Need New Graphics Card

[Simskiller]

Right, first a short story: My computer decided to just black out and die the other day, and it seems my old ATI Radeon 4600 HD series graphics card decided to up and die (it was old. Like really really old. Like look at when that was released, old). So I am in need of a new graphics card for gaming.

Give me your recommendations as I have not kept up with graphics card news in ages, I have no brand loyalty, and looking for something newish but affordable as well (target price is ~$100), and something better then what I had before as it was ooooolllld and I was looking to upgrade anyway so now I have an excuse to.


Captcha: tickled Ivories. Is... is that sexual?

 

[Simskiller]

Pomf [sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub]what are we doing on the bed? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkWWx0YSyM0&feature=youtu.be][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]

Currently looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625 can someone link me something simular/better so I can compare and contrast?

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

From what I can see here
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+550+Ti
The radeon HD 6850 is better.

And from what I can see here
http://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-AX6850-GBD5-DH/dp/B0048D7AD0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1333640034&sr=8-5

It costs the same

Could be wrong though

 

[Crises^]

Have to agree with Anti Nude he makes a good point. I was going to mention the 560ti but its a bit steeper and for the slight performance increase probably not worth it.

 

[Ralen-Sharr]

I will admit now that yes, I am bias about graphics cards. I got burned on ati cards underperforming and giving me hell with drivers and just making the damn thing work. Never did and so I got a refund and an Nvidia card, never looked back since.

Nvidia has awesome driver support. WAY better than ATI does. Both card makers put out good hardware, and sometimes the numbers really look good on an ATI card, but the drivers are so bad that you end up losing out because the software just won't let everything rock and roll like it should.

In my last computer build I used an ASUS Nvidia 570 and it's been awesome. It's done everything I've asked and never has given me any trouble at all.

 

[Simskiller]

From what I can see here
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+550+Ti
The radeon HD 6850 is better.

And from what I can see here
http://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-AX6850-GBD5-DH/dp/B0048D7AD0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1333640034&sr=8-5

It costs the same

Could be wrong though

Thanks I'll look into that more.

I will admit now that yes, I am bias about graphics cards. I got burned on ati cards underperforming and giving me hell with drivers and just making the damn thing work. Never did and so I got a refund and an Nvidia card, never looked back since.

Nvidia has awesome driver support. WAY better than ATI does. Both card makers put out good hardware, and sometimes the numbers really look good on an ATI card, but the drivers are so bad that you end up losing out because the software just won't let everything rock and roll like it should.

In my last computer build I used an ASUS Nvidia 570 and it's been awesome. It's done everything I've asked and never has given me any trouble at all.

Yeah I had an nvidia card before my last ATI one, and I had issues with games that seemed to be ATI specific, never really had any issues with an nvidia one.

Captcha: whole nine yards Eight ball

 

[isometry]

Make sure to check the power supply requirements. GTX 550 requires the extra 6-pin connector and uses almost 3 times as much power as an ATI 4600 (if your PSU is at least 400 watts and you have the 6-pin connector availible it should be fine).

Also, 'tickling ivories' means playing piano.