Graphics Card Recommendation

Hi everyone,

I was wandering what your recommendations would be for a great gaming graphics card for around the $250 mark. There are so many different models and brands out there. I would like to hear from your real world experience instead of just what's on paper.


I would like it to have at least:

• PCI Express x16
• DVI and analog output
• 512 MB GDDR3 Memory

WHY:
I upgraded to a 27.5 inch widescreen HDMI monitor and the onboard graphics with a standard analog connection just does not have the power to crankup the full potential for this monitor.

Thank you for suggestions,
Shawn

Nvidia all the way.

My brother would recommend an ATI 3850 as the best bang for the buck these days, and many reviews actually agree. With the money you have to spend, you could wander towards a 3870. You could also (depending on motherboard) consider Crossfire 3850s, which have a few advantages.

If you do go ATI, I'd recommend the Sapphire Tech Atomic edition HD 3870, which has a very interesting cooling system that is single-slot, but is turning out better cooling values than any dual slot solution. It also comes with an HDMI cable, and a converter from DVI to HDMI. If you go ATI, I'd recommend Sapphire, as they tend to take good technology and make it just a bit better (not overclocking, so much as real integration improvments).

I'm not sure about Nvidia cards, but all ATI cards in that range should come with converters from DVI to VGA and HDMI. That has been my experience with them, anyway.

I've always tended towards ATI, while my brother used to be purely Nvidia (how's that for a family civil war?). Lately, he got very upset with Nvidia's driver support, and they're mid-ranges. What I've concluded is that Nvidia makes much better high-end cards, while ATI grabs the majority of people who can't justify over $400 on a video card, but still want something respectable with good support (and yes, ATI driver support is just fine).

But, you've got lots of resources to ask on here. No doubt, you're familiar with Tom's Hardware (if not: Tom's Hardware - Computer Hardware News, Tests, Ratings and Reviews). Their reviews should help. Look primarily at the head-head comparisons. The only downside to their reviews (and most of the others out there) is that they tend to forget that not everyone has an infinitely deep wallet for GPUs.

personally i would go with an Nvidia

with $250
i would go for an 88000GTS

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also just kinda of curious..
whats the model # of the monitor?

i would get a radeon 3870, there are lots of options for them at different price points.

Mathews,

It's a Hanns-G HG281DJB.

GO BEYOND with Hanns.G - USA

Shawn

i would get the 8800gt from bfg...great quality and meets ur requirements listed above

get an Nvidia 8800GTS (G92), its around 270-280$, but totally worth it as it almost outperforms most other video cards

i agree with him, yet you can get the 8800 GT and barely notice the difference between to two, cept that I've seen the GT for $220 now

Yeah, I was checking out some specs on the 8800 GT OC 512 MB models, and they seem to perform better than most of the 8800 GTS 640 MB models. Plus, it's cheaper. What do you think?

GeForce 8 Series

and

VGA Charts 2007 | Tom's Hardware