GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Alright, I’ve been doing a bit of digging online and stumbled upon a few interesting cards.
Gainward GeForce series. $180
XFX 9600GeForce 512MB DDR3 256bit. $200
Gigabyte GeForce GT 240 1GB GDDR3 128bit. It mentions stream processors—any idea what that actually means? $213
XFX Radeon HD 4830 512MB DDR3. $217

Can anyone rank these by value or just pure performance? If you happen to know of something better for around $200, don't be shy and let me know!
Since I'll be running an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300, is it worth choosing an ATI chipset over a GeForce one?
Thanks!

Look, if you're planning on actually playing games, forget about those two 128-bit cards. They won't cut it. I think I saw somewhere that for $250, you could snag an ATI Radeon HD 4850 instead. That card will absolutely crush everything listed here, so think about it. If you want a real gaming GPU, just scrape together a little more cash and go for that one.

I’d just go with the Radeon HD 4770; its performance holds up against the ATI Radeon HD 4850 quite easily enough.

The 9600 is ancient and a waste of money, though these "new" NVIDIA cards aren't exactly groundbreaking either.
The Radeon HD 4830 isn't worth it because you can get a much stronger Radeon HD 4770 for basically the same price.

For the chipset, stick with an Intel one—P35, P43, or P45.

@Many, honestly, it would be smart to grab whatever cheapest dual-core processor you can find first, then worry about the GPU. There's no point in having a powerhouse graphics card if your CPU is holding everything back.
The HD 4670 is a decent choice, but don't expect to play anything at native resolution.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap a Radeon HD 4770 for an ATI Radeon HD 4850 without any issues. I've run both cards on the exact same setup, and honestly, the 4850 crushed it in games compared to the other one.

Of course, everything depends on your resolution

But it runs cooler and pulls less power

If you don't mind a bit of extra noise when you crank up the fan speeds on an ATI Radeon HD 4850, and you've got a decent power supply under the hood, you should just go with the 4850. In higher resolutions, it's nearly 40% better than that Radeon HD 4770 mentioned above—I've actually tested it myself.

How much of an upgrade are we actually talking about with the Radeon HD 4830 compared to a 4670 with 512MB or 1GB? Is picking up this 4830 even worth the cash? Also, if I go through with this, should I be looking at Gigabyte, ATI, or XFX? The 4850 isn't even available at the Micro Center where I'm planning to build this rig!

shadowjackal6 said:How much better is the Radeon HD 4830 compared to the 4670 with 512MB or 1GB? Is it actually worth picking up this 4830? And which brand should I go with—Gigabyte, ATI, or XFX? The 4850 isn't available at the local Best Buy where I'm planning to put my build together. UOTE]

And they don't have the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 either?

Man, what a headache... I was looking at page 24, where the last post asked about a graphics card, and I got the answer I expected. But here’s what’s actually tripping me up—I have a GeForce 6150 integrated chipset, so is it even possible to just throw an ATI Radeon card into this rig? And honestly, what exactly constitutes a "chipset" anyway?

You can go with ATI without any issues, but if you want someone to break down which chipset is actually better, you should ask someone who really knows their stuff.

I need some advice on which graphics card to pick... is it actually worth stepping up from the NVIDIA Gigabyte 9800 GT 512MB to the 1GB version? Like, what am I even gaining with those extra 512MB in a real-world scenario...

Or maybe I should just look at something from ATI in that $800 range...$333.

GeForce GTS 250 or Radeon HD 4890?

What kind of rig are you running now?

I'm putting together a new rig,
motherboard-ASUS MA785GT-UD3H, AMD 785G+SB710, S. AM3, 6xSerial ATA II
processor- AMD Athlon II X4 or maybe a Phenom II X2 550
RAM- 4gb ddr3, 400W Corsair power supply

The Radeon HD 4890 is at Best Buy $500 which feels a bit overkill... looking for something closer to $333 around $33
They don't have the GeForce GTS 250, but I saw a 1GB version at Micro Center for $313 and a 512mb one for $279... would that be a better move than getting a 9800GT? And honestly, what do you actually gain from those extra 512mb... is the difference really in $33?

Roger Chavez91 said:I'm putting together a new build,
motherboard—ASUS MA785GT-UD3H, AMD 785G+SB710, Socket AM3, 6x Serial ATA II
processor—either an AMD Athlon II X4 or maybe a Phenom II X2 550
RAM—4GB DDR3, 400W Corsair power supply

The Radeon HD 4890 is at Micro Center, $500 which feels a bit steep to me—I'm looking for something around $333 +/-$33
They don't have the GTS 250, but I found a 1GB GTS 250 at Best Buy for $313 and a 512MB version for $279. Would that be a better choice than the 9800 GT? And what does one actually gain from those extra 512MB—is the difference really that significant in terms of $33?

It’s definitely the GTS 250 over the 9800 GT. Having that extra 512MB is actually quite useful when you start pushing higher resolutions and more detailed settings...

Look, $333 you could just grab the Radeon HD 4870 instead... honestly, it's a much better pick than either of those NVIDIA options mentioned earlier...

Zachary Wilson30 said:For $333 one might consider the Radeon HD 4870—it seems like a better bet than either of those NVIDIA options mentioned...

No question about it, 😉!

My apologies for the slip of the tongue. I meant the Radeon HD 4870

Quick question—I'm working with a pretty weak setup right now: an AMD Athlon LE 1649 paired with an NVIDIA 6150. Should I prioritize picking up an HD 4670 1GB DDR3 graphics card, or would it be smarter to focus on upgrading the processor first?

John James3 said:I need some help with my graphics drivers... There are a few games I used to play, but then I crashed Windows, reinstalled everything, and updated to the latest drivers. Now those same games won't run even though I actually beefed up my rig! The games are Need for Speed Underground 2 and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Please, someone reach out and help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance, cheers from the Midwest!
I'm running an integrated NVIDIA GeForce MX440 with 64MB and I seriously need an upgrade if anyone knows of something decent for mid-range games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and stuff... maybe up to $167. Thanks in advance! 🙂)

Here's the specs:

AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.83GHz
768MB DDR RAM
Integrated NVIDIA GeForce MX440 64MB
SPD PC3200 (200MHz)

That's all I got. My budget is up to $233. Let me know if you need anything else.