GTX 1050 for workstation?

Hi!

I’m building a new box for myself. I need it for my daily&nightly programming job, maybe occasionally to play an indie game (Minecraft). I will run Linux or FreeBSD. But, for the 1st time, in a few months I want to move from my dual-head 2K setup to a “real” 4K.
I’m thinking about GTX 1050. GTX 1050 Ti is an option, but I don’t think the 4GB is worth the extra money. RX is out, since the newer chips have no ported drivers for BSD.
Can someone confirm the 2G GTX 1050 will be enough for a 4K workstation (running a compositing window manager, but not games)?

Thanks
-kryr

Should be fine but on the lower end RX if found at MSRP is usually better buy. To run a 4k display you need next to no gpu power, heck you can run it off iris graphics. If you are trying to game, judge by benchmarks for those games.

https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Hardware_performance

Intel Core i5-6600K Intel HD Graphics 530 aprox 105 fps @ 2560x1080

Intel Core m5-6Y54 Intel HD Graphics 515 4GB DDR3-1600 2160×1440 20-38fps

Well, one advantage on having a card is that you get usually 3x DP ports and 1x HDMI.

With the Dell P4317q that I’m running for example, having these extra outputs do help.

Intel HD (on-chip) Graphics is usually just 1x HDMI off the mobo right? (Z170/Z270/Z370)? Also, at least on my 4K display, Display Port is needed to support 60Hz.

OP whats your budget for the gpu?

If you want a big game round up, by one of the best game benchmarkers out there IMO.

I’m going for:

AMD Ryzen 7 1700, 3GHz (YD1700BBAEBOX)
MSI B350M Mortar Arctic, DDR4, SATA3, USB 3.1 gen. 1, uATX (7A37-001R)
SSD Corsair MP500 120GB M.2 PCIe NVMe (CSSD-F120GBMP500)

2x the RAM kit for the 4 slots, 32GB in total
Ballistix Sport LT DDR4, 2x8GB, 2666MHz, CL16 (BLS2C8G4D26BFSC)

MSI GeForce GTX 1050 2GT OC 2GB GDDR5 (128 Bit) DP, HDMI, DVI-D, BOX

This is not a gaming rig. I need to run VMs hence the CPU and RAM amount are quite beefy, but no need for threadripper yet. Besides I’m DIY a case from apple G5, and I want it to be just uATX (threadripper can’t do it). Also I’m not into overclocking.

I’ve choosen AMD for the cores, but this firesback with a need for GPU. So the GPU is on budget, but if I’m buying one I want one that will be 4K-capable.
I could use the old GTX 550Ti I have, and wait until I get the 4K monitor on my desk; but, I’m quite sure I will need time to migrate, and I want to keep the old box operational for that (I will just move HDDs, but that’s easy) .

I would prob just go 1050 then the cost isn’t worth the increase to the ti. Imo

Don’t get AMD, I can confirm GTX 960’s etc. work fine with FreeBSD - it’s basically the same driver as Linux. I’d imagine anything from the past couple of years - even a GTX 760 would be fine.

One thing you might what to check is if your intended hypervisor will allow you to allocate memory from your GPU to the VM. If that’s something you might use in future having a 4GB card could be worth while.

workstation gpu 75 usd

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My workstation currently has a GTX 1050. Seems solid. Runs all the games I play fine. Pushes 4k with no problems.

Definitely a good card.

Thanks everyone for your input.

I’ll get the 1050. And keep my fingers crossed I will not totally screw up the DIY case part of the build :wink:

Cheers!

1050 should be fine, but i’ll give you the other perspective: i don’t think saving $50 is worth the difference in performance. 4GB vs 2 is significant, even if just for extra monitors and future-proof-ness.