Help me select a SFF video card

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Jul 14, 2005
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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
Picked up (what I thought was) a great deal on an Lenovo quad core i5 desktop, but in my haste to snag it I didnt notice that it's SFF.  Since my son wants to do some gaming, I figured I could upgrade the GPU as a holiday gift.  Currently has an an integrated 4600.
 
From surfing the web, it appears that the top two choices for SFF video cards are VisonTek and GalaxyTech.  As Galaxy is only available thru their own site (READ:  no discounts, no coupons) and VisionTek is everywhere with discounts (potential $50 off either VT at TigerDirect if I order today AND tax free), I'm looking at VisionTek.
 
I think I have it narrowed down to these two at roughly the same price:
 
V261-7772 :: VisionTek Radeon HD 7750 900549 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, CrossFire Ready, Low Profile, SFF
 
https://www.visiontek.com/images/datasheets/900549.pdf
 
and
 
V261-7752 :: VisionTek Radeon HD 7750 900574 Video Card - 1GB DDR3, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x DisplayPort, 2x HDMI, DirectX 11, CrossFire, Low Profile, Fan, Heatsink
 
https://www.visiontek.com/images/datasheets/900574.pdf
 
First impulse is to lean toward the DDR5 model (which is also $6 less than the DDR3 model).  Is there anything else I should really be noticing?  Does either GPU appear better than the other, save for the display outputs?
 
 
TIA
 

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
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Apr 11, 2006
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The DDR5 model will be faster because of DDR5 instead of DDR3.  The DDR5 version also has the 7770 version of the GPU instead of the 7750 version. (these differences are ultimately minor)
 
The one thing to notice is that the DDR5 version requires 350 watts of power, while the DDR 3 version only needs 300.  For both, you need to make sure that the existing power supply can handle the additional wattage required for either new card.  If its a budget box, it might not have that kind of capacity, and you'll have to upgrade. 
 

Stuffy McInnis

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My first go-to for deciphering graphics card alphabet soup is Tom's Hardware Graphics Card Hierarchy: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
 
They have the DDR5 version of that card as a better option. Both are pretty old cards though, being released in early 2012. 
 
For the money, I'd look at at Low Profile 750 like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127836&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10487648&PID=1800524&SID=
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Feb 22, 2004
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Small FWIW: I've got a 7770 from 2012 (small upgrade over the 7750) and it's plenty powerful for gaming. I can't max things out on "ultra" at crazy resolution but as someone who wants to play some games and turn on a lot of the fun graphical features it's still fine and should be going forward. Unless you're a hardcore gamer I don't see much reason to go too crazy over a GPU.
 

Blacken

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Jul 24, 2007
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I have a 6870 (slightly better than a 7770) and it's still okay, you'll be fine with it for a couple of years until the new normal established by the PS4/XBONE leave you in the dust.

I'm upgrading to a GTX970 because I have 3x2560x1440 and it doesn't drive multi-monitor games well, but I'm also insane.