How to choose your graphics card

We know that one of the most important decisions you will have to make when choosing the components for your PC is which graphics card model to choose. Depending on the use you are going to make of your computer, it is interesting that you get information about the options that currently exist in the market, and thus avoid acquiring a graphics card that is not the one you need. If you want us to give you a hand with some tips, this post is for you

Where to start

The first and foremost thing is to know what you will use your PC for and, consequently, the use you will give to your graphics card. This will be very important to get an idea of what graphics card you will need, as well as other components, and to have a clear base budget. We say "base" because, as the market is nowadays, the prices we were dealing with a couple of years ago are nowhere near what they are now. As you may know, the Covid19 pandemic has affected shipments and caused high demand, compounded by a shortage of chips.

This out-of-stock situation has driven up the prices of graphics cards, as well as other components, both PC and non-PC. To this must be added the current shortage of copper foils, a further point to the increase in price and lack of stock of GPUs and motherboards

If after all this context, you are still willing to buy a graphics card, knowing how the market is, what is expected later and how the previous generation worked, is paramount

Buy what you really need

The specific graphics card model or range you should go for will depend directly on your needs and the other components you have available. It is important that you ask yourself at what resolution you want to play, if you want to do streamings, how many frames, with what resolution rate, with one or two monitors... It is useless to have an 800€ graphic, if your monitor is very limited in resolution and refresh rate, and it does not make sense to use two monitors with a basic graphic, because you will not have a good performance.

Another common mistake is to buy a processor that is too powerful or that falls short, as well as the amount of RAM memory because, maybe you do not need to put 64Gb, maybe 32Gb is enough for what you really want to do, and you could allocate the remaining budget to the graphics or another component. You have to balance the components in general, and very importantly the graphics card and the monitor, if you have a monitor with 4k resolution and a low-end graphics card, no matter how good resolution and refresh rate the monitor has, you will not be able to take advantage of them, because your graphics card will not be able to assume those conditions

Ranges of graphics cards

You must take into account that the low range of graphics cards includes basic models of up to 200€ approximately, which will allow you to play games without very high requirements, and without the maximum resolution, probably. It is also true that a MOBA will not run the same as a shooter, so it is important to take into account, as we said, your needs.

The mid-range is already a bit more ambitious, and the price ranges are usually between 300 and 400€. These graphics cards will already allow you to play at 1440p and, in combination with a balanced selection of components, if you are looking to play at a good level without the need to reach the professional range, you would not need to invest more in the graphics card

Of course, then we get into the high-end range, which includes some models that, under normal conditions and not in the current stock shortage, could be affordable even for those who don't want to do streaming or professional gaming. Now, prices have increased and it is very difficult to get a high-end graphics card at an affordable price and, in fact, both Nvidia and AMD seem to be betting on launching new mid-high and high-end models because the market needs graphics cards and there are many buyers willing to pay exorbitant prices for them

Nvidia, AMD and now Intel

According to experts, we could be forgetting about low-end graphics cards until mid-2022, and there are even some who say that we will not see models from Nvidia and AMD in this range again. However, keep an eye on Intel, which is now entering the GPU market and, according to rumors and leaks, one of the models it will bring to market will compete directly with the low-end of the flagship companies

do you need a full PC or just graphics?

Another factor that will make a difference in your choice and will surely affect your budget, is whether you want to get a new complete PC, with all or most of the components and the graphics card, or you are simply looking to make a leap in the performance level of the PC, and you want a graphics card superior to the one you currently have

Well, if you want to build a complete PC and, therefore, you need a graphics card, you may have to spend more money than you thought on the graphics card or sacrifice some of the performance you had in mind, because currently, the graphics card market is quite low on stock of the most common models, especially in the low end, mid-range and mid-high range

You would really have two options to get the graphics card you want, in case you have to make the purchase now, out of urgency: the first one would be to look for the graphics card and probably pay more for it than you should or, on the other hand, there is the option of getting a pre-assembled PC. This option may be good for you in some cases, but if you had planned a specific assembly of components, it may not be worth it because, in many cases, pre-assembled PCs have components that are not offered all or part of the information, in some cases none at all. If you opt for this option, you must evaluate very well if it is really profitable for you, depending on your intention for the PC

The most popular models of graphics cards are the 3060 and 3060 Ti from Nvidia, being the cheapest and the best value for money, respectively. However, in the current market conditions, we cannot say that they are the best option, and it is almost impossible to find them, so unless you absolutely need a graphics card, our recommendation is to wait

We hope we have given you a hand and that now you are clearer about the type of graphics card you need. Despite this, the GPU market changes daily, so if you are really looking to find the perfect graphics card for you, we recommend that you check back relatively often