeForce GT740 on amazon.in GALAX GeForce GT740 OC Slim PCI-E 2GB DDR5 128Bit w/VGA: Amazon.in: Electronics

I believe it is same product that you suggested, but from different manufacturer.. (or) is there any difference in features?

 

[regeHA]

GT series is somewhat limited, GTX series is a better option.

However, if you don't plan to do any upscaling or video enhancement processing than even the GT series is fine. If you plan to use software like madVR or SVP then you definitely need the high end GPUs.

The GT740 in both the links above should be more or less the same, different vendors offering more enhancements like RAM, software suite, etc.

 

[guddu478]

Hi Elangoas,
If the purpose is not to do any video rendering or high end games then any card, even GT series cards, will solve the purpose

 

[rayvonnee]

WeThe GT740 looks perfect for the intended use. Only would say dont buy GALAX or Galaxy Cards, as i have read some bad reviews about its service. However you wont go wrong with Zotac, Asus, MSI, and the reputed brands.
I currently use a GTX960 STRIX from ASUS for my HT+Gaming Rig

 

[Gfreeman]

I am a little unsure of Galax as a brand. Maybe a good idea to stick with Asus, Gigabyte or MSI. Also on the AMD side you have the Sapphire R7 250 and R7 240 around the same price bracket as the GT 740 and the GT 730 . Your psu can handle all these without any problems. They are all measly with low power requirements well below the 75W pcie limit.

You could also consider 2nd hand options under warranty from quikr or PC forums (some of them are really reliable). I had an age old HD4670 which played every movie or video thrown at it for almost 6 years and i sold that off for 600 on quikr recently.

 

[elangoas]

Thanks for the pointers ppl..

Been reading up a little on GDRR5 Vs DDR3 RAM for Graphics card... Came across few articles where they said that 1 GB GDRR5 is even better than 2GB DDR3 cards...

So Zotac GT 740, 730 and Sapphire R7 240, 250 all seem to be aval with GDRR5 cards...

 

[rayvonnee]

Amd cards tend to run a little hotter than nvidia, however The VS550 PSU seems to be fine to run any AMD or Nvidia if you want a low power Graphics Card and just some casual gaming then GT740 seems ok, but AMD will win when it comes to Gaming as they are more VFM compared to Nvidia Cards and yes as pointed above, you should be fine with any of the cards as there is nothing like heavy gaming involved, Infact since GT610 was already used previously and you did not feel need for any kind of upgrade, get any card which scores high in benchmarks and at the same time, consider warranty factor, i think zotac comes with some extended warranty (2+3 Years). So you are covered more or less for 5 Years at least.

 

[Gfreeman]

Thanks for the pointers ppl..

Been reading up a little on GDRR5 Vs DDR3 RAM for Graphics card... Came across few articles where they said that 1 GB GDRR5 is even better than 2GB DDR3 cards...

So Zotac GT 740, 730 and Sapphire R7 240, 250 all seem to be aval with GDRR5 cards...

That debate does matter only for games. GDDR3 or GDDR5 is again irrelevant for movies. For games it depends on what you play. If you are playing anything which uses the 1GB VRAM buffer (and not beyond) the GDDR5 card will win hands down. Also if i play something which crosses the 1GB VRAM buffer (in case of GDDR3) it still depends on whether data can be efficiently transferred to fill that 2GB VRAM space which in turn is dependent on the other specs of the card and the speed of the memory itself

A reason also why some people don't care about higher capacity GDDR3 cards vis-a-vis lower capacity GDDR5 and why manufacturers really don't use GDDR3 on higher end cards.

 

[elangoas]

That debate does matter only for games. GDDR3 or GDDR5 is again irrelevant for movies. For games it depends on what you play. If you are playing anything which uses the 1GB VRAM buffer (and not beyond) the GDDR5 card will win hands down. Also if i play something which crosses the 1GB VRAM buffer (in case of GDDR3) it still depends on whether data can be efficiently transferred to fill that 2GB VRAM space which in turn is dependent on the other specs of the card and the speed of the memory itself

A reason also why some people don't care about higher capacity GDDR3 cards vis-a-vis lower capacity GDDR5 and why manufacturers really don't use GDDR3 on higher end cards.

Thanks for the info buddy.. But i use XBMC/Kodi to play movies and other video's...It uses the DXVA feature which i think takes help of GPU.. Still the DDR3 Vs GDDR5 doesn't apply? Could you plz enlighten me...

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Hi All,

Below is my PC config..

Mother board - Intel DG33FB
Processor - Core 2 Quad 6600
RAM - 8 GB DDR2 (800 Mhz)
Hard Disk - 4TB ( 2TB x 2) Seagate
Power supply - Corsair VS 550
OS - Windows 7, 64bit

Requirement - To connect to my Sony 46 inch FHD LCD thru HDMI.

Purpose - Movies, music, browsing, web games, youtube..

I had Zotac Nvidia GT 610 (2GB Synergy edition), recently concked off {No display output on HDMI (or) VGA }.. This is out of warranty now & so i can't claim it..

Now that i have already used Zotac GT610 for more than 2 yrs, wanted to move up the chain a little...

Plz suggest a graphics card upto 7K max.. Purchase will be thru offline/online.. (Targeting Christmas/new year sale) in India... Basically any good deal...

For the above requirements, any high end card will be overkill.

Personally I prefer Nvidia over AMD. So a decent budget of around 3-4k is enough IMHO. I also use gt610 in my HTPC. Going forward if I need to replace my card, I might buy another 610.

If I were you, I would have bought a cheap Nvidia 1gb (fanless maybe) and would have invested the rest on another hdd (maybe)

 

[elangoas]

For the above requirements, any high end card will be overkill.

Personally I prefer Nvidia over AMD. So a decent budget of around 3-4k is enough IMHO. I also use gt610 in my HTPC. Going forward if I need to replace my card, I might buy another 610.

If I were you, I would have bought a cheap Nvidia 1gb (fanless maybe) and would have invested the rest on another hdd (maybe)

Thanks for your inputs buddy..

I had suggested a Zotaz Nvidia 210 1GB DDR3 card to my friend to connect to his FHD TV.. It was struggling to support TV's native FHD resolution.. So set it to HD resolution...

Probably GT610 is least card that supports FHD resolution.. Since i had already used this for more than 2 yrs time, thought to move up a lil spec card to check if it offers any improvement for videos...

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Thanks for your inputs buddy..

I had suggested a Zotaz Nvidia 210 1GB DDR3 card to my friend to connect to his FHD TV.. It was struggling to support TV's native FHD resolution.. So set it to HD resolution...

Probably GT610 is least card that supports FHD resolution.. Since i had already used this for more than 2 yrs time, thought to move up a lil spec card to check if it offers any improvement for videos...

Any high end card won't do any good in case of video playback. So in short.... a GT 610 (3k/-) or GTX 970 (26k/-) will render same quality FHD video when a blu ray rip/disc is played back from pc.

The high end card only comes into play when high graphics processing is a necessity like advanced gaming, 3d animation etc.

 

[Gfreeman]

Thanks for the info buddy.. But i use XBMC/Kodi to play movies and other video's...It uses the DXVA feature which i think takes help of GPU.. Still the DDR3 Vs GDDR5 doesn't apply? Could you plz enlighten me...

True DXVA offloads work from the CPU to the GPU. For NVIDIA cards one can use CUVID as well. Not sure if i got it right elangoas. Apologies if so. Are you thinking of the GDDR3 memory being separate to the graphics card and as system memory because it is actually a memory chip on the card similar to GDDR5?

 

[gp_freak]

Thanks for your inputs buddy..

I had suggested a Zotaz Nvidia 210 1GB DDR3 card to my friend to connect to his FHD TV.. It was struggling to support TV's native FHD resolution.. So set it to HD resolution...

Probably GT610 is least card that supports FHD resolution.. Since i had already used this for more than 2 yrs time, thought to move up a lil spec card to check if it offers any improvement for videos...

Will advise you to buy the same GT610 if your need is limited to BD playback and TrueHD and DTS-HD Audio Bitstreaming. Any lower, they don't support HD audio and any higher, its an overkill for your need.

But, if you have lot of downloaded videos which are not encoded properly, then a higher end card can help with it.

If you want some gaming as well, then go with GTX 750 TI 2GB for 9K. Better to buy the GTX rather than the GT 730/740.

 

[elangoas]

True DXVA offloads work from the CPU to the GPU. For NVIDIA cards one can use CUVID as well. Not sure if i got it right elangoas. Apologies if so. Are you thinking of the GDDR3 memory being separate to the graphics card and as system memory because it is actually a memory chip on the card similar to GDDR5?

Thanks for the info... Apology not reqd buddy...

I think "G" in GDDRx represents the Graphics memory (Per my recent reading).. So the 1/2 GB DDRx memory is exclusive to the graphics card.. Hope my understanding is right....

 

[elangoas]

Here is one article (Video Quality Tested: GeForce Vs. Radeon In HQV 2.0) that i came across which speaks abt performance on Graphics card video quality...

Video Quality Tested: GeForce Vs. Radeon In HQV 2.0 - How Do We Scrutinize High-Definition Video Quality?

So a graphics card seems to have some influence on video playback... Am not very sure...

 

[regeHA]

So a graphics card seems to have some influence on video playback... Am not very sure...

Yes they do, any GPU is better than no GPU. Anything that takes the load off the CPU is a welcome addition.

Thing is most modern CPUs come with on-board graphics and they are often as good as entry level to mid tier GPUs. My i7 has a pretty capable GPU that works well for not so demanding PC games.

Your choice should come down to your content and how much of upscaling (if any) you want to do. You will certainly need a top tier GTX for software like madVR and even then you can only push the envelope so much. Most of the higher settings will bring the GPU to its knees.

My vote is for Nvidia, and I am a hard-core gamer. Even otherwise I use madVR and Nvidia DSR for 4K playback for content from 720p to 1080p. So Nvidia gets my vote even for video playback and entertainment viewing.

 

[elangoas]

I have collected few models of 1GB GDDR5 card around my max budget...

ZOTAC NVIDIA GT 730 2GB 2 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 6K

ZOTAC NVIDIA GT 730 1 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 6K

ZOTAC NVIDIA GT 740 2GB 2 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 9K (Lil over budget)

Sapphire AMD/ATI Radeon R7 240 with Boost 1 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 5K

Sapphire AMD/ATI Radeon R7 250 with Boost R7 250 1GB DDR5 1 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 7K

Powercolor AMD/ATI R7 250X 1GB DDR5 1 GB DDR5 Graphics Card - 7K

Plz suggest any other models that i need to consider (or) if there is really a VFM card from the above, would pick it straight...