What do you have to carefully read when buying a graphic card?

[jdjinn]

Hi,

I´m a beginner here and just found that there are way to many model for each graphic card for example the gtx 1070.

here in this page you find 23 models of it: http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966937+4294854051+4294852533&NTX=&NTT=&NTK=all&page=1&sortby=pricelow

Are the quality of 1070 graphic cards of asus, gigabite, MSI etc... different? if yes, which are considered to be the best?

I just don´t understand many of the infos there, so I asume the more/higher the better it is, but may be I´m wrong. can you correct me where the more/higher is not the better  ?

And the parts I really don´t get are in bold.  What should I expect in those topics?

 

I really could be grateful, if you could help me to better  understand what I should have in mind to buy the best option or advice friends. 

 

Thanks

Chipset
Form Factor	Standard
GPU Manufacturer	NVIDIA
GPU Chipset	GeForce GTX 1070
Overclocked	Yes --> if yes, better?
Core Clock Speed	1556MHz --> the higher the better?
Boost Core Clock Speed	1746MHz --> the higher the better?
Maximum Digital Resolution	7680 x 4320 --> the higher the better?
Maximum Analog Resolution	4096 x 2160 --> the higher the better?
Max Monitors Supported	4 --> the higher the better?
Memory
Memory Type	GDDR5 --> the higher the better?
Memory Clock Speed	8008MHz --> the higher the better?
Video Memory	8 GB --> the higher the better?
Memory Bus	256-bit --> the higher the better?
General
VR Ready	Yes  --> if yes, better?
OpenGL Support	OpenGL 4.5 --> the higher the better?
DirectX Support	DirectX 12 --> the higher the better?
Shader Model Support	5.0 --> the higher the better?
Multi-GPU Support	NVidia SLI --> What is this? (is it important while buying a graphic card?)
HDCP Support	Yes  --> if yes, better?
3D Ready	Yes  --> if yes, better?
Cooling	Fan --> no bad, isn´t it?
Features
Features	NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready; NVIDIA CUDA Technology; NVIDIA PhysX Technology --> What is this? What features should be the best?
Connectors
DVI	2 x Dual-Link DVI-D ---> the more the better?
HDMI	1 x HDMI --->  the higher the better?
DisplayPort	1 x DisplayPort the ---> higher the better? (which connector is better?)
System Requirements
Supported Windows Operating Systems	Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16 --> What is this? (is it important while buying a graphic card?)
Thermal & Power
Power Supply Requirements	500 Watt Power Supply ---> the more the better?
Power Connectors	1 x PCI-E 8-pin ---> the more the better?
Physical Specifications
Width	Dual Slot ---> the more the better?
Package Contents
What's in the Box	Gigabyte GV-N1070IXOC-8GD Video Card
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts	3 Years
Labor	3 Years

[Praesi]

One simple rule,  more and higher is always better. Not temps if course.

[ThinkWithPortals]

26 minutes ago, Praesi said:

One simple rule,  more and higher is always better. Not temps if course.

Or price. Or power consumption. Or physical size. Or decibel readings.

[Enderman]

1) get one with a 2-3 fan cooler

 

2) get one that looks good to you

 

3) get one that's not expensive

 

That's pretty much everything. You can ignore the specs because they are all the same card and will all perform the same on average.

[ELSknutson]

With the new 1070 and 1080 cards there is very little difference in how they will preform. so I would look at things like Warranty, size, Looks, reviews and what kind of case you will be putting the gpu in.  Now the 1060 is a different story there are 2 versions ones a 3GB card that is shaved down a bit and there is a 6GB version 

[Hero7750]

Make sure it fits in your case

[Armakar]

  There's not really a smallprintb you need to read, just make sure it suits your needs.

Look at benchmarks that will tell you everything you need to know about performance.

Make sure it has a good amount of VRAM so it's  good for the future,v  and make sure it has sufficient cooling for you and fits in your case.

[MEC-777]

Pick the one that best suits your budget and looks good to you. That's all that really matters. Quality and performance is all on par with each other, for the most part. EVGA has notably excellent warranty/customer care, from what I've heard.

[NinjaJc01]

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

1) get one with a 2-3 fan cooler

 

2) get one that looks good to you

 

3) get one that's not expensive

 

That's pretty much everything. You can ignore the specs because they are all the same card and will all perform the same on average.

But do check reviews.

[Techicolors]

just get one that looks fine to you and performs well. 

 

- 3 fan air coolers perform a bit better than 2 fan air coolers. AIO coolers perform the best. you can also find waterblocks but that's something different

- some cards come with extra power connectors for more OC headroom

- some cards come with BIOS switches, but that's meant for heavy overclocking

- some cards come with RGB LEDs

- some cards come with backplates 

- ignore factory OC. just overclock yourself 

 

8 minutes ago, jdjinn said:

NVidia SLI --> What is this? (is it important while buying a graphic card?)

allows you to run more than one NVIDIA GPU in a single PC

 

9 minutes ago, jdjinn said:

NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready; NVIDIA CUDA Technology; NVIDIA PhysX Technology --> What is this? What features should be the best?

don't worry too much about these

 

10 minutes ago, jdjinn said:

1 x DisplayPort the ---> higher the better? (which connector is better?)

preferably Displayport but HDMI or DVI are fine too

 

 

[Praesi]

2 hours ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

Or price. Or power consumption. Or physical size. Or decibel readings.

Who the Hell cares about Power Consuption? And the rest are no technical specs. And i want my cards as big as possible.

[Mira Yurizaki]

48 minutes ago, Praesi said:

Who the Hell cares about Power Consuption? And the rest are no technical specs. And i want my cards as big as possible.

I guess you like having your computer being a space heater and sounding like a jet engine while idling.

[Praesi]

6 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I guess you like having your computer being a space heater and sounding like a jet engine while idling.

1. No

2. What has this to do with anything?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, Praesi said:

1. No

2. What has this to do with anything?

Power consumption is related to heat, which is related to how hard your cooling system works.

[typographie]

3 hours ago, jdjinn said:

 

Chipset
Overclocked	Yes --> if yes, better?
Core Clock Speed	1556MHz --> the higher the better?
Boost Core Clock Speed	1746MHz --> the higher the better?
Memory
Memory Clock Speed	8008MHz --> the higher the better?
General
Cooling	Fan --> no bad, isn´t it?
Connectors
DVI	2 x Dual-Link DVI-D ---> the more the better?
HDMI	1 x HDMI --->  the higher the better?
DisplayPort	1 x DisplayPort the ---> higher the better? (which connector is better?)
Thermal & Power
Power Connectors	1 x PCI-E 8-pin ---> the more the better?
Physical Specifications
Width	Dual Slot ---> the more the better?
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts	3 Years
Labor	3 Years

A lot of stuff you listed are just features of the GPU chip itself, and therefore they do not vary between the different third-party card vendors. I've cut those out and left only the things in your list that might differ between products.

 

In the order I quoted (and pardon my wall of text):

Some cards are overclocked from the factory. Nvidia has a reference clock speed for each card, and the third-party companies can increase that if they choose to. That means that one card may run at a slightly higher core and boost clock than another. But those factory overclocks are usually quite modest, and you can generally do your own overclocking that blows past any deficit one card may have. It's less common, but the memory clock speed may be overclocked as well.

 

Another difference between third-party cards is the cooler they attach to them. But that being said, the GTX 1070 is a pretty damned efficient card, and the big, powerful coolers designed by Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI and so forth are all more than adequate to keep it cool.

 

Individual cards may have slightly different configurations of output ports. 2 DVI-D, 1 HDMI, and 1 DisplayPort sounds like the reference specification, but another card may have more or fewer of each. DisplayPort is "the best one" in terms of feature support and technological progress, but it's more relevant to pick a card that has the ports you need for the monitor(s) you intend to use. I have two DVI monitors and one VGA (!!!) monitor, so the number of DisplayPorts isn't a big factor to me.

 

Additional PCIe power cables could theoretically have a positive effect on overclocking, by allowing the GPU to pull more power. But chances are you'll hit some other obstacle trying to overclock a GTX 1070 before the power limit becomes a factor. Modern Nvidia cards tend to be heavily restricted by voltage, and in my experience that's what will probably determine your max overclock. Most 1070's seem to overclock to about a 2000–2100 MHz boost clock regardless of whether they have additional power or not.

 

Most mid-to-upper tier video cards today are dual-slot. Single is more of a specialty/novelty feature meant for very small form-factor systems. Dual is not necessarily "better," but it does imply that the cooler is big and powerful.

 

Warranty is potentially a big factor in choosing a card. The third-party companies offer their own warranty. Most offer at least a 3 year warranty, but some may offer 5 or more. In addition to the raw number of years of coverage, some have better reputations for customer support. EVGA in particular is well-liked for reliable service.

[ThinkWithPortals]

1 hour ago, Praesi said:

Who the Hell cares about Power Consuption? And the rest are no technical specs. And i want my cards as big as possible.

1: People where electricity isn't cheap, which is a not-insignificant area.

2: Doesn't matter.

3: You've clearly never built an SFF PC.

 

[Praesi]

26 minutes ago, ThinkWithPortals said:

1: People where electricity isn't cheap, which is a not-insignificant area.

2: Doesn't matter.

3: You've clearly never built an SFF PC.

 

1. Ridiculous

2. You missed the whole Topic.

[demonaii]

What I would look for is the hardware specs and compare it with older generations to see if there is any improvement. Also ''looks'' don't matter that's just beauty from the eye of the beholder.