Question about video cards. [Archive]

Port66

06-25-2013, 18:22

Taking a break from moving in the rain to eat. OK so I know computers and software . I can read the reviews but I like the opinions of you guys.

I have a good i5 with 4gb of RAM . I know I could add some but I am wondering about video cards. I currently have I think a nvidia 520. It works OK but stutters on eve on the 24 inch and I want to add another client and screen making it 3-4 screens with 3 eve clients. I got an email on the nvidia Gt 670 and it seemed nice but costly. I have a nice card at work but it lags on 2 clients when my current 520 doesn't really.

So should I upgrade the PC first then the card ? And what card not too expensive would work. I am wanting 4 HDMI but can't find them cheap.

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iamthesgt

06-25-2013, 20:00

You want 4 HDMI connections? That's not going to happen. No card can drive that many. If you want 4 outputs simultaneously, you'll need 4 DisplayPort out or 2 video cards. The i5 is a decent processor (although it does depend on which specific model you have. Can you specify?), but 4 GB of RAM is going to bottleneck. I'd bump it up to 8GB-RAM is cheap these days.

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iamthesgt

06-25-2013, 20:07

As for the specific graphics card, I'll have to look more into it. I've seen some comparisons recently but I'll have to look then up tomorrow.

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Port66

06-25-2013, 22:34

iamthesgt

06-26-2013, 06:58

Ok so dvi connections ? I may need to build or buy a better machine to make the hdmi happen. I can up the ram its 64 bit windows 8 . The current pc was a perk from work.

I got an ad for the gtx 760 I need to check the specs. .

GTX 760? or 670? There is difference there. Look here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600315498%20600311820&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-130-937%5E14-130-937-08%23%2C14-130-926%5E14-130-926-08%23&percm=14-130-926%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24 for a comparison of an EVGA 670 to an EVGA 760. From my research, the 760 is very similar to the 670. Benchmarks place the 760 slightly below the 670, but it also comes in significantly cheaper.

No, DVI connections are limited as well (usually 2). But you can't add 2 HDMI to 2 DVI, because an HDMI port is basically DVI+audio, so there's a limit on the total numbers of DVI and HDMI ports (The reason is that the video card has only two timer units to power two DVI/hdmi outputs, respectively). Thus if you want more than 2 monitors, you need a card with DisplayPort, and then an active DisplayPort-to-DVI or HDMI adapter, or use a splitter (which are often pretty expensive).

iamthesgt

06-26-2013, 06:59

I forgot, here's the card hierarchy chart: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

And look through each page of this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html (actually page 1 of the above link). They put out some recommendations on cards by value.

Port66

06-26-2013, 13:20

I have been swamped today I will check the sites when I get off work and done moving more furniture,

I checked I have a dual Quadro NVS 420 that might work, if I up the RAM. It will do 4 DVI since its 2 cards.. see this is my problem, I can design websites, SQL, run spreadsheets, kill viruses and do disaster recovery, but Video cards seem to escape me. here are the specs on the card.

GPU Specs:

CUDA Cores
16

Form Factor
Small Form Factor

GPU Memory Specs:

Memory Size Total
512 MB ( 256MB per GPU )

Memory Interface
128-bit ( 64-bit per GPU )

Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec)
11.2 GB/s per GPU

Display Support:

DisplayPort**
4

Single Link DVI-D *
4

Maximum Display Resolution Digital @ 60Hz
2560x1600***

Active Display Channels
VHDCI (1)

Feature Support:

Shader Model
4.0

OpenGL
3.0

Microsoft DirectX
10

NVIDIA CUDA Architecture
http://www.nvidia.com/content/includes/images/product_detail_template/checkmark.gif

Thermal and Power Specs:

Maximum Power Consumption
40W

iamthesgt

06-26-2013, 14:26

Realize that the Quadro line is professional-oriented. That means it's specifically optimized for those doing rendering work usually. That card seems ok, but if that's not what you're doing, seems pricey to buy it just for 4 outputs. I'd really go with a cheaper GeForce card (that would give you better performance for everything else), and get some active DisplayPort adapters. DP is the future, seriously. Or if you insist on DVI, get a pair of cheaper GeForce cards like some GTX 650s (~$150 each)

Port66

06-26-2013, 16:57

I have the card already sitting in my desk. The PC was donated to my work without ram. And the processor is old. So I stole the card and am recycling the PC.

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Port66

06-26-2013, 16:58

Since its business grade I wasn't sure it was up for gaming

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iamthesgt

06-26-2013, 17:19

Oh, well if you already have the card then you'll probably be fine. It will play games, just not near as well as a GeForce will.

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Port66

06-26-2013, 19:09

Well. As soon as I find another house I can upgrade to a geforce. But I will add the ram. That might be what's causing the slow down now .

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Stavictus

06-26-2013, 19:29

Definitely would go with more ram. The quattro does not game well so definitely will want to go radeon or geforce. I personally would go radeon but I am also an ATI fan.

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Stavictus

06-26-2013, 19:31

Wow 4 displays. That takes a lot of juice.

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iamthesgt

06-26-2013, 19:39

Well. As soon as I find another house I can upgrade to a geforce. But I will add the ram. That might be what's causing the slow down now.

How many DIMMs does it support?

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Port66

06-26-2013, 21:07

cheap board only 2 slots.

Stavictus

06-27-2013, 05:36

If I remember correctly tri channel is what the Intel chips like best and perform best with.

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iamthesgt

06-27-2013, 06:02

If I remember correctly tri channel is what the Intel chips like best and perform best with.

Yeah but only if the board is optimized for it. I'd just grab 2 nice 4 GB sticks-probably cost you less than $100.

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Stavictus

06-27-2013, 06:17

Yeah but only if the board is optimized for it.

Right I guess what I was trying to point out is that his bottleneck could be, with a high possibility, the mobo.

But with money being there issue, I agree with you that more memory is the cheapest and easiest route. I can definitely appreciate that as well since I have the same problem, money.

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Port66

06-27-2013, 06:56

Right I guess what I was trying to point out is that his bottleneck could be, with a high possibility, the mobo.

But with money being there issue, I agree with you that more memory is the cheapest and easiest route. I can definitely appreciate that as well since I have the same problem, money.

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I don't have the money issue since I have none lol.

Tapatalk HD, high def ranting.

iamthesgt

06-27-2013, 07:00

Right I guess what I was trying to point out is that his bottleneck could be, with a high possibility, the mobo.

But with money being there issue, I agree with you that more memory is the cheapest and easiest route. I can definitely appreciate that as well since I have the same problem, money.

If it's fairly recent (2-3yrs), most boards won't bottleneck (much). The RAM, CPU, and GPU all bottleneck first. I think he'll probably be fine.

smoke

06-27-2013, 08:38

First - you are using two words in the same sentence that don't belong. Good and Cheap

You need to focus on what is more of a priority. Expect to pay a little bit of a premium for a good video card, whereas expect some performance issues with a cheaper video card.

2 - in terms of PC priorities, they should go somewhat in this order. (But read these somewhat like the pirates code - more like guidelines then actual rules) - by-in-large, IME- these are 99% accurate.

I have 2 evga nvidia 9800 gtx's in sli, and even being 6 years old, they still scream for the games I play, quad processor, ssd primary HDD, 8gb memory.

CPU > Video > HDD speed > Memory

smoke

06-27-2013, 08:51

Ok so dvi connections ? I may need to build or buy a better machine to make the hdmi happen. I can up the ram its 64 bit windows 8 . The current pc was a perk from work.

I got an ad for the gtx 760 I need to check the specs.

Tapatalk HD, high def ranting.

I would strong advise against w8 currently.. Stick with W7, trust me, you will thank me later..

Edit - my bad, I read this wrong.. So you got w8 as a perk from your work?

Port66

06-27-2013, 09:51

I would strong advise against w8 currently.. Stick with W7, trust me, you will thank me later..

Edit - my bad, I read this wrong.. So you got w8 as a perk from your work?

I have been on windows 8 for a year, I like it, but I use it at home and work. What limitations does it have that I havent noticed ? They gave me 2 licenses of windows 8, one for my work pc and one for my laptop, I also got a copy from a Microsoft employee, I get lucky when it comes to free business class stuff.

smoke

06-27-2013, 10:02

I have been on windows 8 for a year, I like it, but I use it at home and work. What limitations does it have that I havent noticed ? They gave me 2 licenses of windows 8, one for my work pc and one for my laptop, I also got a copy from a Microsoft employee, I get lucky when it comes to free business class stuff.

Right there "business class stuff" not synonymous with gaming/recreational stuff.
From what I'm hearing, they might not have the adoption numbers they had hoped for, and may make its way out quickly and quietly.. Like vista...

Port66

06-27-2013, 10:30

Right there "business class stuff" not synonymous with gaming/recreational stuff.
From what I'm hearing, they might not have the adoption numbers they had hoped for, and may make its way out quickly and quietly.. Like vista...

It isnt for regular users, you have to be right click happy, and the end of screen menus suck when you have multiscreens. I know 8.1 was announced in my email. I watched the video, its still the same but with some shortcuts and they fixed some errors. its like a service pack is all. maybe its a step in the changing like you said, I think its part of the Xbox one redesigning since its official release is the same as Xbox one

smoke

06-27-2013, 10:32

It isnt for regular users, you have to be right click happy, and the end of screen menus suck when you have multiscreens. I know 8.1 was announced in my email. I watched the video, its still the same but with some shortcuts and they fixed some errors. its like a service pack is all. maybe its a step in the changing like you said, I think its part of the Xbox one redesigning since its official release is the same as Xbox one

I always err on the side of caution when it comes to MS. They seem to rival their innovation equally with incompetence..

Port66

06-27-2013, 11:16

I always err on the side of caution when it comes to MS. They seem to rival their innovation equally with incompetence..

come on it makes it fun lol

I agree with you, I miss the stability of NT

iamthesgt

06-27-2013, 13:48

come on it makes it fun lol

I agree with you, I miss the stability of NT

Ha! No. Though Vista wasn't tooooo bad...Win8 is a disaster IMO.

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Stavictus

06-27-2013, 13:52

Well vista is the basis for windows 8 and windows 7 but I am not a big fan of W8. It is too smart phone like for me.

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iamthesgt

06-27-2013, 14:07

Well vista is the basis for windows 8 and windows 7 but I am not a big fan of W8. It is too smart phone like for me.

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Yeah I don't like the direction they took. I have a copy of Win 7 Ultimate sitting at home waiting for me to build a computer so I can use it.