Bezrybe: TOP-5 low-cost graphics cards of 2017

AMD A10-7800 is a quad—core desktop processor with the most powerful integrated graphics accelerator (at the moment). And so it will remain, at least until the release of AMD Bristol Ridge chips for the AM4 socket (see the article "AMD Ryzen AM4 platform: processors and motherboards"). At the same time, the A10-7800 also has a very affordable price.

The built-in Radeon R7 graphics has as many as 512 microkernels of GCN architecture. For comparison, the younger chips of the AMD Kaveri family — A8-7600 and A10-7700K — have only 384 microkernels. AMD integration gets a double performance boost from the dual-channel mode of RAM operation. Therefore, we recommend buying two half-sized RAM modules instead of one large RAM module.

The disadvantage of AMD A10-7800 is only one — a dead-end socket FM2+, for which nothing is more powerful than an overclocked A10-7890K it didn't work out. That is, upgrading a PC in the future will only work by completely replacing the processor, motherboard and RAM (from DDR3 to DDR4, see the article"How to choose RAM for a computer or laptop?"). Therefore, we recommend the A10-7800 to purchase only if you are one hundred percent sure that you will be content with exclusively non-resource-intensive multiplayer games and hits of the past years.

Intel's most powerful integrated desktop graphics is the HD 630 with 24 computing modules. Even more powerful graphics — Intel Iris Plus 640 and 650 with 48 modules — are used only in ultrabooks. The junior processor with HD 630 de jure is the Pentium G4600. But the Core i3 has an advantage over the Pentium in the form of an additional 300 MHz frequency and a promising set of AVX instructions.

The Core i3-7100 has only two physical cores, but thanks to Hyper-Threading technology, data is processed in four streams. It supports RAM of the new standard DDR4-2400 MHz, but to work at this frequency, you will need a motherboard with a chipset no worse than B250 (see the article "4+1 best motherboards for Intel Kaby Lake processors").

Despite the fact that Intel HD 630 integrated graphics are a third weaker than the competing AMD Radeon R7, the purchase of Core i3-7100 still looks more promising in comparison with AMD A10 family processors. Intel Kaby Lake processor cores are significantly more powerful than AMD Kaveri, and it will be possible to upgrade Core i3 to Core i7 in the future without problems. We recommend buying for those who plan to sit out the integration for a short time, and then buy a discrete graphics card.

The GeForce GT 1030 graphics card is the newest and youngest representative of NVIDIA's 10—series (see the article "Overview of GeForce GTX 1050, 1050 Ti, 1060, 1070 and 1080 graphics cards"). At its disposal, it received 384 microkernels; the same was the predecessor of the GT 730. But the new microkernels of the Pascal architecture are already twice as powerful as the old Kepler.

Most GT 1030 modifications are equipped with either a passive radiator or a small noisy fan, while the ASUS Phoenix has a relatively quiet 8-cm propeller. Thanks to this, it is able to work for a long time in the NVIDIA Boost auto-acceleration mode without resetting the frequency due to overheating.

The gaming capabilities of the GT 1030, as for a $80 graphics card, are impressive. It allows you to run The Witcher 3, one of the most resource-intensive games of our time, at FullHD resolution at a stable 40 FPS. And in WoT, Dota and CSGO, you can drive on it at all on ultras. Having bought the GT 1030 as a temporary solution in anticipation of lower prices for more powerful graphics cards, you may well not want to part with it for the next year or two.

Radeon RX 550 is the most affordable graphics card based on AMD Polaris architecture (see the article "Overview of AMD Radeon RX 550, 560, 570 and 580 graphics cards") and a direct competitor to the GeForce GT 1030. It costs about $100, which is more expensive than the GT 1030, but also offers a little more features.

In games on the old DirectX9, 10 and 11 engines, the frame rate of the RX 550 and GT 1030 is comparable — somewhere the first wins minimally, somewhere the second. But in the new DirectX12 games, the advantage of the RX 550 reaches thirty percent. There is no way to compensate for this difference by any manual acceleration. In addition, the Radeon RX 550, unlike the GT 1030, supports the ReLive function — video recording of letsplays and streaming without load on the CPU.

The Gigabyte RX 550 Gaming OC version with two fans works almost silently, which is not surprising for a graphics card with a heat dissipation of only 50 watts. If you want not just to play, but also to share the best gameplay moments with friends, then Gigabyte RX 550 Gaming OC is your choice.

After a significant rise in the price of the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and GTX 1060, caused by a surge in the popularity of mining, the GTX 1050 became the optimal graphics card for gamers. It has also gone up a bit (to the level of the old GTX 1050 Ti price), but this is tolerable against the background of a twofold increase in prices for older models.

The ASUS RoG Strix GTX 1050 modification is equipped with an ultra-efficient cooling system with copper heat pipes and a pair of 10-cm fans. Perhaps, for a 60-watt GTX 1050, there is even an excess of such a cooler. No wonder, apparently, the fans are turned off in idle time, so as not to make noise at all and not to wear out. In addition, the graphics card supports Aura Sync technology, that is, it glows with all the colours of the rainbow, and synchronizes the flicker frequency with the ASUS motherboard. Unlike the reference GTX 1050, the RoG Strix version requires a 6-pin power supply.

GTX 1050 is the cheapest GeForce graphics card, which, firstly, supports the NVIDIA Share hardware video recording and streaming function (the old name Shadow Play), and, secondly, allows you to play new products, at least on average graphics settings. However, 2 GB of video memory is not enough for some particularly demanding games right now. For example, Watch Dogs 2 consumes twice as much memory even on average settings. In the future, the lack of video memory will manifest itself more often.