Graphics Card for Skyrim, Crysis (etc)

Ashton

2[H]4U
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Nov 13, 2004
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Yeah, I know, Skyrim and Crysis aren't exactly "cutting edge" games, but...

Currently running a 1gb Nvidia GeForce 200 (according to the official driver), and it works decently until I enter combat, then my FPS drops to single-digits... So looking at spending some Xmas cash to upgrade.

This is the main one I was looking at, since 4GB of ram is insane... but at the same time, the fact it's sub-$200 makes me worry the 4GB is purely a marketing gimmick and it will be underwhelming (though reviews seem genrally good)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130819

Was also looking at this due to the low pricetag four double my current VRAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129186

However, it seems to have some... issues... especially if you take off the manufacturer and just search for Radeon HD 5450 2GB..

(If any of you cant tell, I'm not extremely well-versed in Graphics-cards and am mainly going by the GB of VRAM, so sorry if these are n00bish questions)
 
What resolution do you game at?

1920x1080p anytime it's avalible, single-screen monitor (might upgrade to dual-screen in the semi-distant future, but dont really have the room on my desk so...)

EDIT:
Should clarify that I will lower settings so 720p (occasionally even worse if I'm desperate --- dont remember specifics and nothings reinstalled yet (HDD Failure, had to reformat)) if the framerate is jerky and the game allows, but always widescreen since it seems most games/drivers aren't smart enough to use the old "black bars" technique to use standard-screen. Prefer 1080p or 720p though
 
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Well your going to pay for Nvidia. AMD has some good sub 200 dollar cards.

here is a 2GB 660
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130967


I would stay away from any cards that have a 128 bit bus for games. Your not going to have near the performance you want. Also , just because it say it has alot of RAM on the card, does not mean it will perform well, you have to have a good GPU if your going to
get the desired performance you're looking for.

I would start looking at the GTX 650ti models and go up from there , for AMD, start out with the 7700's.
 
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Of those 2, I would go with the 640 but...

Really, for not much more money, I would look at 660 or R9-270 class cards at around the 180 mark to really be playing at 1920x1080.
 
R9-270 would be borderline overkill for those games. 660 non-ti would be fine.
 
I agree with the 660 non-ti. I was using a 560Ti with 1GB when I first started playing Skyrim (1920x1200) and I noticed a lot of stutter, especially when going in and out of buildings and dungeons. Bought a 660 for a great price and Skrim played silky smooth afterwards. Highly recommended. Yes, you'll pay more than either of the two cards you linked, but you'll have a MUCH better experience.

This is the card I have. It's not the lowest priced card, even with the MIR, but it's close and I can recommend it because I own it. It's odd to see the way prices bounce up and down on these cards. I'm pretty sure I paid around $169 after a MIR...
 
Dont mess around try a 760 2gig card and keep smiling. Ive been smiling since Ive gotten mine.
And Skyrim looks incredible.
 
Neither of the gpus you linked are worth it. You didn't list a budget but for around 200 dollars look for a 660ti or 7850 hd 2gb cards.

If you have the money then either the 7950hd, 760, or the r9 270x would all suffice at 1080 gaming.
 
Do not buy any video card with DDR3 memory (the Radeon you listed on Amazon). You're asking to be gimped.
 
Gtx 660 at the sub $200 price point, Radeon 7770 at the sub $100 price point.
 
I agree with the 660 non-ti. I was using a 560Ti with 1GB when I first started playing Skyrim (1920x1200) and I noticed a lot of stutter, especially when going in and out of buildings and dungeons. Bought a 660 for a great price and Skrim played silky smooth afterwards. Highly recommended. Yes, you'll pay more than either of the two cards you linked, but you'll have a MUCH better experience.

This is the card I have. It's not the lowest priced card, even with the MIR, but it's close and I can recommend it because I own it. It's odd to see the way prices bounce up and down on these cards. I'm pretty sure I paid around $169 after a MIR...

Your 560ti stuttered on Skyrim? Must be a VRAM issue then. My 560 (non-ti, but with 2GB VRAM) never stutters. :confused: EDIT: Unless we're talking of different things. When I think stuttering, I think of hitching - that noticeable pause when the game's swapping.
 
Yeah try playing those on an amd apu e-350 i used to play skyrim on a e-350 laptop fps varied from 3-9 up to 25-27

Get the 7770 or r7 250 or r9 270
 
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Your 560ti stuttered on Skyrim? Must be a VRAM issue then. My 560 (non-ti, but with 2GB VRAM) never stutters. :confused: EDIT: Unless we're talking of different things. When I think stuttering, I think of hitching - that noticeable pause when the game's swapping.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it was a VRAM issue. Going from 1GB to 2GB made a vast improvement.
 
Cripes, looks like I'm gonna be waiting another year or so before I can properly play these games... The rason I mentioned the NVIDIA GeForce 640 4GB was I stumbled on it on eBay for $60 and thought it might work... right now I cant afford to drop $200 on a card (really $60 is pushing it, $100 is the hard-and-fast-limit, but if it was a major improvment I'd have just cut back on some things for a while)

Thanks for all the advise, though, I'll keep this thread bookmarked and check back in around 6 months to see if the prices have fallen any...
 
It's not solely VRAM, as my GTX285 (1GB) doesn't have issues in those games maxed out.. And it's more than long in the tooth now.. It doesn't run 60FPS, but its always smooth and 30+ (haven't done Crysis in years, but Skyrim just last week). The difference is that my card was a top of the line card when I bought it, and it still shows that years later. If you buy a low-end card that's already poor performing, more VRAM wont help - don't buy a low end card with tons of VRAM.


If you buy a low end card with 4GB of VRAM, you're still going to get a shitty card, but it has lots of RAM - that doesn't help a poorly clocked GPU all that much.
Basing on VRAM is foolish, and has been foolish since the beginning (a GeForce FX 5200 with 256MB of VRAM?! BADASS!!!!!)

Buy a mid-range card with a normal amount of RAM, don't buy a low end card with tons of RAM - it will not help much, none at all if the GPU core isn't capable of pushing enough pixels to use the VRAM..
 
anything above 650ti boost or 270/270x should be good.

that 640 you posted is good for corporations (Virtual machines etc) not gaming
 
The really cheap cards with 2GB or 4GB of VRAM are for certain content creation apps like Mudbox, Mari, Maya, and MAX, where having lots of VRAM to hold large models and/or textures is more important than the speed of the card. They are irrelevant for gaming.
 
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