graphics

[XWrench3]

help me to understand this. we (my son and i) have been going back and fourth about graphics cards. of course, he wants a 500.00+ card, but that really is more than i can afford to spend. when the specs talk about GB of memory in the card, that is memory strictly used for processing graphics right? in my mind, that should take a big load off the memory in the motherboard. am i correct in thinking that way? or does he need a card with 4gb of memory AND >8 GB in the mom board? i was thinking that the 4 in the card, and 4 in the mom board would be pretty (not blazing) hot. i want him to have a nice system. but i do not want to have to sell something major in order to put it together for/with him.

 

[Drogos]

for gaming 8gb in the system is good. as for the 500+ card no. you can get a gtx 970 4gb for as low as $330 and that's a damn good deal. you might want to post what power supply you have and how much watt and if the pc is store bought or custom build so we can help you make the right choice better.

 

[PP Mguire]

VRAM is strictly for texture storage and does not correlate to the system RAM which stores all over types of information. If he wants to game he should have 8GB of RAM and a 64bit OS. For a GPU, that depends on the above mentioned information and budget. He may want a 500+ dollar GPU but IMO (as a parent myself) if he isn't paying for it himself or you're not made of money then he doesn't need it regardless of performance.

It also depends greatly on the game in question.

 

[XWrench3]

He may want a 500+ dollar GPU but IMO (as a parent myself) if he isn't paying for it himself or you're not made of money then he doesn't need it regardless of performance.

that is part of what i have been telling him all along. this conversation has been going on since summer vacation started last summer. at that time, i told him that i would GIVE him a push mower, AND take him to peoples homes to cut their lawn to make money. the idea was to let him EARN what he wants. but physical labor is something he wants no part of.

 

[HunterStuck]

Hi, i am his son, and the gtx 970 is what i wanted. i originally wanted the 780 before the 970 came out, but the 970 is more powerful for almost half the money... i think the 970 is good.

 

[HunterStuck]

so basically take what he said and minus 200...

 

[PP Mguire]

Ohh ho ho, that's funny, because the 970 is worth every penny lol.

But I agree with your father, although you're probably getting lake effect snow by now (if you're in that area) you should work for that amount of cash. When I was 16 I spent $300 bucks on 2GB of RAM, $320 bucks on an X-Fi Xtreme Music, then turned around and spent $400 on a 7800GS. All money I earned working on the weekends. It would be a different story if it was maybe a 750ti coming in at $140.

 

[iFargle]

^ This. I worked at my local university to make money back then. Paid summer internships.

 

[Dauntae]

Gee I WISH my father helped me make money, When I had to cut lawns I had to fix a old beat up mower to do it, The 970 IMHO is a better card anyway no matter the price and the fact I now work for a living I went for the 970 wich trades blows with the 780TI in a lot of games.

 

[HunterStuck]

haha your right i have to work for my money, and i agree about the 970 too. and yeah we are getting hit hard with lake effect snow. i just butted in because i am not stupid enough to get a 500 dollar card that is worse than one that is 300. lol