Thread: Compusa 3 Day PC Sale for Custom Built PC.

Originally Posted by space.cowboy

Is it able to utilize beyond 4 cores though? Wasn't sure if it was limited in the number of cores it will use.

I don't care if you have 20 cores... if you are still going be bottlenecked with a shitty GPU.

Heavy....whats ur definition of a good graphics card?

I mean it used to be basic things like card slot type, amount of video memory, what generation of memory, fps...things like this.....am i missing something?

Originally Posted by digital

Heavy....whats ur definition of a good graphics card?

I mean it used to be basic things like card slot type, amount of video memory, what generation of memory, fps...things like this.....am i missing something?

Gumby uses the ati radeon 6950 I think and heavy uses like nividia GTX 470's in sli.


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Originally Posted by digital

Heavy....whats ur definition of a good graphics card?

I mean it used to be basic things like card slot type, amount of video memory, what generation of memory, fps...things like this.....am i missing something?

You want something that will be able to take full advantage of the latest graphics technology. At this point, I am referring to DX11. Just because a card is DX11 compatible doesn't mean it will be able to handle processing DX11 effects at a decent resolution and high detail.

Obviously, a PC gamer would want a few things...

1. Increased Detail Settings
2. DX11 effects
3. Higher (up to native) resolution
4. Acceptable frame rates

Just because your graphics card has 1GB of memory and a high GPU clock, doesn't mean it will be good for gaming. Over the past few years, graphics cards have started using GPGPU technology... This is CUDA for nVIDIA and Stream for AMD. In terms of performance, with all other card specs equal, the more CUDA cores or stream processors a card has, the better it will perform.

Do some research on the different cards available, the specs of the cards, and check for comparisons and benchmarks. There is no "right" answer when buying a graphics card, but there are many "wrong" answers. You don't have to pay an arm and a leg for a good card, but it will likely cost between $200-300 for something decent that should meet the criteria I listed above.

I am running a Radeon HD 6870. I just got it and I am in love with it. I got an XFX with a much better fan set up than the reference design. It is much quieter and cools much better. I rarely hear it. I probably would have been happy with an Nvidia 460 as well. I am no fan-boy, I just buy whatever is the most bang for the buck when I get a new card. My last card was a Geforce 8800 GTS (512) that was awesome price/performance in its day. Tom's Hardware regularly compares video cards at different price tiers for the best dollar spent in each tier. Check it out at Best Graphics Cards For the Money: March 2011 : March Updates

will do.