Searching for Graphics Card

[daniell59]

I have been searching for a graphics card that would not exceed $200. I am leaning toward AMD being that I want it to work well in Linux. I encountered what is called a workstation card. I really don't know what that means.
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 Graphics Card

I can really use a recommendation. I wont be using it for games. If there is a less expensive alternative I would be pleased to hear about it. APUs are difficult to find and their prices have gone up.

Thanks in advance

[mastablasta]

you will use it for what? i would avoid that specialised card.

Nvidia GT 1030 or equivalent AMD. not sure what it is right now since it is difficult to find lower end AMD cards here at the moment. i think it's AMD RX550 but i am not sure.

so what does this card give you? some light gaming is possible. some new games maybe on low setting, older ones on medium or high. movies, photo editing, light video editing is possible. this range is similar to what current APU will have inside.

nvidia GT710, GT1010 or similar are mostly used only for desktop work or to play films. i would avoid them unless you are low on money and this is the type of card that will do. otherwise modern APU will usually offer more as long as you have the ram for it.

nvidia GTX 1650 or Radeon equivalent 570? 580? (again i can't check what is similarly priced) will be the entry gaming card. you can play most new games, it's a lot stronger than APU chip and will take a bit more power. but these mostly ran out here as well, since the new cards were bought by bitcoin miners and then games went for lower end cards.

i have GT730 (the older version of 1030) and i have to say it is more than i would need at the moment. i do play games, mostly older ones (CS:Go, half life, some strategy games, some old games via wine...) and some newer ones (less GPU & CPU demanding). i am mostly limited by my very old CPU. anyway so far i have no issues with the card itself. it does it's daily job well.

[daniell59]

you will use it for what? i would avoid that specialised card.

Nvidia GT 1030 or equivalent AMD. not sure what it is right now since it is difficult to find lower end AMD cards here at the moment. i think it's AMD RX550 but i am not sure.

so what does this card give you? some light gaming is possible. some new games maybe on low setting, older ones on medium or high. movies, photo editing, light video editing is possible. this range is similar to what current APU will have inside.

nvidia GT710, GT1010 or similar are mostly used only for desktop work or to play films. i would avoid them unless you are low on money and this is the type of card that will do. otherwise modern APU will usually offer more as long as you have the ram for it.

nvidia GTX 1650 or Radeon equivalent 570? 580? (again i can't check what is similarly priced) will be the entry gaming card. you can play most new games, it's a lot stronger than APU chip and will take a bit more power. but these mostly ran out here as well, since the new cards were bought by bitcoin miners and then games went for lower end cards.

i have GT730 (the older version of 1030) and i have to say it is more than i would need at the moment. i do play games, mostly older ones (CS:Go, half life, some strategy games, some old games via wine...) and some newer ones (less GPU & CPU demanding). i am mostly limited by my very old CPU. anyway so far i have no issues with the card itself. it does it's daily job well.

I will use it for surfing the web, watching youtube videos, setting up a virtual machines. I don't do gaming. I think that a 4000 series APU would serve me well, but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars without a warranty. I am wondering how a cheap graphics card would compare to the graphics of an APU.
I do thank you for your kind and informative reply.

[Yellow Pasque]

The WX3200 is a glorified RX550. It is built on the same basic core, but has a few extra features targeted for workstation users (10-bit color and such).

The RX550 is a fairly good choice for what you're looking for. The biggest drawback is lack of AV1 hardware decoding.

[ajgreeny]

I suspect for the uses that you say will put the machine to an integrated graphics system will be good enough. You do not tell us what CPU you have so it is impossible to even know if you have such hardware in your machine; what graphics do you have now and how well does it perform what you need it for?

I have a desktop and a laptop both with Intel integrated graphics and have never found playing video to be a problem whether local files from hard disk or streamed, either from Youtube, etc, or from my own Emby media-server. I can also manage video editing with openshot on both machines; it's not fast but it works.

[daniell59]

I suspect for the uses that you say will put the machine to an integrated graphics system will be good enough. You do not tell us what CPU you have so it is impossible to even know if you have such hardware in your machine; what graphics do you have now and how well does it perform what you need it for?

I have a desktop and a laptop both with Intel integrated graphics and have never found playing video to be a problem whether local files from hard disk or streamed, either from Youtube, etc, or from my own Emby media-server. I can also manage video editing with openshot on both machines; it's not fast but it works.

So far I only have a PSU, and a case.

[daniell59]

The WX3200 is a glorified RX550. It is built on the same basic core, but has a few extra features targeted for workstation users (10-bit color and such).

The RX550 is a fairly good choice for what you're looking for. The biggest drawback is lack of AV1 hardware decoding.

Newegg has the RX550 for $200. The problem is that it ships from China. (At my age, I don't know how long I can wait)Would this card give me at least as good performance as the graphics of an APU?

[rsteinmetz70112]

So far I only have a PSU, and a case.

In that case you could use an AMD APU, they can be had for a couple of hundred dollars,

• AMD RYZEN 5 3600 6-Core 3.6 GHz
• AMD RYZEN 5 2600 6-Core 3.4 GHz

Of course you could spend as much as you want.

[mastablasta]

I will use it for surfing the web, watching youtube videos, setting up a virtual machines. I don't do gaming. I think that a 4000 series APU would serve me well, but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars without a warranty. I am wondering how a cheap graphics card would compare to the graphics of an APU.
I do thank you for your kind and informative reply.

yes. you can get ASUS mini PC which comes with Ryzen 5 4500U. you need to add ram and disk (both will have to be small). they were selling the box, motherboard and CPU here for around 400 EUR. the ram that it uses is same as for laptops (so a bit more pricy). on the other hand everything is very small and consumes very little power (i think TDP is 35W).

Optionally if you have a case and PSU then something with Ryzen 5 3600 or similar intel will be more than enough for your needs. my kid has Laptop with Ryzen 5 3500U and he plays many games on it.

if you have other components selected and only need to add a GPU then definitely Nvidia GT 1030 or equivalent Radeon. it will do all you need and leave some room to do more.

[Yellow Pasque]

Newegg has the RX550 for $200. The problem is that it ships from China. (At my age, I don't know how long I can wait

Ah yes, international politics come full boil. It is a terrible time to be in the market for a GPU.

Would this card give me at least as good performance as the graphics of an APU?

Yes, but the Vega APU could actually be faster if paired with fast RAM. Again, It is a terrible time to be in the market for a GPU