Graphic card technology advances so quickly that you better do your homework before buying. So it’s a good idea to figure out which type of graphics card will last the longest, how much you want to spend, and whether or not your computer can handle it before you lay down your money. The latter here is a key consideration because if you buy a card that exceeds the capabilities of your machine you have just wasted a ton of cash for nothing, so make sure to note your systems requirements before buying
New graphic card choices are numerous to say the least, so let’s start with some basics. For longevity, a good decision here is to find the newest graphics card and purchase the one that came before it because many of the previously released graphics cards will be less expensive and still offer similar performance as the newest products coming out.
Let’s focus on two of the newest graphic cards that have come out and look at two cards that were introduced before them. The GeForce GTX 690 from Nivida and the Radeon HD 7970 from AMD
The previous generations of those cards were Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 680 and AMD’s Radeon HD 7950. Each of these cards is extremely powerful but different in their specifications and pricing. The GTX 690 costs around $1,000 while the Geforce GTX 680 costs about $470. The less expensive options are AMD’s Radeon HD 7970 which comes in around $500 and the AMD Radeon HD 7950 at $450.
Memory:
Ram or random access memory, allows a computer to run programs, so the more memory the better, and is a key consideration in choosing a Graphics Card. The GeForce GTX 690 has 4GB of onboard memory. Even though every program on your computer uses RAM, they are using the RAM that is installed on the machine while the RAM on a Graphics Card is used exclusively for games. Most games now are using 4GB of Ram. The HD 7970 from AMD only has 3GB of RAM.
The HD 7950 also has 3GB of RAM while the GTX 680 only has 3GB. When you take the cost and the amount of RAM into account, the HD 7950 is your best bet since it is the most affordable and offers the same amount of RAM as the newest AMD card. If on the other hand you want or need to have as many programs open on your computer as possible, and would prefer that your games are not using any of your computers RAM, then the GTX 690 is a better choice even though it cost more.
Processing Power:
How fast your Graphics Card can process things is a very important consideration. The better the processing power, the faster things load and the faster your games will run. A Core Clock in a Graphics Card is what does the processing of game graphics; you better have a fast one. This is important to gamers because when you enter a game environment the textures take time to load. If you have a slow processing speed the textures found on your onscreen images will take a few seconds to appear. This may not be an issue for some gamers, but if you are one of the impatient ones you most likely will not even want to wait that long. In the few seconds that a slower graphic card will take you will not be able to do anything in the game which is not a good scenario.
Now for the numbers, the GTX 690 has a core clock of 915MHz. The GTX 680 has 1019MHz, the HD 7970 has 1375MHz and the HD 7950 has 1250MHz. With these kinds of numbers it makes our decision easy. The GTX cards are no match for the AMD cards in terms of processing power. If you want speed and a low price the HD 7950 still looks like the best. It’s just seconds faster but it is much more powerful than the GTX 680 and is the least expensive of the four options.
Power Needs:
How much power does it take to run your Graphics Card? If this factor is not taken into account you could find out that your computer does not have enough power for your new graphic card which means you would have to spend another couple hundred dollars on a new power supply so make sure to check the specs on the power supply before buying. Both the HD 7970 and the HD 7950 require 500 watts so the vast majority of people will not have to worry about the power supply of these two cards.
The GTX 680 will also be no problem only requiring 550 watts. The GTX 680 however needs 650 watts. Although this generally isn’t a problem for most users it could be an issue if your computer does not have an adequate power supply for this application.
In our opinion the HD 7950 is your best bet when it comes to the power supply while the GTX 690 doesn’t seem all that appealing despite it being Nvidia’s newest card.
Card Size:
This may seem like an obvious consideration but is often overlooked. If it’s to big physically it won’t fit in your computer, period. So let’s run down the dimensions of these cards. The HD 7950’s dimensions are 11.02” X 4.72” and the HD 7950 is 11.4 X 5”. The GTX 59 is 11” X 4.38” and the GTX 580 is 10” X 4.38”. These cards will fit in an average computer case; however, it is still important to check the size of your computer case when buying any graphics card to make sure the card you have selected will fit. None of these cards will work in a laptop.
All Things Considered:
GTX 690: 4GB of Ram, 915MHz of processing power, requires 650 watts of power, is 11”X4.38” and costs $1,000.
GTX 680 has 2GB of RAM, 1019MHz of processing power, needs 550 watts of power, is 10” X 4.38” and costs $470.
HD 7970 has 3GB of RAM, has 1375MHz of processing power, needs 500 watts, is 1.02” X 4.72” and cost $500.
HD 7950 has 3GB of RAM, 1250MHz of processing power, needs 500 watts, is 11.4” X 5” and cost $450.
Add up all of the criteria and the GTX 690 is two times more expensive than the second most costly card, has the least processing power and requires the most power. Although it may have enough RAM to run any game by itself it would be much cheaper to buy a few 2GB RAM sticks for $30 each rather than spend $500 more on this card. So out of the four cards we reviewed the HD 7950 comes out on top. Yes it is number two in RAM and processing power and is the largest card of the bunch but the price is what makes it stand out. New graphics cards come out every year or so and usually don’t have too many power increases and are always much more expensive that the previous generation which makes this card the most cost effective. It’s a solid choice if you don’t want to buy another graphics card for a few years. A word of advice though, keep your eye on new games that are being released because once the graphics become too much for your card you will want to think about upgrading your graphics card.
If you have had experience with any of these cards we would love to hear what your experiences have been. Leave us a comment.
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