Gaming Graphic Cards

[Renmiri]

Nvidia or ATI ? I'm thinking of getting Nvidia 260 SLI :)

EDIT: Stupid thing didn't let me post a poll :(

[Slothy]

Always been an Nvidia fan myself (despite the 5000 series misstep) but I have to admit to being fairly out of the loop as far as graphics cards for the last year or so since I haven't built a computer in about as long. And the worst part about trying to find out what Nvidia cards are worth it are figuring out which ones are re-badged older cards.

But I digress. Using the best graphics card for the money list at toms hardware as a quick cheat sheet tells me that the GTX 260 is at least a good card (better than mine even according to them), so I can't say it's a bad choice off hand unless someone else could name a better card for the same price. May I ask what you're upgrading from though just as a matter of curiosity?

[McLovin']

Nvidia.

[Renmiri]

Had a GTX 280 that died. going for 2 gtx 460 instead of the 480 (which is the new "top card")

[Loony BoB]

Supposedly the best cards at the moment for the people who aren't throwing away money are the HD5850 of ATI and the GTX460 of nVidia. I'm gunning for the latter but I've heard it can be pretty damned noisy, so will wait on the reviews of the manufacturers that haven't yet released the 1GB version. I'll be buying in a month or two, though, so I have time.

[Madame Adequate]

Nvidia.

[Araciel]

ATI's catalyst suite of driver/control software is so glitchy it's not even funny. I'm switching to nvidia based solely on this.

[Renmiri]

ATI's catalyst suite of driver/control software is so glitchy it's not even funny. I'm switching to nvidia based solely on this.

Ya have it on my laptop, is awful

[Yeargdribble]

Which ever one consistently performs best on dozens of independently researched benchmarks.


Seriously, f*** brand loyalty. Find what card in your price range is doing the best overall (or even better, for games you're specifically playing). Don't throw money away. Mid to upper-mid range cards will always be the best bang for your buck.

If you're buying the absolute cutting edge then you're paying idiot tax simply to have the best even if it's barely a scratch better than a card that costs 100 or more less.

Do your research on places like Tom's Hardware.

[escobert]

I have Nvidia atm but I'm going with ATI soon.

[Samuraid]

At $200, GTX460 is an excellent buy, currently. It beats the similarly-priced ATI card (5830) and has some neat features.

[Loony BoB]

If noise bothers you and you're thinking of going for a 1GB GTX460, opt for the Gigabyte or MSI. I've been advised that all the others - particularly Palit - have noisy fans.