Looking for a Graphics Card

[brnmick]

Hello Everyone, I am new to these forums and i have been doing lots of research but I would like the opinions of others.

Im looking for a graphics card that will will benefit my computer both in Gaming, Movies, and Design. Mostly though its going to be for gaming.

Specifications

20in moniter (1680x1050)
Quad processor - 2.33Ghz
Current video card is - Nvidia geforce 9800 gt 512mb
Ram - 3 1/2 gigs
PSU - 750watts
Motherboard - NVIDIA® nForce 650i SLI (((is this PCI express 2.0?)))

Games I play:
Crysis, Warhead, and i plan on playing Crysis 2 when it comes out
All of the CODs and the new modern warfare 2 when it comes out
Gears of War
Bioshock
Far Cry 2
Etc

What i need is a graphics card that will run beautifully ((meaning eye candy and all)) at my resolution, and will allow me to play the above games and future games at high settings. my budget is $320 or less

 

[Bluescreendeath]

My primary suggestion is to get another 9800GT for SLi, and wait till the dx11 cards come out.

Or you can go:
2xGTS250/9800GTX+ or 2xGTX260
4850x2 or 4870x2

 

[brnmick]

hmm i was thinking of getting another 9800gt for SLi but i heard that currently a single graphics card is better then two. But ill look more into that, thx for the input

 

[xc0mmiex]

get another 9800gt (it will be better then a single gt obviously)... and save your money and buy a new computer when new vid cards come out... i believe your CPU will limit anything over a 4870/260 (and no i am not going to use the evil "b" word)

 

[brnmick]

get another 9800gt (it will be better then a single gt obviously)... and save your money and buy a new computer when new vid cards come out... i believe your CPU will limit anything over a 4870/260 (and no i am not going to use the evil "b" word)

what if i can update my Processor? instead of buying a whole new rig?

 

[UberGenocide]

what if i can update my Processor? instead of buying a whole new rig?

believe that would work(replacing the CPU that is)

for the vid card...if you watch a lot of movies be looking for the ATI series(that is A LOT OF MOVIES cas they perform a little better than the GeForce series)

if you game a lot with little or moderate movie time...then i would suggest another 9800 GT(not really recomment because most games support is around 50 percent performance for twice the money) OR get the 260

i have the 260 and its amazing...playin crysis warhead max settings with 2 AA at a constant 33 FPS in jungle

hope this helps

Uber 😀

 

[brnmick]

Thx for the info Uber...any suggestion on what cpu i should get, my socket supports 775

 

[invisik]

That processor is fine just overclock it 2.8ghz+. The 9800gt at newegg seem a bit pricey ranging from 85-120$. I would just sell your current 9800gt and replace it with a gtx260 which are around 150$ and sli later when you need more power. gtx260 sli seems to high at that resolution but games such as farcry2/crysis/gta4 would benefit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430

 

[brnmick]

yea OCing sounds like the cheapest way to go. but just as a side question, how come everyone reccomends the gtx 260 instead of the 280? what will be a problem if i ungrade just my GC to a 280 using the above specs

 

[invisik]

Its just more expensive for such little gains. At your resolution you don't need the top cards. 512mb of video memory is enough so 1gig would be a bit overkill. Now if you were playing at 1920x1080+ I would recommend a 1gig card. Its up to you, you could go for it but its not worth the little gain for so much more money.

 

[brnmick]

ahh thx a lot, the info you provided helped a ton. =D. ill just OC my cpu and upgrade to a 260 for now till i get a bigger moniter

 

[invisik]

Mhmmm np =]