For the price, this is a great deal. Definitely a significant improvement over integrated graphics, allowing your PC to clock higher FPS on higher graphics settings. No more frame freeze!
Do your research before you buy though, it may save you a lot of hassle; and, don't expect it to give you 50+ frames outdoors on high settings. It won't, and it shouldn't be expected to. It will give you about 15-20 FPS though. I can see what's happening and the image isn't jumping around, which is good enough for me.
1. First, look up your PC's specs (if it is a premade stock--if custom built you may need to open it up to look). Make sure your PSU is at least 300 watts, which is recommended for this product.
2. You'll also need a PCIe x16 expansion slot, which is where the new card will go.
3. Look at the back of the display device you plan to use with this card and check to see if it has a port that matches the type of output options your card has, which is DVI-I most of time. This is fully compatible with a DVI-D monitor (not sure if there are any versions of this product with a DVI-D output but if so DVI-D will not be compatible with an analog or DVI-A port). If your monitor only has a VGA input, you'll need to purchase a DVI to VGA adapter. I would recommend getting a DVI-I or DVI-D adapter--DVI-A will work but the video will not be as high quality.
4. Finally, find out if your PC uses Secure Boot--if so, you'll probably need to turn it off in BIOS. Search the web for instructions on how to enter your PC's bootloader and switch to Legacy Boot. On most Windows 8/8.1/10 systems, Shift+Click the restart button in the power menu to reboot your machine to the boot settings menu. Click "Troubleshoot", then UEFI, then restart. Different manufacturers will have slightly different BIOS UIs, but look for something that says "Security" with options to enable/disable Secure Boot and Legacy Boot. You'll want to disable Secure and enable Legacy, then make sure you save your settings before you exit.
Once you have done that and booted to the normal desktop, your screen's resolution may have reverted to 1024 x 768 or some extremely low and awkward looking setting. Do not panic, this behavior is expected. Insert the disc provided in the package, or if you do not have an optical drive you may need to visit EVGA's website to see if you can find the driver and download it from there. If you used the disc, open up your file explorer and double click the disc drive to run it and bring up the autoplay menu. You'll need to install the graphics card driver and DirectX, the other applications are optional. Once the driver has been installed, your screen should return to its normal resolution.
Finally, a nod to EVGA's customer support, which is as everyone else has been saying, amazing. 24/7 tech support, and not some person with a thick accent who is difficult to understand. The unit I purchased was a dual-DVI version, and one of the ports (the one I tried first of course), wasn't working. The agent didn't think to ask about that but I figured it out on my own. They offered to RMA, though I declined for the time being since I don't even own another display device with which to make use of the other port. But the card does come with a 3-year warranty, which is awesome, so if I ever decide I do want to use the other port, I could just have it replaced as long as it's within the next few years. On top of all that, they had the customer service manager follow up with me personally through email after I left comments in the feedback survey. I don't think I've ever before known a company to actually do that. Really impressive service, in fact probably some of the best I've ever seen. A+.
| Max Screen Resolution | 4096 x 2160 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 3.2E+3 MHz |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Nvidia GeForce |
| Chipset Brand | NVIDIA |
| Card Description | GeForce GT 730 |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 1 GB |
