Building A Computer

Can anyone help me decide on a graphics card for my new computer? It's Going to have windows 7 64 bit and I have heard horror stories as to its graphic card compatibility, more like there are certain ATI cards that have died at its hands and certain Nvidia cards that just don't work. Mostly I just want it for gaming and want to spend about $170 or so. So far my new comp is going to be this....

Apevia X-Qpack 2 Cube Case with 500W Power Supply
Gigabyte GA-785GMT-USB3.0 Motherboard
Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition
8gb (4x2gb) DDR3/1333
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3gb/s SATA Hard Drive

I loved Windows 7 and used the RC until my old comp died and want to make the jump to 64 bit but I want to make sure I'm not going to cook my card or anything vital. Once I decide on a graphics card the rest is easy but I'm basically stuck here.

Also if this does not seem like a sound build let me know please. I am fairly good with computers but I'm still a noobsauce when it comes to most of the hardware. Thanks.

Build looks solid. I love that type of case, I have the same one.

Well thanks for the input on that. Actually What I have heard specifically is that ATI drivers were very unstable in 64 bit Windows 7 and causing malfunctions. It might just be a load of garbage but one kid said his card died from it.

For the games and 3d graphics packages I use it for, my nvidia GTX285 has been rock solid on x64.

The bit about cooking video cards has a tiny bit of validity but it's mainly because people are REALLY stressing their cards out running some apps/games for hours and hours and some laptops and homebuilt machines have barely adequet cooling. Coupled with what looks like a rash of slightly poorer product quality from ALL manufacturers (RHOS unfortunately has caused a lot of solder problems even today), and added part counts, more video cards are burning out today than they were even 4-5 years ago.

But maybe only about 1% W7 "fault" for daring to use any 3d interface whatsoever but its demands are EXTREMELY low compared to any 3d app your will be running on it.

xxmakroxx said:

Well thanks for the input on that. Actually What I have heard specifically is that ATI drivers were very unstable in 64 bit Windows 7 and causing malfunctions. It might just be a load of garbage but one kid said his card died from it.

It is a load of garbage. See my specs below, never had a problem stability-wise due to ATI drivers. More like the kid killed his card overclocking it, which if that is the case can also cause instability (even more so if he didn't know what he was doing).

Well then I guess it's time to go shopping. My first thought was to use an ATI card but I needed to hear it from people who know before I made a purchase like that. Thanks so much guys.