Anything i need to know about getting a graphics card?

[MerlinTheHappyPig]

My specs are:
RAM: 8GB
Processor: AMD 4100 quad core
3.6 GHz
Windows 7
I'm thinking of getting a Asus HD 7870 AMD Radeon DirectCU II Graphics Card
is there anything i should know?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-7870-Radeon-DirectCU-Graphics/dp/B008A1C252/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388783104&sr=8-2&keywords=AMD+Radeon+HD+7870+GHz+Edition

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Anything you should know? Well not really, the HD7870 is a very good card, runs games like BF4 on ultra with 2X MSAA at ~50 fps, Asus aftermarket options on GPU are usually silent and great with cooling

 

[MerlinTheHappyPig]

Anything you should know? Well not really, the HD7870 is a very good card, runs games like BF4 on ultra with 2X MSAA at ~50 fps, Asus aftermarket options on GPU are usually silent and great with cooling

Cool beans. so it won't be bottlenecked or anything, right? and will it need two power cables?

 

[Portuguesetechie]

If your Power source (PSU) is at least 500w it should be fine, no, that cpu shouldnt bottleneck your GPU, todays games only need a decent CPU, most processes are done by the GPU, the only problems you should have with bottlenecking of the CPU is if you try editing/recording very high quality images

 

[Onus]

Make sure your PSU is up to the task. A good 500W PSU will be sufficient.
You may also find that your CPU will bottleneck this card. That isn't necessarily bad (you might get a stronger CPU some day), but is something to consider.

 

[Jason Howard]

just make sure your psu can handle the cards power consumption.

 

[MerlinTheHappyPig]

Make sure your PSU is up to the task. A good 500W PSU will be sufficient.
You may also find that your CPU will bottleneck this card. That isn't necessarily bad (you might get a stronger CPU some day), but is something to consider.

my psu is 520W, thanks. And how much will it bottleneck it?

 

[MerlinTheHappyPig]

If your Power source (PSU) is at least 500w it should be fine, no, that cpu shouldnt bottleneck your GPU, todays games only need a decent CPU, most processes are done by the GPU, the only problems you should have with bottlenecking of the CPU is if you try editing/recording very high quality images

Thanks, man. Very helpful

 

[Onus]

It will depend on the game. Graphically demanding games (e.g. FPS), not too badly. CPU-bound games like MMOs, moreso.

 

[Snyte]

Be sure to have enough power, and space in your case.
There are a lot of cheap-made psu's out there so be careful. I would recommend you to get a 80Plus one.

 

[Portuguesetechie]

Idd, if you are playing a lot of MMO/RTS and games like that the CPU should bottleneck you, however if u play FPSs the CPU isnt that much needed