Originally Posted by termhn
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I have that card (well, the 5770, which is the same card minus Bluray support), and it is QUITE good. 18 months after purchase, and I am STILL able to run pretty much every game on max settings.
Pretty much any of the other cards recommended in this thread are a league or two above what Walmart stocks. But to explain it a little more, here's what the numbers in a card's name mean:
The first number usually refers to the architecture generation (e.g. NVidia's 400 series are the 4th generation of the modern GeForce architecture). All cards of a given generation will have generally the same microprocessor layout and design at their core. However, the numbers that follow specify how many other bells and whistles are attached. The second number(s) is(are) frequently representative of the main processor's capability - clock speed, communication pipelines, etc. The higher this number (typically), the more option boxes were ticked on the card, and the more capable it will be. The last number is representative of any addons the card may have outside the main silicon processor - such as extra memory (beyond the design specification), or maybe extra fan coolers or power optimization options (NVidia cards also tend to add letters like GTS or GTX or Ti). The price for a card is determined first by its generation (NVidia 400, 500 or 600 or AMD Radeon 5k/6k/7k), then by how capable the card is within that generation (580 GTX vs a 560 Ti or 6850 vs 6770).
The latest generation of NVidia cards that is just barely starting to hit the store shelves is the GeForce 600 series. So although a GeForce 520 is the last generation card, the 20 in 520 means that it is the most basic one (or almost basic one) in the lineup - you get the cheapest, most bandwidth-starved processor NVidia makes. It may be enough to run the games that are out today, but it will already struggle with anything that comes out tomorrow. In most situations, even Intel HD onboard graphics will be better, and if you go the SandyBridge/AMD Fusion route, you'll get even more performance for the price. Thus the advice is to take that card out and buy one of the other cards recommended in this thread.
2012-04-12, 10:30 AM
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