Video Cards/GPU Question

I guess this question this is in the right place. I have been using the ATI Radeon HD 7770 2GB Graphics Card in all my PC's. These cards seem to fit my need very well as just a surfer. I was reading some information on upgrading GPU's as just a surfer, and most everything I read mentioned, if you're just surfing, you would not notice much if any difference in an upgraded card. I have a tendency to believe this, because being on a 1.2 GHz internet service, my old 4790K with 32 Gig of ram this setup smokes. Sometimes depending on the site I visit, some sites when I click on them, pop up without me hardly even noticing, even being on a Samsung 4k 60Hz monitor. I know some of us look for a little more speed out of our PC's, especially as the older hardware drops in prices. I'm certainly not unhappy at all the way my PC's perform "all 3 have the same hardware setups" just a curious question.
Thanks!

There might be some browser functions that could use GPU acceleration.

If you can live without them, you may be happy with an old GPU like the 7770.

I can't speak from personal experience, as I'm not running hardware that's older than 10 years.

RD Mercer said:

if you're just surfing, you would not notice much if any difference in an upgraded card.

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Sorry, but I could not read a question in your post. If you are asking us to agree or disagree with the above statement. I agree.
I also agree that spending money on a 13 yr old system is inadvisable.

I also think that for most people who do not have high demanding uses that require a discrete card, the newer integrated graphics work great. They handle 4k really well.

glasskuter said:

Sorry, but I could not read a question in your post. If you are asking us to agree or disagree with the above statement. I agree.

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I think I was just asking for opinions.

RD Mercer said:

I guess this question this is in the right place. I have been using the ATI Radeon HD 7770 2GB Graphics Card in all my PC's. These cards seem to fit my need very well as just a surfer. I was reading some information on upgrading GPU's as just a surfer, and most everything I read mentioned, if you're just surfing, you would not notice much if any difference in an upgraded card. I have a tendency to believe this, because being on a 1.2 GHz internet service, my old 4790K with 32 Gig of ram this setup smokes. Sometimes depending on the site I visit, some sites when I click on them, pop up without me hardly even noticing, even being on a Samsung 4k 60Hz monitor. I know some of us look for a little more speed out of our PC's, especially as the older hardware drops in prices. I'm certainly not unhappy at all the way my PC's perform "all 3 have the same hardware setups" just a curious question.
Thanks!

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Really, if you look at laptop GPU's incorporated into the CPU, you'd see just what you're saying. So yeah, for just surfing the internet, you don't need anything super powerful.

That said, that HD7770 is long in the tooth (13 years old) with basically has zero for VRAM (2GB) when today's GPU's features at least 4 times (8gig) that. Add that today's browsers are using extensions and instructions your 13 year old card doesn't have; So from that standpoint, you might want to upgrade. Here you don't need a super duper card just a "modern card".

My two cents.

bobkn said:

There might be some browser functions that could use GPU acceleration.

If you can live without them, you may be happy with an old GPU like the 7770.

I can't speak from personal experience, as I'm not running hardware that's older than 10 years.

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Thanks! I haven't put any dollars into any of my systems for a long time "maybe a power supply". I don't like to compare oranges to apples, I know my systems are old, but they are more than sufficient for my personal needs. If you have a vehicle that has been great and is still working perfectly for your personal needs, and you haven't had to put any dollars into it, would you get another one just to have a faster one, newer one, latest and greatest, or maybe one with more gadgets? I can tell you, I am not even close to being a frugal person, but I'm also not a person that would go out and spend dollars on something I have that has been serving me perfectly. My "real" hobby is working on and rebuilding/restoring old riding mowers/tractors, I even rebuild the engines as all the parts are still readily available. In my opinion, the newer ones are not near as well built as the older ones. I know were are talking computers, and this is comparing apples to oranges, but I say all this to let you know where I stand in my reasoning. Heck, I'm 73, should I just stop everything I do in life, because I'm not the physically or mentally person I was in my 30's? I appreciate everyone's feedback, I know the majority here, are looking for the latest and greatest, and I'm good with that, it the way of the world, but I just look for things that fit my personal needs, and so far, my systems are fitting them well.

Dru2 said:

Really, if you look at laptop GPU's incorporated into the CPU, you'd see just what you're saying. So yeah, for just surfing the internet, you don't need anything super powerful.

That said, that HD7770 is long in the tooth (13 years old) with basically has zero for VRAM (2GB) when today's GPU's features at least 4 times (8gig) that. Add that today's browsers are using extensions and instructions your 13 year old card doesn't have; So from that standpoint, you might want to upgrade. Here you don't need a super duper card just a "modern card".

My two cents.

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I agree, I was looking to upgrade to at least an 8GB card, as these cards have really dropped in the prices. Yes! I can afford a $1000.00 card and if my needs justified that, I would buy one. So yes, maybe at least coming into the 21st century, might be a good idea.

RD Mercer said:

I agree, I was looking to upgrade to at least an 8GB card, as these cards have really dropped in the prices. Yes! I can afford a $1000.00 card and if my needs justified that, I would buy one. So yes, maybe at least coming into the 21st century, might be a good idea.

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Not about what you can afford (don't believe in telling one how to spend their money) but about having something modern on a modern OS.

That said, plenty of sub $1000 dollar cards out there with 8 or more gig of VRAM so no need to drop a K if you don't want to. Didn't even pay a K for my cards.

RD Mercer said:

I agree, I was looking to upgrade to at least an 8GB card, as these cards have really dropped in the prices. Yes! I can afford a $1000.00 card and if my needs justified that, I would buy one. So yes, maybe at least coming into the 21st century, might be a good idea.

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The latest 8GB cards seem to sell for about $300 new. I haven't noticed their prices dropping over the past few months, even though gamers have been reported as strongly preferring the 16GB models.

The RTX 4060 and 5060 are both PCI-E X8 cards. Your MB is PCI-E 3.0. (The 4060, PCI-E 4.0. 5060, PCI-E 5.0.) I doubt that the bandwidth limitations would matter for your purposes.

If you want to continue with old hardware, I have an old HD 7970 lying around somewhere. It has a whole 3GB of VRAM. It's huge by the standards of its day, and power hungry (250W). (That's 99% a joke. You'd have to be nuts to "upgrade" to a relic like that. But I really have the card.)