# Which video card?



## JeffvR (May 2, 2017)

I'm not able to run my new 43" 4k monitor on 60 hertz so I'm looking for a new video card. I read that a video card (or it's drivers) might be a factor in real time DAW performance. I'm not a gamer, I just need a decent one which can run 4k and has a DVI output and Displayport. Which one's are recommended?


----------



## SBK (May 2, 2017)

Future software will be using GPU for calculations too so get a powerful one, any of Nvidia 10 series. (1050, 1060, 1070, 1080)


----------



## Tyll (May 2, 2017)

GTX 1060, 1070 or 1080? Those are overkill. I don't see music software using a GPU for calculation anytime soon. So basically all you need is a graphics card that will support 4k. The 1050 is enough for that!
Also the GTX 1050 does not need a lot of power and therefore will not heat up too much, which than again allows for very silent or even passive cooling.

You could probably even go below that, but the 1050 is a bit more future proof. For 4k 60Hz you will want at least one HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2 connector (these vary by manufacturer). HDMI 1.2 is still very common and only supports 4k at 30Hz.

The MSI Gaming X GTX 1050 has the best (most silent) coolers. The Palit KalmX is passively cooled - so it's even more silent, but you'll need a good airflow in your computer.


----------



## wst3 (May 2, 2017)

I just installed an Asus Radeon 6450 (stolen from my kids gaming computer when I upgraded it). I was surprised at the difference it made - this is not a high end card, and there is a lot to be said for letting the on-chip GPU do the work, except that it appears, on my machine, with my software, it isn't as good an idea as it first appear.

For the curious the specs are:

*GPU Model*: Radeon HD 6450
*Memory*: 1024MB
*Bus Type*: PCIe x16 Gen 2.1
*Passive Cooling*
It is not an expensive card - I paid less than $50 for it, and it has made a difference. Since it probably matters, some other system specs:

*CPU:* Intel i7-4790
*Motherboard:* ASRock Z97 Extreme4
*RAM:* 32GB - Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9
*Power supply:* Corsair CX600M 600 Watt ATX Modular
*Operating system:* Windows 10
So as of now I'm on the bandwagon (appropriate?) that says a video card can help. It doesn't have to be a big gun, and in fact a big gun might cause other problems.


----------



## Tyll (May 2, 2017)

wst3 said:


> I just installed an Asus Radeon 6450 (stolen from my kids gaming computer when I upgraded it). I was surprised at the difference it made - this is not a high end card, and there is a lot to be said for letting the on-chip GPU do the work, except that it appears, on my machine, with my software, it isn't as good an idea as it first appear.
> 
> For the curious the specs are:
> 
> ...



I don't know what you tested, but generally speaking the Intel HD Graphics 4600, which are integrated into the i7-4790 CPU should be more powerful than the Radeon HD 6450. Also I'd be surprised if the performance of the CPU suffers a lot from using the internal GPU. What have you done to test this?


----------



## wst3 (May 2, 2017)

couldn't agree more, I had the card sitting around, and I was doing some work inside the computer anyway, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was surprised myself, but projects that started to cause dropouts at low latency ran more smoothly. Not a terribly scientific test, and I did not notice a difference in the CPU usage as reported by Sonar, but the project ran more smoothly, and that's good enough for me.

If I had to hazard a guess - which I do - I really couldn't. The result is counter intuitive. Just the fact that data has to travel off the CPU to the GPU would seem to me to be a penalty.

It will be interesting to see if anything changes over time.

And to answer "what changed" - I installed a new drive cage for my SSDs. The old one was plastic, and it started to jam, and that makes me nervous... I can't imagine a drive cage could make a difference.


----------



## JeffvR (May 4, 2017)

Tyll said:


> GTX 1060, 1070 or 1080? Those are overkill. I don't see music software using a GPU for calculation anytime soon. So basically all you need is a graphics card that will support 4k. The 1050 is enough for that!
> Also the GTX 1050 does not need a lot of power and therefore will not heat up too much, which than again allows for very silent or even passive cooling.
> 
> You could probably even go below that, but the 1050 is a bit more future proof. For 4k 60Hz you will want at least one HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.2 connector (these vary by manufacturer). HDMI 1.2 is still very common and only supports 4k at 30Hz.
> ...



Thanks! I went for the MSI Gaming GTX 1050 Ti. Intalled it and updated to the latest driver. I've got 2 screens set up (1 4k and 1 HD) but the 4k display is still running at 30 fps. I can't change the maximum fps any higher, only when I select a smaller resolution. The 4k display is attached with the Displayport cable that came with the Philips monitor. Anyone has a solution?

EDIT

I managed to get it to 50 hertz by manually adding a new resolution setting. It's a big improvement already. If I try 60 hertz my screens become both black and I can't do anything except turn the power off of my computer.


----------



## Tyll (May 4, 2017)

You could try the HDMI port also. If I'm not mistaken it is a HDMI 2.0 port that supports 60hz. However, the difference between 50 and 60hz is marginal so it might not be too much hassle. It could also be a driver issue.


----------



## zolhof (May 4, 2017)

JeffvR said:


> Thanks! I went for the MSI Gaming GTX 1050 Ti. Intalled it and updated to the latest driver. I've got 2 screens set up (1 4k and 1 HD) but the 4k display is still running at 30 fps. I can't change the maximum fps any higher, only when I select a smaller resolution. The 4k display is attached with the Displayport cable that came with the Philips monitor. Anyone has a solution?
> 
> EDIT
> 
> I managed to get it to 50 hertz by manually adding a new resolution setting. It's a big improvement already. If I try 60 hertz my screens become both black and I can't do anything except turn the power off of my computer.



Hi JeffvR, the MSI 1050 Ti displayport can drive up to 60 Hz 8k or 120Hz 4k, if your Philips monitor can handle 60hz 4k (which model is it?), my best bet would be the cable. You could also use 60Hz 4k HDMI as a workaround if you have the port on your monitor.


----------



## JeffvR (May 4, 2017)

zolhof said:


> Hi JeffvR, the MSI 1050 Ti displayport can drive up to 60 Hz 8k or 120Hz 4k, if your Philips monitor can handle 60hz 4k (which model is it?), my best bet would be the cable. You could also use 60Hz 4k HDMI as a workaround if you have the port on your monitor.



Thanks! It's the BDM4350UC/00. It has both HDMI and DisplayPort so I'll check out if it makes any difference.


----------



## zolhof (May 5, 2017)

JeffvR said:


> Thanks! It's the BDM4350UC/00. It has both HDMI and DisplayPort so I'll check out if it makes any difference.



According to the manual, your monitor is capable of 4k @ 60Hz with both Displayports and HDMI. Also the cable that comes with it should handle the high bandwidth no problem...

Worth a check: go to the monitor OSD menu > Setup > DisplayPort > and make sure to check 1.2 (you have both 1.1 and 1.2 options). Same goes for HDMI (1.4 and 2.0)


----------



## JeffvR (May 5, 2017)

zolhof said:


> According to the manual, your monitor is capable of 4k @ 60Hz with both Displayports and HDMI. Also the cable that comes with it should handle the high bandwidth no problem...
> 
> Worth a check: go to the monitor OSD menu > Setup > DisplayPort > and make sure to check 1.2 (you have both 1.1 and 1.2 options). Same goes for HDMI (1.4 and 2.0)



Thanks! This did the trick . A bit silly this is standard set to 1.1.


----------



## zolhof (May 5, 2017)

JeffvR said:


> Thanks! This did the trick . A bit silly this is standard set to 1.1.



That's awesome! Yeah, you'd think they would ship the monitor with optimal settings as default, but nah, we still have to do computer forensics work ourselves


----------

