Which card? Must be energy efficient, quiet, light gaming only

[tfboy]

I'm at a bit of a quandry. Latest cards just seem vapourware. I don't want to spend a fortune as I hardly game at all - I'm still on Half-life 2 and Far Cry 1 if I really push the boat out!

Current PC has a Ryzen 7 2700 with 16GB RAM.

What I want / need is multiple monitor with 4k resolution support. Energy efficient and quiet (passive an option, but choices appear very limited and unavailable).

So far, I've been using an extremely old passive Geforce 7600 GS but I'm now having artefacts in W10 and is so old with an ancient DX level it doesn't work with modern software. I also have an old GTX560 with 1GB which is faster and more recent, but I'd like something more energy efficient if possible (and quieter).

Bearing in mind nothing seems available, at least at the higher end, I really don't know what's best.

Suggestions?

TIA

[kalniel]

The latest gen aren't great on energy efficiency either (yet). I'd go for a Pascal generation Nvidia card - there are several passive 1030s with GDDR5 available for about £70 new, or look for a 1050ti/1060 (non-passive) second hand perhaps.

[Zhaoman]

The 1650 is still the most powerful slot powered card you can get at the moment. I was expecting nvidia to announce the 3050 but they haven't yet so who knows when that will arrive and if it will be slot powered. Second hand slot powered 1050, 1050ti or 1650 is probably your best bet for something frugal and quiet that can still game.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

A GT1030 should do the trick.

[Duckboy79]

I would pick up a HD 7850, you'll probs get a 7850 OC 2GB for about £40-50 used.

[kalniel]

I would pick up a HD 7850, you'll probs get a 7850 OC 2GB for about £40-50 used.

Apart from it not being at all energy efficient for the (now very low) performance?

[tfboy]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
As availability is really limited right now, looking at what was available, I've gone for a Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti which seems reasonable priced. Yes, it has a fan and not passive, but three display outputs, up to 8k resolution and still being under 80W with no extra PCIE power connectors seems to offer efficient power consumption, especially when not gaming.

[Zhaoman]

Great that you found something. If you're really looking for energy efficiency then best thing to do is to use MSI Afterburner and undervolt it as well. You can easily apply a 100mV undervolt with no difference to performance which should give around 5-10 degree reduction in temps depending on your fan curve. You can then tweak your fan curve to run more silently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUkPAVcb9Xc
Guide for Nvidia cards start at around 8:40

[Duckboy79]

Apart from it not being at all energy efficient for the (now very low) performance?

Yeah but it still trashes the 1030. and they can undervolt and overclock like crazy.

[Padcontrol]

GPU prices are just crazy at the moment. Out of stock and thanks to the mining boom. The nVidia 1030 is fine for your needs to be honest.

[beebub]

The latest gen aren't great on energy efficiency either (yet). I'd go for a Pascal generation Nvidia card - there are several passive 1030s with GDDR5 available for about £70 new, or look for a 1050ti/1060 (non-passive) second hand perhaps.

I'd agree with this if only for light gaming say @1080p. Great bang for buck and really quiet. Now the loudest thing in my current system (other than me typing on my mech keyboard) is my PSU fan which I've found very annoying! Spend that extra saved money on a high wattage corsair PSU that has passive mode for near silence (like I wish I had done)

[Ampersand79]

If you CAN get hold one one, the latest Ampere generation 3 slot cards can run very quiet if you under-volt them. Those meaty heatsinks can allow you to run 30-40% fan speed which is almost unnoticeable.

Look into the MSI Gaming X Trio, EVGA FTW3 or SUPRIM series. Some cards even have no fan bios configs.