Video Cards are one of the most important components when it comes to a computer. There is a lot of information about it. However you need to think about what you are using it for. Are you just going to surf the web? Are you going to game with constant stress on your PC? What about video editing or audio processing? Think about choosing the right graphics card for the activity you are using it for. When it comes to buying a card, look for which manufacturer it is (either AMD or NVidia) and overall performance. 

For $249.99 on Newegg, The MSI Geforce GTX 1660 Gaming X is a great video card for the mid range gaming. Passmark give this card a score of 10985. Which is above average.

• 1408 Cuda Cores
• Core Clocks: 1860 MHz
• Memory Speed of 8 Gbps
• 6GB GDDR5 Memory
• 192-bit Memory Bus
• 3 DisplayPort v1.4 and 1 HDMI 2.0b outputs
• Supports GDCP 2.2
• Power Consumption of 130 Watts
• 1 8-pin power connectors
• Dimensions of 247 x 127 x 46 mm
• 2 Cooling fans
• Does not support Sli (not needed for a beginner)
• Weight of 845 grams
• Supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.5
• Max Resolution of 7680 x 4320

This Card really shows the power when it comes to the price. Sure it might put a tiny dent in your wallet, but the outcome is worth it. 

 Note: This review is part of a classroom project. 

When buying a video card there are several things that you should take into account before making a purchase.  One of the most important parts of buying a video card is knowing what you are going to use your computer for. Whether you are an avid gamer or just someone that likes to browse the internet,  or somewhere in between, that might impact how much you spend on a video card. Some other things you should look at before purchasing a new video card is; whether it is AMD or Nvidia, overall performance, memory and bandwidth, and CUDA cores. There are many other things that will impact the performance of the video card, but those are some of the basics you should be looking at. 

If you enjoy gaming, then the Radeon RX Vega 64 is the video card for you. For just $419.99 on Newegg, gamers of all ages will get a video card that meets all of their needs. Passmark gave it a great score of 28.23. It has plenty of memory with 8GB. It also is very fast as the memory clock runs at 945 MHz. It has triple fans so your video card is almost guaranteed to not malfunction. With the performance of this video card, you are almost guaranteed to not regret this purchase of the Radeon RX Vega 64. 

Specifications 

Memory: 

Effective Memory Clock- 945 MHz, 1900 MHz Effective
Memory Size- 8GB
Memory Interface- 2048-Bit
Memory Type- HBM2

Chipset:

Chipset Manufacturer- AMD
GPU Series- AMD Radeon RX VEGA Series
GPU- Radeon RX Vega 64
Core Clock- 1373 MHz
Boost Clock- 1580 MHz
Stream Processors- 4096 Stream Processors

Ports: 

HDMI- 2 x HDMI 2.0b
Multi-Monitor Support- 4
DisplayPort- 2 x DisplayPort 1.4

Details: 

Max Resolution- 5120 x 2880
Eyefinity Support- Yes
Virtual Reality Ready- Yes
Cooler- Triple Fans
Operating Systems Supported- Windows 10 and Windows 7
System Requirements- Power Consumption: 240W

So now you just have to decide if this is the card for you. If you ask me, I would say yes! This is a can’t miss deal. With all that the Radeon RX Vega 64 brings to the table, I don’t know how you could pass up this offer. With a great price and great performance, this video card is a great option.

  Note: This review is part of a classroom project. 

Works Cited:

It is very hard to know which graphics card to buy anymore. Every single year there can be as many as 6-7 new cards come out. This can be hard to keep up with, especially as an average consumer who doesn’t know much about these kinds of things. One thing is for sure though, the Radeon VII graphics card is a steal for someone around the $700 budget. 

What makes this card so great? This card almost preformed as well as the Nvidia RTX 2080 and is over $100 less. The Radeon VII is also very good for future proofing, this card will run any game that you throw at it like nothing so you might not even need to replace it for another 5 years. 

Now lets look at these specifications

• Clock Speed- 1750 MHz
• Memory Speed- 1000 MHz
• Memory Size- 16 GB 
• Interface- 4096 Bit
• Stream Cores- 3840
• Direct X 12 and open GL 4.5
• 7680 x 4320
• 3 Fans
• 3 Display Ports
• 1 HDMI 2.0
• PCIe x16 3.0
• Supports Crossfire
• 2 x 8 Pin Power Connectors
• Max. Memory Bandwidth-1024 GB/s
• 2 Slot Card

When we get down to it, is this card worth it? My answer would be yes! This card will perform well in all that you throw at it at a decent price. Most cards with this price range will not reach the level of performance that this card will. This card would be a fantastic buy for anyone in this budget and cannot go higher for a 2080 or 2080 TI.

If you are interested in buying it it will cost $699.99 and can buy it here.

Also there are several reviews to say so as well.  

S.N.

“Good temps
quieter than some say it is (or mine at least)
16gb HBM2 (although games may never use it)
Clocks great so far (only had it a day so didn’t do no extensive testing)”

Note:  This review is part of a classroom project.

Work Cited:

“World’s First 7nm Gaming GPU | Radeon™ 7 Graphics Card.” AMD, www.amd.com/en/products/graphics/amd-radeon-vii.

“GIGABYTE Radeon VII.” Newegg, Newegg, www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814932126&Description=radeon%2Bvii&cm_re=radeon_vii-_-14-932-126-_-Product.

When it comes to video cards there is a lot of information to understand. The question is not only what does that term mean but what does it do? That is why this will easy to read and informative. The video card that I am talking about costs just a hair less than my $500 budget,  just $499.99 on newegg. That may seem like a large amount of money to a child or a young adult out living by themselves, but that is just part of building computers. Building computers can be built cheap, but not if you want to have a computer to play the latest game at top quality. Don’t stop here and think ” well this guy must have a huge amount of money to work with”. As much as I would love to yes to that, I won’t lie I have to budget just as much as the next person. For this project I had a few hundred dollars to work with, and this is the card that I found, The Gigabyte Geforce RTX 2070 Windforce. Now I know some might say that it is a bit extreme for many games which is true, but doesn’t mean I don’t want to limit myself by wimping out ,and getting a card that is not as good just to save a few dollars. 

Now not to confuse people I am going to try and make the description of the card specifications easy to understand by not throwing out a bunch of confusing terms that some may not know (like those who are reading this just to learn somethings to look for when buying a graphics card or cards for family members like a teenage son or daughter that is a gamer). First is the core clock speed, or how fast the GPU (Graphics Processing unit ) goes. The GPU for those that do not know or do not understand this is like the CPU, it is the brain of the video card the fast it is the better it handles loads of information in big games that have some really high quality graphics. Cards GPU speeds are measured in Hertz, cards now days are upwards of 1400 MHz, but this card comes in at 1620 MHz which to say is not bad for those playing games with high quality graphics. It also has 2304 CUDA cores which is like MHz, the higher the better. 

Along with a good GPU it also has multiple monitor or T.V. ports, while most know what HDMI or USB ports are but, gamers also use what are called “Display ports”. They are like HDMI ports (they look different though) but, they are a little less known if you don’t already own a monitor or T.V. that has a port, connecting wire and something that uses said connecting wire. This card is equipped with one version 2.0 HDMI port, three Display ports, and one USB type C port (looks like a plug in for charging a phone). 

Now the memory, also known as VRAM or video RAM. Its just like RAM except on a video card for processing through video. The faster the memory goes, the more information per cycle (bits), and more VRAM all helps with better performance of your graphics card. This card has a memory speed of 14000 MHz (which is plenty), 256 bits (which also is helps with memory per cycle), and 8 GB of VRAM ( more means generally better processing of information). Finally the newer that version of memory the better, this card comes with GDDR6 which is the latest and greatest. 

The connector for the card itself is a version 3.0 x16 slot which is commonly found on gaming motherboards. If you buy this product please check with you motherboard manufacturer that it will fit in your computer.  Also with this computer is the three cooling fans (this is why its called Windforce). Plus it also uses Directx 12 and OpenGL 4.5 which are programms that help with 3D graphics. This card supports up to 4 monitors at one time for a multi moniter view.

Finally SLI and what it is and does. SLI is NVidia’s version of a connector for two graphics cards. A lot of gamers use this to run more monitors with better graphics. Many will use this to combine two graphics cards to work like one better to a point. Here is the one thing card does not do is support SLI. this means that even if you wanted to you cannot connect two of these cards together.

That is all that I have to say about this card. I hope for those who are looking for a good card find what they are looking for. If  what I told you helps great, if not, well im not sure what to tell you other than to wish you luck or find someone to help you to understand the information above. If you’re trying to find a Graphics card for your family member of friend I would suggest talking to a friend you trust that happens to be a computer repairs person. If you don’t happen to have a friend that knows anything about computers, read a couple more blogs or watch a few educational youtube videos on computer hardware. So good luck and have a nice day.

Be Aware: This is part of a school project.

Citations      – “Robot?” Are You a Human?, www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814932091.