What am I looking for when buying a graphics card?

[Kragos]

Hello,

I'm wondering what is it about graphics cards I need to look for. I'm not very good with computers so I don't quite understand what sort of things to look out for when buying a graphics card, does branding matter? Do graphics cards with the same name need different power requirements? What is the different between a gtx 970 and 1070? Which numbers means it's better?

I would like some answers please, your suggestions are appreciated

 

Update: I guess as a benchmark I would like to play games at high settings 720p at 60fps, my games of choice are the witcher 3 and fallout 4.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Kragos

[JabroniBaloney]

Look up GPU benchmarks on YouTube. 

[zak rooley]

RGB!!!!

On a real note how much money are you looking on spending on a graphics card ?

[Mira Yurizaki]

8 minutes ago, Kragos said:

Hello,

I'm wondering what is it about graphics cards I need to look for. I'm not very good with computers so I don't quite understand what sort of things to look out for when buying a graphics card, does branding matter?

People's opinions will vary, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter.

 

Except Sparkle. Don't get anything from them.

 

Quote

Do graphics cards with the same name need different power requirements?

Sometimes, but not always.

Quote

What is the different between a gtx 970 and 1070? Which numbers means it's better?

The GTX 1070 has 8GB of VRAM (4GB more (I consider the GTX 970 as a 4GB card)), more shader units for performance, better DX12 compatibility, among other things.

 

As for the numbers:

Spoiler

NVIDIA has been following this naming schema, more or less:

[Performance Prefix] [Model Number/Other] [Modifier]

Examples: GTS 450, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX Titan

 

Performance Prefix was supposed to give a "quick glance at what performance tier this part is in" much like what the other companies what to do with their parts. Except after the GeForce 500 series, every model you could buy was a GTX card. As of the GeForce 10 series, every card is a GTX card.

 

Model Number followed the GPX format, then the GGPX format start with the GeForce 10 series. The highest tier cards however are simply Titan (e.g., GeForce GTX Titan Black).

 

Modifier is whatever NVIDIA thinks is appropriate to add here. NVIDIA seems to not like model numbers not divisible by 10, so if they have a GPU that's between two models, they usually stick a "Ti" on at the end.

 

Summary: Look at the model number. If it's higher, it's generally better. If it has a "Ti" at the end, it's better than the one without a "Ti".

 

As a note, NVIDIA's cards following the GPX number format were called the "GeForce [G]00 series", where [G] was the generation number (so GeForce 200, GeForce 400, etc.) After the GeForce 900, NVIDIA started using the "GeForce [GG] series", so GeForce 10 for all the 1000 series cards.

 

A note about model numbers. I will use the term GPX format to describe model numbers. Most companies have a standard way of assigning a model number and for the hardware being described, the manufacturers are good at using this. The GPX format are numbers in the model number that describe the following:

• G stands for generation of the model series.
• P stands for the performance or feature tier in the model series of that generation.
• X are SKU numbers. While they usually mean a sub tier for performance and/or features, other manufacturers use them just because.

Note that there can be any number of G, P, or X numbers in a model number. For example, a GPXX format model number means there's two SKU numbers at the end.

 

Quote

I would like some answers please, your suggestions are appreciated

Honestly, you should isolate what kind of performance you want from your games. Do you want 1080p, 60 FPS, on maximum settings? 1440p? 144 FPS? What? Once you isolate that, go look at benchmarks of various video cards to see which one meets your needs.

[HunterSkater429]

you look for a GPU firstly based off what your current CPU can support, then  go off what you need it for, like gaming (light, heavy) or if you need it to rendering, 

 

usally the bigger the number the better, but to a point, like the 10xx is the newest seriors for Nvidia, thje 9xx is the last gen, so a 1070 is better then a 970,

 

but a 980 will be better then a 1060, so bigger doesn't always mean better

[JJVGaming]

26 minutes ago, Kragos said:

Hello,

I'm wondering what is it about graphics cards I need to look for. I'm not very good with computers so I don't quite understand what sort of things to look out for when buying a graphics card, does branding matter? Do graphics cards with the same name need different power requirements? What is the different between a gtx 970 and 1070? Which numbers means it's better?

I would like some answers please, your suggestions are appreciated

This is how it goes:

 

Example: NVIDIA GTX 1070

 

the "10" means its the "10th generation" for NVIDIA while the "70" represents the level of the card. "GTX" usually means its most likely a gaming card while "GT" is either for low end or budget GPU

 

So what does this mean?

 

For example, even though GTX "1060" is a bigger number than GTX "980 ti", this does not mean its a higher performance card (spoiler alert, 980 ti is faster than 1060 )

 

Sometimes these numbers can overlap, however. For example, even though the GTX "1070" is a "70 performance" card, its more powerful than a GTX 980, a "80 performance" card. 

 

 

What will always happen though is that if two cards have the same "performance number (e.g: 50 performance), but one is a newer generation (9 vs 10), the newer generation card will always be faster

 

For example:

 

GTX 950 < GTX 1050 

 

Or

 

GTX 970 < GTX 1070

 

 

For around 10 years or so, this is the basic lineup from NVIDIA:

 

200 series, 400 series, 500 series, 600 series, 900 series, 10 series

 

While this is the basic performance for measurement from NVIDIA:

 

10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80

 

ALSO, if you see a "ti" after than name of a video card, it typically means this

 

1080 < 1080 ti

 

1050 < 1050 ti

 

TI cards are always have more performance than the card with the same performance number and generation number

 

Also, if you ever see the name "titan", avoid these cards at all cost, because they are usually only for bragging rights, and are twice as much as an "80 performance Ti card" but only offer 5% more FPS (this is usually like 1 to 5 more FPS)

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

FOR AMD cards:

 

AMD RADEON RX 480

 

AMD follows the same basic concepts as NVIDIA, the "4" represents "400 series" while the "80" represents the performance level. Also you will notice in some AMD cards, prior to the number their is usually an "r(number or letter "x")", like:

 

R9 390

 

r5 = Budget GPUs

r7 = lower end GPUs

r9 = midrange and high end GPUs

 

Recently, AMD has changed this with "rx" with all 400 and 500 series cards, so the above system doesn't matter anymore.

 

AMD from the last 10 years:

 

4000 series, 5000 series, 6000 series, 7000 series, 200 series, 300 series, 400 series

 

while AMD typically as of the 200 series and above has performance numbers of

 

30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90

 

DO note that AMD now names their highest END GPUs differently as of now, for example their latest high end GPU is called an " r9 fury X", not following the same number scheme as lower tier GPUs. There next high end GPU will follow suit most likely (will probably be called RX Vega (insert tier here)

 

[Vacras]

2 hours ago, JJVGaming said:

This is how it goes:

 

Example: NVIDIA GTX 1070

 

the "10" means its the "10th generation" for NVIDIA while the "70" represents the level of the card. "GTX" usually means its most likely a gaming card while "GT" is either for low end or budget GPU

 

So what does this mean?

 

For example, even though GTX "1060" is a bigger number than GTX "980 ti", this does not mean its a higher performance card (spoiler alert, 980 ti is faster than 1060 )

 

Sometimes these numbers can overlap, however. For example, even though the GTX "1070" is a "70 performance" card, its more powerful than a GTX 980, a "80 performance" card. 

 

 

What will always happen though is that if two cards have the same "performance number (e.g: 50 performance), but one is a newer generation (9 vs 10), the newer generation card will always be faster

 

For example:

 

GTX 950 < GTX 1050 

 

Or

 

GTX 970 < GTX 1070

 

 

For around 10 years or so, this is the basic lineup from NVIDIA:

 

200 series, 400 series, 500 series, 600 series, 900 series, 10 series

 

While this is the basic performance for measurement from NVIDIA:

 

10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80

 

ALSO, if you see a "ti" after than name of a video card, it typically means this

 

1080 < 1080 ti

 

1050 < 1050 ti

 

TI cards are always have more performance than the card with the same performance number and generation number

 

Also, if you ever see the name "titan", avoid these cards at all cost, because they are usually only for bragging rights, and are twice as much as an "80 performance Ti card" but only offer 5% more FPS (this is usually like 1 to 5 more FPS)

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

FOR AMD cards:

 

AMD RADEON RX 480

 

AMD follows the same basic concepts as NVIDIA, the "4" represents "400 series" while the "80" represents the performance level. Also you will notice in some AMD cards, prior to the number their is usually an "r(number or letter "x")", like:

 

R9 390

 

r5 = Budget GPUs

r7 = lower end GPUs

r9 = midrange and high end GPUs

 

Recently, AMD has changed this with "rx" with all 400 and 500 series cards, so the above system doesn't matter anymore.

 

AMD from the last 10 years:

 

4000 series, 5000 series, 6000 series, 7000 series, 200 series, 300 series, 400 series

 

while AMD typically as of the 200 series and above has performance numbers of

 

30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90

 

DO note that AMD now names their highest END GPUs differently as of now, for example their latest high end GPU is called an " r9 fury X", not following the same number scheme as lower tier GPUs. There next high end GPU will follow suit most likely (will probably be called RX Vega (insert tier here)

 

One of the best (in terms of information as well as structure) answers I've ever read. Well done!

[JJVGaming]

1 minute ago, Vacras said:

One of the best (in terms of information as well as structure) answers I've ever read. Well done!

Thank you sir!  

[Vacras]

17 minutes ago, JJVGaming said:

Thank you sir!  

You are welcome