New Graphics Card

[Huwajux]

I'm looking to buy a new graphics card, but I've absolutely no experience with this kind of thing and was wondering if any of you guys could help me. Recently my current card has been struggling with Left4Dead and TeamFortress 2, and at the rate games are going these days, my current graphics card is going to be left behind in a few months. I daren't try games like CoD4 even, my computer just can't cope unless the settings are at rock bottom.

 

I know there is information required, such as power supply amongst other things, but I am not sure how to supply this information. I appreciate any help you guys can provide me with. I'm not worried about price either, I'd like the best possible graphics card that is available to me.

 

Also, I am currently using an ATI Radeon HD 2400. ATI cards aren't very good compared to my experience of the nvidia ones. However, since I am running an ATI card at the moment, I have room for another graphics card to run alongside it. Should I stick with ATI and run two graphics cards together, or cut my losses and stick with the reliable nvidia?

[Daze]

You have 2x PCI-E slots? or are you mistaking a PCI slot for a PCI-E slot?

 

If you want Nvidia, I'd recommend a GTX 260 for about £100, this would could you for a good 3 years. There may be some power issues with it, some graphics cards are dependant upon drawing power directly from your power supply rather than the motherboard itself. Do your research on a card before buying it to see if your computers meets the needs of the card for it to be able to run.

[Coffee Crisp]

If you want to give us your PC information try running Belarc Advisor or CPU-Z. If you don't want to download anything type dxdiag in the command prompt. As for the card I have to agree with Daze on the GTX 260. If not you can try rolling HD 4850X2'S. On to the part of ATI vs Nvidia. Saying that ATI compared to Nvidia is false in my opinion. Cards like the 4870x2 has shown us what ATI can do with their heads out of their asses. At the moment they're like AMD is to Intel. The cheap side to computer technology.

[PotshotPolka]

A Radeon HD 4870 is a very good choice, high quality, low heat output, and very good performance in comparison to its costs, but currently I would stay away from Crossfire or SLI for that matter, many games from what I have heard do not respond well to multiple GPUs. Do not under any circumstances Crossfire an older series GPU with a newer one unless they are compatible. Some games may default to using only one of the two anyways and may pick the shittier of the two by default.

[Shadowex3]

True Multiple GPUs are NEVER worth it. You almost always wind up spending far more on motherboards, power supplies, cooling stuff, a case that can FIT two graphics cards and soundcards/hdds/heatsinks than you would if you got one solid mid to high end card and socked away the rest for another upgrade in a year or two, and the same performance as well.

 

I'd say get either a GTX 260 core 216 or a GTX 275, mostly because ATIs only better offering is a two-cards-one-board style strange beast and also because THREE nvidia manufacturers offer 24/7 live tech support and have awesome lifetime warranties. Afaik nobody on the ATI side does that yet.

[Fouisgras]

NVIDIA 9800 GTX, preferably by EVGA. Dead serious, too. Best card I've ever had and will last me years to come.

[Echa]

How much are you willing to spend? For about $200 you can crossfire 2 4770s and get better performance than some of the $300 cards.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4770-crossfire,2288.html

[Renzeko]

I'd just get a 4870, you can get em for like $230 dollars >_>

DONT crossfire 2400s.. thats just a waste of money...

[ReGIONALS]

ATI RADEON 4890 is what i plan to get its running about 200$ for me.

should keep you gogin for a few years

[Kamakazii101]

I have to agree with the Nvidia GTX 260. You will also have to look into a more powerful processor/CPU as well; higher performance games will require more computing power. Your motherboard will probably have to be updated as you get more advanced graphics cards. Some DDR2/3 RAM with also do the job, I recommend at least 2 Gb. Each chip of RAM, however, is specificated for certain types of computers and plug-in ports as well. I suggest you open up your rig and check your ports and such so you know how much work and what kind of upgrades you can put into it.