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If you won’t be gaming and will only be using your PC for watching 4K movies and things like YouTube, you won’t need a powerful graphics card. At least not a high-end gaming graphics card. In fact, you might find the integrated GPU in your CPU is powerful enough, so before investing in a new GPU it’s definitely worth checking. For running Netflix in 4K with an integrated GPU, you will need an Intel Kaby Lake or newer processor.
If the iGPU in your CPU can’t run 4K (or it doesn’t run it smoothly), there are a few options to consider. The GT 1030 is great for most 4K non-gaming uses at 60hz. However, to watch Netflix in 4K, you will need a GTX 1050 or greater with a minimum of 3GB memory.
Nvidia GeForce GT 1030
$135.48 – Buy on Amazon
If you’re not going to be watching Netflix in 4K, the GT 1030 is the card I recommend for general use and video playback. It has a HDMI 2.0 port which means it is capable of 60hz playback even at 4K, and the price to performance of this card is very good.
This card isn’t suitable for gaming at 4K and I wouldn’t even recommend it for gaming at 1080p, however, it is just about powerful enough for some light 1080p gaming. You won’t get a steady 60 FPS in most AAA games, but you should be able to keep above 30 FPS if you turn the settings down which is just about playable. Some low intensive games, like CS:GO, will actually run quite well with this card.
- Powered by GeForce GT 1030
- Integrated with 2GB GDDR5 64 bit memory
- Supports HDMI 4K at 60 hertz. Digital max resolution 4096 X 2160
- Smooth 4K video playback and HTML5 web browsing
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050
Price not available – Buy on Amazon
If you want to watch Netflix in 4K, you will need at least a GTX 1050 with a minimum of 3GB memory. Like with the GT 1030, this card isn’t suitable for 4K gaming, but it will perform reasonably well for some light gaming at 1080p, as long as you don’t expect it to be silky smooth in every game.
- New NVIDIA pascal architecture delivers improved performance and power efficiency
- Classic and modern games at 1080P @ 60 FPS
- Base Clock: 1455 MHz/ boost Clock: 1569 MHz; Memory Detail: 3072MB GDDR5
- Fast, smooth, power-efficient gaming experiences
Last update on 2022-05-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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