SPCR

It's been a while since I've looked into graphics cards, but recently I've been intrigued by 4K resolution (3840x2160) screens, and wanted to see what sort of options are available. Currently I do not have a 4K monitor or TV, but I am looking at purchasing a new video card soon, and would like to have this as part of my consideration.

Personally, my graphics uses are as follows:

Work - Maximizing Workspace
Not doing anything graphically intensive, but I would like to run dual monitors--my current 1920x1200 resolution monitor in addition to the 4K monitor/TV. I am looking for near silence here since this will be the most typical usage.

Movies - Smooth and Silent
Smoothly playing movies and videos on the 4K screen with minimal noise.

Basic Gaming
Not looking for serious gaming performance here, but I would like to have the capability of running modern games on low~medium settings, probably not at 4K resolution. I am less concerned about extra noise in this case, so long as the card does a good job of being quiet under the other conditions.

So what's the most cost effective card available that meets all these needs? Or what card will do the best in terms of staying cool and quiet given these three different conditions? If there was one thing I needed to sacrifice to get a better option, what would it be?

Whichever card you'll buy tomorrow, by the time we all can afford a 4k display, this card will be totally outdated.

My take would be to buy a card that drives 1080p well enough and when i finally really buy a 4k display, i know i must have the budget for a new card too.

Nvidia has a couple of new cards coming out on Feb 18. Maybe wait until then and see how they handle outputs/4k.

CA_Steve wrote:Maybe wait until then and see how they handle outputs/4k.

IIRC any Kepler should be able to run 4K outputs, and so it goes for Radeon HD7000-series and above: obviusly, depending of drivers, YMMV.

Yes, but, new versions of HDMI and Displayport specs are coming out that make things simpler/higher BW/etc. Especially when the OP want to use a couple of monitors. Hopefully the 2014 gfx cards will make use of it.

There is always going to be something better on the horizon, but I'm at least looking for a starting point!

A lot of the articles on 4k graphics seem to primarily focus on gaming, but I'm a bit more interested in quiet than power. Which is why I'm here.

This article reviews a few cards under more modest uses: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articl ... Usage-492/
Perhaps this is a good place to start? I haven't had a chance to cross reference each of the cards in this review with SPCR reviews, but at a quick look, it looks like ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II might match one of those mentioned?

Dell has anounced a new 4K TN display for around 700$.... and this one can do a whooping 30Hz@4K.

Can't imagine someone seriously buying a 30 Hz display.

Monolith wrote:This article reviews a few cards under more modest uses: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articl ... Usage-492/
Perhaps this is a good place to start? I haven't had a chance to cross reference each of the cards in this review with SPCR reviews, but at a quick look, it looks like ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II might match one of those mentioned?

The Puget's article is a good find, and any ASUS DC-II Nvidia card is usually enough, or more than enough quiet.
But, if you trust their findings, maybe you shouldn't go for a Nvidia card in a 4K setup: providing you won't game at 4k, what about a Powercolor HD 7850 SCS3 ?

Pappnaas wrote:Dell has anounced a new 4K TN display for around 700$.... and this one can do a whooping 30Hz@4K.

Can't imagine someone seriously buying a 30 Hz display.

The Seiki SE39UY04 4K display is now going for $430 delivered and has a huge amount of feedback from users on tweaks and usability - I'll probably be getting one soon to pair with a GT 630 Kepler card. Since I don't run games, 30 Hz will be fine in return for getting that many editing and debugging windows open simultaneously.