Which Graphic Card do I buy?

[jesseprior1]

Hello,

I brought a computer on ebay for around $300 a few years ago, and recently I have thought about upgrading it.

I will be using it for video games, it currently has a AMD Radeon graphic card which isnt great since it cant run most high quality games. My Motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-F2A58M-DS2.

I am not the best with computer parts, but I dont know where this graphic card is. I have 3 PCI slots and have only used the smaller one for wifi. The rest are free. So what graphic card can I get that would be abled to run most games (doesnt have to be on max graphics) and support dual monitors from $0 to $200 as I am on a very tight budget. My manual says something about it having to be a AMD Dual Graphic card although not quite sure what that means.

I was also wondering if there is a way to get 2 hdmi inputs on my computer to be used with my new 2 computer monitors as I only have a vga and dvi.

Thanks for the help, Jesse.

Photo of my motherboard: http://imgur.com/ZRGuhOc

P.S My CPU is 'AMD A4-7300 APU with Radeon HD Graphics" which leads me to believe my graphics card in installed in my cpu. After I find a graphics card and install it, how can I cancel my old one and make my new one active?

 

[IsaacCarl]

You should buy any card that you want in your price range then just buy an adapter, something like this should do it - http://miniimg1.rightinthebox.com/images/384x384/201410/nvtikj1412940375872.jpg

Although I am not sure of the performance loss, but there shouldn't be a noticeable difference. I'd recommend that you buy a cheap adapter just encase it doesn't deliver the performance you wanted and ends up being a bottle neck.

 

[jesseprior1]

You should buy any card that you want in your price range then just buy an adapter, something like this should do it - http://miniimg1.rightinthebox.com/images/384x384/201410/nvtikj1412940375872.jpg

Although I am not sure of the performance loss, but there shouldn't be a noticeable difference. I'd recommend that you buy a cheap adapter just encase it doesn't deliver the performance you wanted and ends up being a bottle neck.

Yes, I believe there is quite a bit of performance lose. But even something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011 would be perfect, although I have a good feeling that something wont be compatible with my motherboard. Even though I wouldn't need the 2 DVI inputs.

 

[xtcvv2]

What cpu do you have?

 

[IsaacCarl]

You should buy any card that you want in your price range then just buy an adapter, something like this should do it - http://miniimg1.rightinthebox.com/images/384x384/201410/nvtikj1412940375872.jpg

Although I am not sure of the performance loss, but there shouldn't be a noticeable difference. I'd recommend that you buy a cheap adapter just encase it doesn't deliver the performance you wanted and ends up being a bottle neck.

Yes, I believe there is quite a bit of performance lose. But even something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011 would be perfect, although I have a good feeling that something wont be compatible with my motherboard. Even though I wouldn't need the 2 DVI inputs.

The card you sent has 2 HDMI ports built in. Are you looking for something better or something similar? Do you play games on both monitors at the same time? If you are only using 1 monitor then the performance drop shouldn't be noticeable and you could get a card with 1 HDMI port. The 750ti will play many games at low to medium settings. What games do you play? And lastly what are the full specifications of your computer (CPU, RAM, etc)

 

[jesseprior1]

You should buy any card that you want in your price range then just buy an adapter, something like this should do it - http://miniimg1.rightinthebox.com/images/384x384/201410/nvtikj1412940375872.jpg

Although I am not sure of the performance loss, but there shouldn't be a noticeable difference. I'd recommend that you buy a cheap adapter just encase it doesn't deliver the performance you wanted and ends up being a bottle neck.

Yes, I believe there is quite a bit of performance lose. But even something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011 would be perfect, although I have a good feeling that something wont be compatible with my motherboard. Even though I wouldn't need the 2 DVI inputs.

The card you sent has 2 HDMI ports built in. Are you looking for something better or something similar? Do you play games on both monitors at the same time? If you are only using 1 monitor then the performance drop shouldn't be noticeable and you could get a card with 1 HDMI port. The 750ti will play many games at low to medium settings. What games do you play? And lastly what are the full specifications of your computer (CPU, RAM, etc)

I am buying 2 monitors both with hdmi, I thought I needed 2 hdmi outputs to link up both to my tower and want both full hd with no quality drop. Also, I dont have a hdmi input to begin with for a adapter. Hence why I need to buy one with some on it.

 

[jesseprior1]

What cpu do you have?

AMD A4-7300 APE with Radeon HD Graphics

 

[xtcvv2]

What cpu do you have?

AMD A4-7300 APE with Radeon HD Graphics

Ok, it has a AMD Radeon HD 8470D gpu in it so you would probably be better off not using the dual graphics mode which means you could use pretty much any GPU you want, as long as you have the power required to run it.

 

[jesseprior1]

What cpu do you have?

AMD A4-7300 APE with Radeon HD Graphics

Ok, it has a AMD Radeon HD 8470D gpu in it so you would probably be better off not using the dual graphics mode which means you could use pretty much any GPU you want, as long as you have the power required to run it.

Oh ok, I thought you had to use whatever the dual graphics mode was. How much power do I have? How can I check? Also how do I disable my old one once I get my new one in.m

Thanks

 

[xtcvv2]

What cpu do you have?

AMD A4-7300 APE with Radeon HD Graphics

Ok, it has a AMD Radeon HD 8470D gpu in it so you would probably be better off not using the dual graphics mode which means you could use pretty much any GPU you want, as long as you have the power required to run it.

Oh ok, I thought you had to use whatever the dual graphics mode was. How much power do I have? How can I check? Also how do I disable my old one once I get my new one in.m

Thanks

You need to check what Power Supply you have, how many watts it has etc.
After you get the new card you can disable the internal GPU from the AMD control panel, I would recommend you get an AMD graphics card since they are usually cheaper and also it won't create any driver issues between AMD and Nvidia.

 

[jesseprior1]

What cpu do you have?

AMD A4-7300 APE with Radeon HD Graphics

Ok, it has a AMD Radeon HD 8470D gpu in it so you would probably be better off not using the dual graphics mode which means you could use pretty much any GPU you want, as long as you have the power required to run it.

Oh ok, I thought you had to use whatever the dual graphics mode was. How much power do I have? How can I check? Also how do I disable my old one once I get my new one in.m

Thanks

You need to check what Power Supply you have, how many watts it has etc.
After you get the new card you can disable the internal GPU from the AMD control panel, I would recommend you get an AMD graphics card since they are usually cheaper and also it won't create any driver issues between AMD and Nvidia.

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

 

[xtcvv2]

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

Well, you need to take a look at your power supply (the thing that has a lot of cables coming from it) and see what it says on it.

A HDMI splitter would probably work, but if you want to be 100% sure, get a card with 2 HDMI ports. Also you could use 1 HDMI port and 1 DVI for example, it doesn't have to be the same type of connector to run 2 monitors, just make sure the monitors have the correct ports on them.

 

[jesseprior1]

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

Well, you need to take a look at your power supply (the thing that has a lot of cables coming from it) and see what it says on it.

A HDMI splitter would probably work, but if you want to be 100% sure, get a card with 2 HDMI ports. Also you could use 1 HDMI port and 1 DVI for example, it doesn't have to be the same type of connector to run 2 monitors, just make sure the monitors have the correct ports on them.

Yes but wouldn't the one with DVI be lower quality then the one with HDMI? It doesn't seem to expensive to buy one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011

Also I thought that the graphics card I installed had to be a specific one, as said on the manual: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/709117/Gigabyte-Ga-F2a58m-Ds2.html?page=10#manual

Although I am probably wrong.

 

[xtcvv2]

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

Well, you need to take a look at your power supply (the thing that has a lot of cables coming from it) and see what it says on it.

A HDMI splitter would probably work, but if you want to be 100% sure, get a card with 2 HDMI ports. Also you could use 1 HDMI port and 1 DVI for example, it doesn't have to be the same type of connector to run 2 monitors, just make sure the monitors have the correct ports on them.

Yes but wouldn't the one with DVI be lower quality then the one with HDMI? It doesn't seem to expensive to buy one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011

Also I thought that the graphics card I installed had to be a specific one, as said on the manual: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/709117/Gigabyte-Ga-F2a58m-Ds2.html?page=10#manual

Although I am probably wrong.

HDMI and DVI are pretty much the same thing except HDMI has other things in it aswell, like audio and ethernet, while DVI only has video. So the quality is the same.

If you want to use dual graphics mode (running both the internal GPU and discrete GPU together) it has to be a specific AMD GPU, but since your CPU is "old" I would not recommend you use dual graphics. Instead get a better discrete GPU from AMD or Nvidia, like the 750ti you linked (which is an Nvidia card that won't be able to use the dual graphics mode anyway).

Also as I said before, I would recommend you get an AMD card so there will be no problems with the drivers since you might have to keep the AMD drivers and also have the Nvidia drivers installed if you go with Nvidia.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

Well, you need to take a look at your power supply (the thing that has a lot of cables coming from it) and see what it says on it.

A HDMI splitter would probably work, but if you want to be 100% sure, get a card with 2 HDMI ports. Also you could use 1 HDMI port and 1 DVI for example, it doesn't have to be the same type of connector to run 2 monitors, just make sure the monitors have the correct ports on them.

Yes but wouldn't the one with DVI be lower quality then the one with HDMI? It doesn't seem to expensive to buy one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011

Also I thought that the graphics card I installed had to be a specific one, as said on the manual: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/709117/Gigabyte-Ga-F2a58m-Ds2.html?page=10#manual

Although I am probably wrong.

HDMI and DVI use the exact same signal, the ONLY difference is that HDMI carries audio by default whereas DVI would require an audio header connection to carry audio.

 

[jesseprior1]

Sorry, I dont know much about computers but how can I check about the power supply? And yeh AMD sounds fine, do I need two HDMI outputs for dual monitors or just one? I would like HD dual monitors.

Well, you need to take a look at your power supply (the thing that has a lot of cables coming from it) and see what it says on it.

A HDMI splitter would probably work, but if you want to be 100% sure, get a card with 2 HDMI ports. Also you could use 1 HDMI port and 1 DVI for example, it doesn't have to be the same type of connector to run 2 monitors, just make sure the monitors have the correct ports on them.

Yes but wouldn't the one with DVI be lower quality then the one with HDMI? It doesn't seem to expensive to buy one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N75TOC2-2GI-GDDR5-2GB-2xHDMI-Graphics/dp/B015E9VDC0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455454434&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A5779426011

Also I thought that the graphics card I installed had to be a specific one, as said on the manual: http://www.manualslib.com/manual/709117/Gigabyte-Ga-F2a58m-Ds2.html?page=10#manual

Although I am probably wrong.

HDMI and DVI are pretty much the same thing except HDMI has other things in it aswell, like audio and ethernet, while DVI only has video. So the quality is the same.

If you want to use dual graphics mode (running both the internal GPU and discrete GPU together) it has to be a specific AMD GPU, but since your CPU is "old" I would not recommend you use dual graphics. Instead get a better discrete GPU from AMD or Nvidia, like the 750ti you linked (which is an Nvidia card that won't be able to use the dual graphics mode anyway).

Also as I said before, I would recommend you get an AMD card so there will be no problems with the drivers since you might have to keep the AMD drivers and also have the Nvidia drivers installed if you go with Nvidia.

I cant seem to find a AMD card that has 2 hdmi outputs, so I guess the Gigabyte one will do. Will the 750 be abled to run most high quality games? Rust, DayZ etc.

 

[xtcvv2]

I cant seem to find a AMD card that has 2 hdmi outputs, so I guess the Gigabyte one will do. Will the 750 be abled to run most high quality games? Rust, DayZ etc.

It will be able to run them yes, but not on the highest settings.