So for the first time I'm looking at replacing my video card in earnest. I got a basic prebuilt desktop a few years ago before I'd had any real knowledge in selecting parts for a new system piecemeal, and while it seems pretty well suited to my needs so far, the graphics card is a huge bottleneck compared to everything else. With a friend's advice, we put together a list of parts for my fiancee and got her a great rig that's been handling anything we throw at it at max or near max settings, 60 fps, 1080p. Mostly it's been slightly older games, but some current stuff has been running great and we love it. Problem is, we've now moved in together and I'd rather not have us have to switch seats everytime I want to play Bioshock Infinite or Far Cry 3, and being able to play Borderlands 2 together with nice settings for both of us is appealing for obvious reasons.
I've already figured I want the 650 Ti since it's the same one we got her and it suits our budget, and I'm confident in the rest of my computer's components that I'll be able to run things well. I've already accounted for getting another power supply, but the major issue I'm facing is I have no real idea how different brands really differ when it comes to video cards. Why choose ASUS, Zotac, Gigabyte, etc., over another?
I'm basically looking at this list and my eyes are glazing over while I keep wondering why I shouldn't just grab the cheapest one in the list there. I'm sure there's some reason, but I haven't really been able to discern one so far other than some of them offering free gifts and others not.
http://www.ncix.com/search/?categoryid=0&q=gtx+650+tiTL;DR: I want a new video card but I don't know why I shouldn't just pick the cheapest version of the model I want.
Thanks!
Posts
I don't know too much about the other differences, it kind of varies from card to card and requires more active research
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127731&nm_mc=OTC-sho6b0tCA&cm_mmc=OTC-sho6b0tCA-_-Video+Card+-+Nvidia-_-MSI-_-14127731
Power Supply: http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_442&item_id=040841
My thoughts are to get the card shipped since it'll be the best deal I've found especially considering Newegg has a $10 off for new customers promo going on which effectively makes shipping free for me, and I'll be swinging by a storefront near my place to pick up the power supply.
EDIT: On second thought, given the poor reviews of the one I noted I may go with this Antec model instead, with the consideration that my entire setup is estimated to take up about 430W.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_442&item_id=036731