The main feature that distinguishes a normal computer from a gaming computer is, of course, the graphics card. It is from it depends on how good image quality will be in the game, as well as the ability to run some modern games. So any beginning gamer, who is buying his first ever computer, should know which graphics card is better for games. Otherwise, you can make a serious mistake and either spend a large sum for nothing, or buy an insufficiently powerful computer that does not allow you to enjoy the games to the fullest.
Why do I need a good graphics card?
First of all we need to understand the function of a graphics card. Basically it’s pretty straightforward. It is needed to convert digital signal to video signal. In other words, to turn a set of incomprehensible bits and bytes into a high quality image.
Note: video card is used if you need to connect your computer to a TV set, for example, via HDMI port.
Video cards come in two types: built-in (aka integrated) and discrete. The first are built into the motherboard and are clearly not suitable for gaming computers. After all, they use the resources of the computer than limits its performance. That is why gamers are trying to buy discrete. Yes, they are very expensive – in some cases, a third of the cost of the computer is accounted for by the video card. But a discrete graphics card is self-contained, which means that it uses its own resources (often very impressive!) So the computer speed won’t decrease. It also allows you to set a high graphics settings to get the most out of the game.
The best budget graphics cards for gaming?
Not every gamer, even avid, is ready to lay out several tens of thousands of rubles for the opportunity to play your favorite games. Therefore, many people tend to buy budget graphics cards. Fortunately, in 2019, the market offers a fairly rich range of good and not too expensive solutions.
For example, AMD Radeon RX 560 4 GB can be a good choice. In general, the power of the video card is not too great – it can not be called particularly new. But manufacturers have equipped it with 4 gigabytes of video memory, which provided excellent performance.
Average games will go on it with maximum graphics settings, not slowing down at all. Even most of the most demanding can be run on medium settings, enjoying good performance. It is nice that such a purchase will cost about 10-12 thousand rubles – quite an affordable price that can be invested in the cost of a gaming computer.
An even better solution could be the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. It is without exaggeration chic graphics card at an affordable price. It will cost a little more than the previous one – about 12-14 thousand rubles. But characteristics are impressive. It is important that even under heavy loads it is not too hot, which means that the resource is spent rather slowly and the unpleasant day when the video card can fail due to overheating, is significantly remote.
Which graphics card is better for gaming?
But, of course, if you want to fully enjoy chic modern games (especially demanding shooters and sports simulators) on the big screen with 4K resolution, then you need a more powerful video card. Well, in 2019 pleased gamers with the release of really stunning models.
One of them is Palit nVidia GeForce RTX 2080. Yes, it is VERY expensive – in the region of 50-60 thousand rubles. For this money is quite possible to collect a good gaming computer. But any game, even the most demanding of those released to date, as well as those that will appear in the coming years, will run without slowing down even at the highest settings and with 4K resolution. It is equipped with 8 gigabytes of video memory, and this is the most modern format – DDR6, which is already a very serious indicator. If necessary, you can connect it to 4 monitors at once to recreate the maximum effect of presence in the game simply with a huge overview. So, if you are an avid gamer and have the opportunity to buy this brainchild of progress, do not even think about it – regret such an acquisition definitely do not have.
Note: 4K resolution is 4096×3072 pixels. Not all modern games support it, only the most demanding and, accordingly, spectacular.
If you want a powerful graphics card, but do not want to spend two or four monthly salaries, you can pay attention to Sapphire AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. Yeah, the specs aren’t that awesome, but they’re not bad. It also has 8 gigabytes of video memory and it is possible to connect the graphics card to four monitors at once for more immersion. But it won’t pull the 4K resolution – you will have to lower the quality of the picture. But it barely warms up and runs almost noiselessly. It is nice that the price varies on average from 25 to 30 thousand rubles, which makes such a purchase much more affordable.