Making sense of Graphics card specs

Walker34

Hi,
Im looking at upgrading a graphics card at the moment and am trying to understand the bewildering array of data or marketing ......data(for want of a civil word) that is being presented in Dabs and other sites.

The two cards I am looking at are the "Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 1032MHz....€358" and the "Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 980MHz ....€417". The expected relationship between core clock speed and price seems to be reversed in this case. What are the important things to look at when choosing a card.? It used be simple....core clock speed and memory size. Has this changed or is it still the same. How do I choose a good card......just look for the dearest one and pick that......or is there some cunning way of wading through the.....data..... and reaching a rational decision.
TIA John

Sarz91

Take a look at this post by Eboggles about 13 posts down. It depends what your running ie: single or multi monitor setup.

Procrastastudy

There are many factors when considering a GPU. Its probably just easier to tell us what you're using it for and get opinions on them.

What Resolution do you use for games?
What games do you play?
Do you use professional Applications (such as for video editing CAD) if so which?
Budget?
Current PC spec?

Walker34

Hi,
it looks like its down to a Radeon 7970 3gig or a GTX680 4Gig at this stage.......€500 is the absolute max budget,and that means bread and water till Christmas. I want something that will do for a few years.

Procrastastudy

a 4870 will do you for years if you're just watching large chested ladies wash cars. 'Future proofing' isn't about buying the best its about buying the most suitable.

At a guess - buy a 660Ti or a 7950 or if budget permits a 670.

Procrastastudy

To answer your origonal question - you cant really go on spec alone but some things to look for:

GPU - e.g. Kepler GK104 Tahiti or what ever
Core Speed - Mhz
Memory Speed - Mhz
Memory bus width 192bit, 256bit, 384bit
Memory size GB

Then you need to look at what features the card has.

AMD - Overclock well
nVidia - Great features such as adaptive vSync

weisses

Also you have the different type of coolers and is very important regarding overclocking noise levels etc ... Also look at warranty's given with the different makers when buying

500 euro will get you a good card but depending on what you are using it for you could end up buying a cheaper card that is future proof as well

Sarz91

People tend to think that a more expensive card = more FPS. They forget that if you have 4x SLI gtx 670's and a 60hz screen the max you'll see is 60fps. Your cards might be running at more than 60fps granted but 60 fps will be the most the screen can display. 60 FPS on a 1920x1080.

weisses

Sarz91 wrote: »

People tend to think that a more expensive card = more FPS. They forget that if you have 4x SLI gtx 670's and a 60hz screen the max you'll see is 60fps. Your cards might be running at more than 60fps granted but 60 fps will be the most the screen can display. 60 FPS on a 1920x1080.

Unless you have a 120 hz screen of course

Sarz91

weisses wrote: »

Unless you have a 120 hz screen of course

Ye. The frequency of the screen dictates the maximum fps that you'll be able to see.