GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

I'm currently running an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX. It's ancient. I'm not even sure if it can handle Call of Duty: Battlefield on a High-end PC settings.
I'd much rather have an NVIDIA GeForce.
I'm willing to drop up to $667 because I want this thing to actually last for a bit after I buy it.
At least two years. I don't know much about GPUs, so I was hoping the people on this forum could point me in the right direction.

hd 6950 2 gb - AMD
msi gtx 560 twin frozr- NVIDIA

I’d personally go with the MSI GTX 560. It's only a few measly FPS slower—hardly something you'd even notice while playing—but in exchange, you get a card that actually stays quiet and doesn't run hot. Why deal with the heat?

Is it actually worth dropping an extra 50-$67 on this card? I'm looking at the 1 x XFX HD6870 900M 1GB DDR5, DisplayPort x2 v1.2, DVD x2, HDMI 1.4a-$440-ADM
-compared to these other options-1 x Sapphire HD 6850 Toxic, 1GB GDDR5 256bit, Dual Link DVI + HDMI-$425-ADM
-1 x Sapphire HD 6850, 1GB GDDR5 256bit, Dual Link DVI + HDMI + DP-$394-ADM
I guess quality matters most here. For me, that means silence, staying cooler, and just having something that lasts longer.

http://www.amazon.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=9743
At that price point? I’d grab this card in a heartbeat. It comes with a three-year warranty, runs incredibly quiet, and the cooling is top-notch. Plus, if you overclock it properly, it performs right up there with an HD6870. That’s the one I’d go for.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-ra...ower-review/21

Kenneth Sullivan4 said:Right now I'm running an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX, which is pretty much ancient history at this point. I'm honestly not sure if it can even handle Call of Duty: Battlefield on a High-end PC setup.
I'd really love to upgrade to an NVIDIA GeForce
I'm willing to drop up to $667 because I want something that actually lasts a while after I buy it,
maybe for at least 2 years. I don't know much about graphics cards, so I was hoping the folks on this forum could point me in the right direction.

What power supply model and what's the wattage? 🙂

Joshua Garcia3 said:What power supply model and is it Wataza? 🙂

Coolermaster
Corsair RM500

That's what the label says.

Hey there.

So, I’m looking at picking up an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 512MB AGP card—though I'm still a bit unsure if it’s 4x or 8x
but more importantly, I have no clue if it'll actually work with my current setup.

I've got a 400W power supply
512MB of DDR1 RAM
an Intel Celeron 2.66
and my current card is an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
The motherboard supports PCI Express 4x.

I mean, I don't see you actually gaining much here—sure, that NVIDIA GeForce 6600 might sharpen up some video effects, but honestly? Your processor is sluggish and you're running low on RAM—it’s basically a massive bottleneck in that setup, way more significant than the graphics card itself.

Benjamin King2 said:I'm not sure you'll see much of a boost here—that NVIDIA GeForce 6600 might help with some video effects, but honestly, your processor and low RAM are the real bottlenecks in that setup. They're holding you back way more than the GPU will.

Yeah, I get that, but my current Radeon is basically dying—it's throwing artifacts everywhere. So I found this one for $50 which shouldn't be too bad, right? I'm planning to bump the RAM up to 2GB, but man, I just don't have the cash to upgrade the CPU right now. xd

So, I’m looking for some advice—what kind of GPU should I be hunting for if I want to stay under about $234?

I've got this motherboard
, paired up with this processor.

Alright, fine—if the card is actually busted, then just grab that x1650... the price is decent enough.

Shane, how about something like this:

Look, I don't know what resolution you're running or what you actually need a GPU for—but if you're trying to game, your processor is probably going to be a total bottleneck anyway—so you might as well grab a cheaper option:

Honestly, Nvidia doesn't have anything else in that price range worth looking at.

Benjamin King2 said:Hey rustywalker17, check this out:

Honestly, Nvidia doesn't have anything even remotely close in this price bracket that would beat these.

Awesome, thanks man... I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this Sapphire one.

edit: yeah, primarily for gaming... running at 1680:1050 resolution.

Benjamin King2 said:Fair enough—if the other card is dead, grabbing that x1650 makes sense. The price isn't bad either.

But would it definitely work in my rig? I mean, is the power supply up to the task? Also, my slot is 4x AGP, but I think this card is 8x—is that going to be an issue?

Forget about that x1650

So, here’s my current setup—any ideas on what the best GPU would be for this rig?

512MB of RAM (though I'm grabbing an extra 1GB in a few days)
Intel Celeron 2.66
MSI P4MAM-V AGP 4 x
AGP 4x

You might want to snag this one—it’s right in the same ballpark as the x1650 Pro:

Just pop the side panel off your case and check the sticker on the power supply—you need to see what the amperage looks like on the 12V rail. It should be sitting somewhere around 20A.

Can anyone recommend a solid graphics card in the $600-$$233 range? Ideally, I'm looking for something capable of running the latest AAA titles smoothly...

Brenda Chavez34 said:Can someone recommend a solid graphics card for around $600?$233 I'm hoping it can handle the latest titles reasonably well.

Looking at the options, this specific model strikes me as the smartest play for that budget; it’s essentially just another branding for the well-known TUL outfit, or what most people recognize as Powercolor. You're getting 1GB of DDR5 memory here, and the cooling solution is genuinely impressive, staying remarkably quiet, which isn't something you see often with heatsinks of this size.😁☕

Since the heatsink features such a dense fin layout, if the stock fan ever decides to quit on you, the repair is trivial because you just unscrew the plastic shroud holding the fan in place, and you can easily mount a standard 9cm fan directly into the fins, plug it into a Molex connector, and you're back in business without any real hassle.🙂🍿

http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr...670-review/19/

I need help, and I need it fast!
Yesterday, I swapped in my 560 Ti TwinFrozr and installed the official drivers from Nvidia. Everything seemed fine until today, when I decided to scrub those old ATI drivers that were hanging around from my integrated graphics. I used Driver Cleaner Pro to make sure they were totally gone. But now? Now that I’ve rebooted, the Nvidia drivers are claiming there's no graphics card detected, yet the ATI Catalyst Control Center is back like nothing ever happened. How is that even possible?

You did the exact opposite of what you were supposed to do. You’re meant to wipe the drivers *before* swapping out the card.

Actually, forget it—just boot into Safe Mode, run Driver Sweeper, and scrub the drivers for both cards completely. Restart the machine and let me know how it goes... if it's still a total mess, your last resort is just a clean Windows reinstall.😬