Multiple times today I’ve had to admit to others I was a bit of a geek. Most people knew that already. I’m sure you are nodding your head on your side of the screen. Whether it’s my fascination for all kinds of archaic music, movies, videography or whatever I tend to be a little on the obsessive side. I’ll own that.

Hey, it’s served me well. It fuels my drive.

So here’s another one for you. Some of you may know that the computer graphic card market has been on par with the housing industry. Almost impossible to get your hands on one, and if it’s cheap it’s because it was on fire.
People in “the know” tell me I should be spending $500-$600 dollars for a decent modern card. Or sell one of the kids and get one of the ridiculously priced top cards for $2000-$4000 (or more).
I refuse that logic. I’ve had my trusty GTX 760 for about seven years and just wanted to upgrade a little. I don’t play the top of the line games. I don’t get excited about games that push car theft, organized crime or domestic violence. I just want to be able to run the newest versions of graphic design and video editing suites and occasionally play a game of Raft, A Hat In Time or Life is Strange without feeling the computer take a sudden gasp when an extra 3D component needed to be rendered.
So, I began my search for a replacement card a couple weeks ago and after a few failed attempts I managed to hook a second hand GTX 960 online for a fairly decent price. It arrived today.
I wanted to be certain that the upgrade was worth it, so I ran 3DMark on the computer before upgrading the card and then again afterwards. I’m very happy with the results. I’m going to test it thoroughly over the next little while to see if it holds up against all the programs I use and/or want to use. If it does, I’m good for awhile. If not, I’ll keep my eyes open for a reasonably priced GTX 980 or 1060. Because I’m not jumping into the RTX market yet. Not worth the upgrade yet. Not for me.
Here are the two 3D Mark scores I got, in case any of you want to share my geekness. C’mon, you know you want to.

GTX760

GTX960