Help Finding a Graphics Card for 3x 4k Monitors, with Light Gaming and Some AI Use - Budget $900

xNik on 02/01/2024 - 07:07
Last edited 02/01/2024 - 13:12 by 1 other user

Looking for a graphics card that will work well for 3x 27" 4k monitors. I will mostly use my computer for software design, running some AI tools off my PC, gaming (I don't game on my PC that much) and the general stuff like having 30-40 chrome tabs open, emails, word docs, excels etc. I also do not want to bottleneck my CPU.

Looking to spend no more than $900 and willing to wait for sales. I do have a white aesthetic, but with my tight budget on the graphics card, I take performance over aesthetic.

I only have my motherboard and graphics card left.
CPU: Intel i7-13700k
Memory: DDR5 64GB
Storage: 2x 2TB SSD
PSU: 750W

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  freefall101 on 02/01/2024 - 08:48

  What games do you play? And are you expecting to play them at 4K? Not sure if light means basic games or just not often.

  Also what AI work? Specific tools will usually have recommendations on GPU memory requirements.

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    xNik on 02/01/2024 - 09:01

    I usually play random games here any there on my PC, like Minecraft, Overwatch, City skylines. I would like to play them in 4k.

    For AI, mostly stable diffusion and GPT's.

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      samyall on 02/01/2024 - 09:14

      I dont think you'll hit the VRAM requirements for SD and GPTs for under $900. These models often require huge amounts of VRAM to the point where you are probably better off renting GPU time in the cloud.

      Any reason you want to run these locally?

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  Look Up on 02/01/2024 - 10:02

  Looking to spend no more than $900 and willing to wait for sales

  Random games + SD + LLM = minimum NVIDIA 40 series 12GB card

  By the end of this month, the 4070 Super 12GB, 4070 Ti Super 16GB and 4080 Super 16GB will have been announced

  Games and SD right now work fine with 12GB but LLM's are tight without 16-24GB

  By Feb, these will be your options:

  4070 12GB $900
4070 Super 12GB $1000 TBC
4070 Ti 12GB $1200
4070 Ti Super 16GB $1300 TBC
4080 16GB $1800
4080 Super 16GB $1900 TBC
4090 24GB $3000

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    DustyAfternoon on 03/01/2024 - 04:02

    Only thing I’d add is, I’d consider a 3060 12GB for the low end. I think second hand ones were going for $400 ish last year. Truly a bizarre card, with such a high VRAM at such a low price point. It clearly wasn’t released with the AI explosion in mind.

    It might struggle to run some games on max settings at 4k, especially without using DLSS, but for OP’s list of games, it’ll do fine. Overwatch isn’t taxing, Minecraft isn’t GPU limited, and Cities Skylines (2) won’t even run well on a 4090.

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  Hybroid on 02/01/2024 - 10:33

  RTX 4070 is probably the best you can get for your budget. A PNY unit will be $900, Asus/Gigabyte are more so will need to wait for deals.

  Gigabyte Windforce version is $894 from Amazon US via AU site: https://www.amazon.com.au/Gigabyte-GeForce-4070-WindForce-Gr…

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  simplystu on 03/01/2024 - 20:25

  NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB GDDR6 with ECC == $1050 … (at my local store - but may find cheaper elsewhere).
  This is a workstation based card - prob more suitable to your "work requirements" … (rather than the odd gameplay).

  It comes with ECC - which IMO (any proper work based model should include).
  If mainly doing software design / AI dedicated work (as stated) … then certainly general "home user" cards won't do it.

  [EDIT] : OP … it sounds like you need to split your usage into 2 completely different systems (esp if want to game) - as your work requirements are different to your game requirements.

  otherwise you will struggle to find something that "DOES IT ALL" - esp at such a low price point.

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  virsagomk2 on 12/01/2024 - 20:03

  Consider a used RTX 3090 instead. Plenty of VRAM to use on Stable Diffusion.