What should I look at when choosing a graphics card?

[jcho1103]

Hello guys hope everything is going great

This is my second computer that I'm going to build myself, and the last computer I put together was a studio build so I didn't have to worry much about the video card. However, now I'm trying to build a light-gaming PC for my house and trying to decide which graphics card to get is lagging me down

I did a bunch of research and decided what to buy except for the video card.
For the video card, the more research I did, the more questions I ended up with I'm hoping you guys can answer them.

First, what exactly is a memory bandwidth(interface)? is there a huge difference between 128 bit and 256 bit?

And what is the difference between the same GPU but sold from a different manufacturer other than the slightly different factory overclocked core clock speed? I've heard that the coolers were somewhat distinguishable with each manufacturer but does that make that much of a difference? I don't want to go over $180 so if it doesn't have a significant difference, I'm just going to get whatever is cheapest.

Finally, from my googling and researching I landed on two video cards that got my interest (these are my researches so please keep in mind that I have very little knowledge on video cards, and only relied on benchmarking youtube channels and specs I got from the manufacturer's website).

AMD Radeon R7 370 (4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Nvidia Geforce GTX 750 Ti (2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Are these cards worth my money?
If I were to buy one of these two, which one should I get? Is the $50 worth it to spend on the 370 over 750 Ti?
Benchmarks on youtube and all the websites out there gives me mixed opinions so I wanted to ask you guys for a discussion.

I know these are a lot of questions, I really appreciate you guys for helping me out. Thanks in advance

[Hackentosher]

I think the 750ti or a 950 would be a better deal. What are you using the computer for?

[jcho1103]

6 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

I think the 750ti or a 950 would be a better deal. What are you using the computer for?

Nothing special, just any other home computer - web surfing, light gaming, music, etc.

Here are some games I want to play with the new video card.

League of Legends, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb raider

[Hackentosher]

Just now, jcho1103 said:

Nothing special, just any other home computer - web surfing, light gaming, music, etc.

Here are some games I want to play with the new video card.

League of Legends, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb raider

Yeah a 950 should be fine.

[ivan134]

Get a gtx 950.

[jcho1103]

I see...yes I guess the 950 is a better deal.

So about the other question I asked, whats the difference in the same graphics card, but from a different manufacturer?

I just looked it up the 950 on amazon and newegg they have so many versions of it

[Moonzy]

11 minutes ago, jcho1103 said:

what is the difference between the same GPU but sold from a different manufacturer

stock clock, cooling performance, acoustics, and looks

if you're overclocking, the clock speed depends on your luck

as for cooling performance, it will only vary a bit from manu facturer to manufacturer unless its a different category (SFX, full size, or hybrid)

acoustics is a selling point for some cards, though i dont find that there is much difference

looks is the most important point for me because im a sucker for looks lol

 

13 minutes ago, jcho1103 said:

what exactly is a memory bandwidth(interface)? is there a huge difference between 128 bit and 256 bit?

its just the amount of "lanes" your gpu can communicate to your memory modules with

higher bandwidth = more data can be transfered

it does matter but it all boils down to how the manufacturer uses it

ie, nvidia have 128-bit bus on the 960(?) but there is a technology that compresses data to compensate for it so theres that

 

15 minutes ago, jcho1103 said:

Are these cards worth my money?

yes and no

yes = they will perform decently in modern titles in low settings in 1080p

no = not going to provide a good gaming experience, at this moment, the GTX 970, and 980Ti as well as the R9 390 is at the best performance per dollar sweetspot

while the 970 and 390 is at the sweetspot for the price for a GPU, so those are the best buy for now

 

5 minutes ago, jcho1103 said:

League of Legends, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb raider

LoL will run well even wih the iGPU of skylake chips lol

but the other 3 games will require a beefy gpu for decent settings and decent framerate

 

i recommend getting an r9 390 or 970, if you're playing at 1080p

980Ti for anything above 1080p

[Hackentosher]

Just now, jcho1103 said:

I see...yes I guess the 950 is a better deal.

So about the other question I asked, whats the difference in the same graphics card, but from a different manufacturer?

I just looked it up the 950 on amazon and newegg they have so many versions of it

Warranty, cooling, sometimes memory configuration, in higher end cards binned chips. You'll be fine with an EVGA card or any of them really, but EVGA is the most popular for good reason.

[Raspharus]

Get a 950. Or even better get a 960 its only a bit more cheaper than a 950.

[jcho1103]

Ok I've decided to go with the GTX 950, I found one for $150 which is perfect for my budget. I searched for the 960, but I couldn't find one under $180 and like I said I don't want to go over that. Thanks a lot guys for your help!!

[FishTea]

9 minutes ago, jcho1103 said:

Ok I've decided to go with the GTX 950, I found one for $150 which is perfect for my budget. I searched for the 960, but I couldn't find one under $180 and like I said I don't want to go over that. Thanks a lot guys for your help!!

If you can find a 380 around ~180ish is much better than the 960 or 950

[jett473]

9 hours ago, jcho1103 said:

I see...yes I guess the 950 is a better deal.

So about the other question I asked, whats the difference in the same graphics card, but from a different manufacturer?

I just looked it up the 950 on amazon and newegg they have so many versions of it

various different coolers, clock speeds, etc. it's really just small things that as a first time buyer you don't really need to bother with.

 

would you be open to suggestions from us on which model to get, or would you rather us explain differences and you pick one out yourself? (I mean this completely in a serious manner, I don't wanna just say, "YO GO FOR THIS ONE" when you asked such specific questions on your original post.)

[jett473]

2 hours ago, jcho1103 said:

Ok I've decided to go with the GTX 950, I found one for $150 which is perfect for my budget. I searched for the 960, but I couldn't find one under $180 and like I said I don't want to go over that. Thanks a lot guys for your help!!

which one did you get, out of curiosity?