A Brief List of Graphics Cards: Help Me Pick One

[Keela]

Well, good Escapists, I've done some research on graphics cards over the past several weeks, and I have come to a simple, two part conclusion: "Screw" and "It". Computers have never been my thing, and I don't really care to grow into an expert, having already come to the game a bit late. So, I decided to go to Best Buy and pick one, but I think some educated opinions would do me better than guesswork. This is what I've got in front of me:

Radeon 4550, 4670, and 5450
GeForce 210, 430

Those are all of the cards within my price range, and all of them are 1GB, except the 5450, which is 2GB. I've reached my wit's end, so I ask you, fellow geeks: which is the best card for the modern aspiring PC gamer?

 

[Uzbekistan]

5450. The more gig you have the better I say.

 

[Keava]

For gaming? Don't bother. Save up 20$ more, or maybe say your budget. Those cards are all HTPC which stands for Home Theatre PC. They are good for watching movies on your computer, but they have issues with handling anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

 

[Hister]

The 210 and 430 are low end geforce cards not worth buying IMO, if your looking at a geforce card I'd look at 250 or 450 series or higher otherwise I'd probably go with the radon with 2gb memory

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

For gaming I say get a Radeon 5770. It runs Metro and Crysis very well and is an all around amazing card.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

For gaming I say get a Radeon 5770. It runs Metro and Crysis very well and is an all around amazing card.

What about the 5870? Obviously a more expensive card, but would it be worth it if I had the money?

 

[AbstractJuggler]

Well, I recently had a similar problem (if you can really call it one) and was directed to this here website - www.hwcompare.com
http://www.hwcompare.com/7151/geforce-gt-430-1gb-vs-radeon-hd-5450/ < And I believe you will be able to make the best judgement on which you'd rather have there.

 

[Treblaine]

Well, good Escapists, I've done some research on graphics cards over the past several weeks, and I have come to a simple, two part conclusion: "Screw" and "It". Computers have never been my thing, and I don't really care to grow into an expert, having already come to the game a bit late. So, I decided to go to Best Buy and pick one, but I think some educated opinions would do me better than guesswork. This is what I've got in front of me:

Radeon 4550, 4670, and 5450
GeForce 210, 430

Those are all of the cards within my price range, and all of them are 1GB, except the 5450, which is 2GB. I've reached my wit's end, so I ask you, fellow geeks: which is the best card for the modern aspiring PC gamer?

That's a bit like asking

"Will i like this car"

It REALLY does depend on what you are looking for.

Just answer these simple questions:
-What resolution is your monitor?
-What games do you want to play

If you have a 1440x900 monitor, that's pretty low res. You'll manage on a medum pwoer card

If you have a 1920x1080 monitor, that's pretty high res and none of those cards will do unless you settle for scaling (render in 720p and "stretch" it out like consoles do).


TLR

Geforce 430

 

[Cronq]

5450. The more gig you have the better I say.

LOL, just stick with consoles.

 

[PlasmaFrog]

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

Specifically saying, your power supply voltage, cpu, number of fans, motherboard type, etc. The works mainly.

A lot of it is important when deciding on a new graphics card.

 

[Baneat]

For gaming I say get a Radeon 5770. It runs Metro and Crysis very well and is an all around amazing card.

Yep,

5770, 5850, 5870, 6950(flashed up) are all bang-for-buck cards, in ascending cost.
GTX460 is as well (I think) - and the 560Ti for nVidia. I dunno, don't have one.

 

[Gaderael]

For gaming I say get a Radeon 5770. It runs Metro and Crysis very well and is an all around amazing card.

I second this! I've been using an HD 5770 since last November and it kicks so much arse. It runs everything well. The only thing that bottlenecks it is my CPU. It's a pretty inexpensive card, and the rate at which gaming graphics are going, it'll definitely do you for a few years.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

For gaming? Don't bother. Save up 20$ more, or maybe say your budget. Those cards are all HTPC which stands for Home Theatre PC. They are good for watching movies on your computer, but they have issues with handling anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

I run a 4570 and I don't do terribly on most older or lower demand games. I can run The Witcher 2 on low settings.

That being said, I agree. Not really worth it considering they will be rapidly outdated. I'd check out something in the higher 5000 series for ATI. I'm not all that familiar with Nvidia so I can't really say for them. That being said, if you live in the U.S. and don't mind buying online newegg.com has some sweet deals.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Dear God! 3 quotes over the weekend! Alright, time for massive quoting, myself.

What about the 5870? Obviously a more expensive card, but would it be worth it if I had the money?

I wouldn't really know. The latest ATI card I've used has been the 5770 (Only got it during Christmas 2010, haven't needed to upgrade since). Before that, I had a 4890, and that served me well until I tried to run Crysis. I upgraded and haven't had an issue aside from not being able to completely max out Crysis (All High settings, 8x AA, 16x AF, 1280x720 windowed mode). Game still looks beautiful, though.

Also, the card is only $120 on Newegg. [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161338]

5770, 5850, 5870, 6950(flashed up) are all bang-for-buck cards, in ascending cost.
GTX460 is as well (I think) - and the 560Ti for nVidia. I dunno, don't have one.

I've never used an nVidia card, so I wouldn't know about those. Also, are the 6000s really that much of a step up from the 5000s?

The only thing that bottlenecks it is my CPU.

If you can get a good tri or quad core, you'll be set. You'll definitely want to go for something near 3.0 Ghz though. That will ensure that you get the most performance out of your card for the next few years.

 

[Hashime]

Get a 5770 at minimum. The rest are total crap. I just got one for $130. The 5450 costs $100, trust me, the $30 is worth it. I am actually running 2x5770.
EDIT: 2 things:
1) Chect to make sure you can fit a double slot card like a 5770, also check that you have a free 6-pin power connector from your PSU.

2) For the love of god do not buy the card from Best buy. Get it online from someone like tiger direct, canada computers, new egg, etc. Best buy marks up about 20-30% on things like that.

EDIT2: Here is a good link for you: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5637429&CatId=2306

 

[auronvi]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=550ti&x=0&y=0

This is a good card at a good price. If you hunt a little you can find one for about 100 bucks. I bought mine at 99.00 on sale at Frys.com

It will run anything you play today at about 40-60 fps.

 

[Baneat]

5770, 5850, 5870, 6950(flashed up) are all bang-for-buck cards, in ascending cost.
GTX460 is as well (I think) - and the 560Ti for nVidia. I dunno, don't have one.

I've never used an nVidia card, so I wouldn't know about those. Also, are the 6000s really that much of a step up from the 5000s?
.

Some of the six series is, the others are actually less powerful than 58xx's

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

5770, 5850, 5870, 6950(flashed up) are all bang-for-buck cards, in ascending cost.
GTX460 is as well (I think) - and the 560Ti for nVidia. I dunno, don't have one.

I've never used an nVidia card, so I wouldn't know about those. Also, are the 6000s really that much of a step up from the 5000s?

Some of the six series is, the others are actually less powerful than 58xx's

Really, what the hell is AMD doing releasing less powerful cards? After developing a new series for however long it typically takes, I'm surprised that all that came out of it was a bit more power efficiency and perhaps a slightly higher clock rate. Hell, we should at least see an improvement in DX11 performance, if anything.

I just don't get them nowadays. Here's to hoping the 7000s have a better outcome.

 

[Baneat]

5770, 5850, 5870, 6950(flashed up) are all bang-for-buck cards, in ascending cost.
GTX460 is as well (I think) - and the 560Ti for nVidia. I dunno, don't have one.

I've never used an nVidia card, so I wouldn't know about those. Also, are the 6000s really that much of a step up from the 5000s?
.

Some of the six series is, the others are actually less powerful than 58xx's

Really, what the hell is AMD doing releasing less powerful cards? After developing a new series for however long it typically takes, I'm surprised that all that came out of it was a bit more power efficiency and perhaps a slightly higher clock rate. Hell, we should at least see an improvement in DX11 performance, if anything.

I just don't get them nowadays. Here's to hoping the 7000s have a better outcome.

Let's not pretend nVidia don't do the same?

9800GT? It's the same as the 8800GT

By the same, I literally mean they took the sticker off and changed what it appears as in the BIOS, the 8 to a 9.

Higher is definitely better in the #XXX but the thousands denotation doesn't necessarily mean more powerful. a 5970Black (very rare card) is bested only by that new AMD card with two 6970's on the board.