How old can you go?

GothicWombat · August 19, 2022

I was in the market for a new system (my first in a while) and got this one planning on using onboard video until I came across a good deal on a video card. Well my friend has offered me the best deal and is willing to gift me a video card as soon as he upgrades to a 1080gtx (via gift as well).

My question is, how old of a video card can you use and still get noticable benefits over onboard video with a modern cpu? Surely at some point power consumption and heat output will outweigh any performance gain in most games, right? I haven't heard back on what exactly the card I'll be receiving is and I am truly grateful and appreciative of the gift regardless, but it got me wondering more than anything

RONOTHAN## · August 19, 2022

4 minutes ago, GothicWombat said:

My question is, how old of a video card can you use and still get noticable benefits over onboard video with a modern cpu?

The fastest iGPUs (Vega 8 on a 5700G) are still slower than a GT 1030. The iGPU in an Intel system is even slower than that. Most mid range GPUs made within the last 10 years will be leagues ahead of whatever the iGPU will crank out.

I'd aim to get something still getting driver support (I.E. avoid HD 7970s, GTX 760s and stuff like that), but basically any GPU you can find will be an upgrade of the integrated graphics.