Video Card

[tankninja1]

Looking to upgrade but I'm having some trouble on finding a new graphics card.

My current card is a 1Gb GT 720.

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Operating System:	Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit (Service Pack 1)
DirectX version:	11.0 
GPU processor:		GeForce GT 720
Driver version:		332.35
Direct3D API version:	11
Direct3D feature level:	11_0
CUDA Cores:		384 
Core clock:		967 MHz 
Memory data rate:	2002 MHz
Memory interface:	64-bit 
Memory bandwidth:	16.02 GB/s
Total available graphics memory:	4096 MB
Dedicated video memory:	1024 MB DDR3
System video memory:	0 MB
Shared system memory:	3072 MB
Video BIOS version:	80.28.56.00.01
IRQ:			16
Bus:			PCI Express x8 Gen3
Device Id:		10DE 1286 108710DE
Part Number:		2130 0004

So a couple questions:
1. Is it better to get GDDR5 of equal memory or a DDR3 with more memory?
2. The specs above are saying that the card's interface is a PCI Express 2.0, x16 lanes right?
3. Any recommendations? It is a little difficult to find cards with the older PCI interfaces. I would prefer a card that is a step up from general graphics cards but not a full on monstrosity that would require a power supply upgrade. I had been looking at several GT 730s but from what I've found they seem like they wouldn't be much of an upgrade.

[Steeps]

EVGA 02G-P4-2966-KR GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2GB - Newegg.com

Right at $200. Uses 120 watts. Recommended power supply for the system is 400W.

It would be a MASSIVE upgrade from a GT 720.

Check out the comparison:

=2896&cmp[]=3114]http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2896&cmp[]=3114

[tankninja1]

But can you really just change from PCI Express 2.0 to 3.0 without changing the motherboard?

[Rain08]

But can you really just change from PCI Express 2.0 to 3.0 without changing the motherboard?

You can't, it's on the motherboard. So if you want to have gen 3, then you have to change.

[DesmoLocke]

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[b]Bus:			PCI Express x8 Gen3[/b]

So a couple questions:
2. The specs above are saying that the card's interface is a PCI Express 2.0, x16 lanes right?
3. Any recommendations? It is a little difficult to find cards with the older PCI interfaces. I would prefer a card that is a step up from general graphics cards but not a full on monstrosity that would require a power supply upgrade.

But can you really just change from PCI Express 2.0 to 3.0 without changing the motherboard?

I'm pretty sure PCI Express is backwards compatible. My go-to recommendation for people not willing to upgrade their power supply is the GTX 750 Ti.

For $135, you get about 50 FPS in Battlefield 4 at High settings. That's pretty darn good for a card that does not require extra power from the power supply with a 6-pin or 8-pin cable.

[PLODDITHANLEY]

The 750Ti really is a great card quiet, cool, lowish power (180W on torture benchmark) and seems to give good results on all games excellent value for money, although 960 is even more economic for power.

No problems putting a PCI 3.0 compatible GPU in a PCI 2.0 slot on your mobo, 3 is overkill at the moment anyway.

Rain was thinking you wanted a PCI 3.0 slot on your mobo.

[tankninja1]

After digging a little my motherboard does have the PCIe 3.0 thus, the PCI x8 gen 3, but the card I have now has a PCIe 2.0 interface. Though I am unsure why it says x8 I would have thought it would say x16.

[Rain08]

Rain was thinking you wanted a PCI 3.0 slot on your mobo.

Yeah, that's I thought what he's trying to say.

[PLODDITHANLEY]

What is your motherboard?

PCIE 2.0x8 isn't going to be a problem either with a GTX 750(ti) or 960 or anything apparently....




Source and thanks to puget systems

[tankninja1]

>InB4 Dell

dell 0kwvt8 motherboard specs

[Steeps]

That's a pretty good motherboard. You can literally use any graphics card as long as it fits in your case and the PSU can handle it.

[ComradeHX]

That's a pretty good motherboard. You can literally use any graphics card as long as it fits in your case and the PSU can handle it.

It can have the slot for the cpu, but it didn't tell you number of powerphase.

[LITOralis.nMd]

Hah, you mean we no longer have to try to squeeze out every last drop of performance on your prior ancient rig tankninja?

The GTX 750ti is the sweet spot at that price point right now, but read this page,

Best Graphics Card Under $200 - Mid-Range GPUs

You'll need to know the specs of your power supply unit PSU here to make an informed decision.

[tankninja1]

I have a 460W power supply but I'm using all but one connector for other things, and I was thinking about using the last one for a SDD.