need recomendation on video card

[sblocker]

hi i just built a new computer so i have a pretty small budget for a video card. my budget is about 100. also what video cards are compatible with widnows 7?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Do you game or don't you?

If not, you likely don't need to spend $100. I spent 50 and am happy.

If you don't game, you might consider a "passively cooled" video card (no fan), which will keep down the noise and be one less fan to worry about.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

if you do want to game a 4850 would be a good idea... you can find them for about $100 on newegg most of the time

 

[sblocker]

i do want to game but i wont be gaming all day type of thing

 

[ThePizzaMan]

4850 would be a good choice if your psu is up to it

 

[Xzaviar]

My choice

I like ATI. No paticullar reason, I usually stick with the underdog at any given time to support continued choice in product. That is why I usually buy AMD for my procs on four of my six home pc's. Both ATI and Nvidia are excellent cards.
Two of my sons' computers use the Gigabyte HD4650 with 1 gig of DDR2 and run thier games (BF2142, Frountlines Fuel of War, Crysis...) very well. As for my personal computer I went with the Gigabyte HD4670 with 1 gig of DDR3. I think the DDR3 preforms noticablly better for only $20.00 more. They are both running Dual Core P4 at 3.4 Ghz while I run a Phenome 550 at 3.1 Ghz and mine just preforms better at games and the only thing I can attribute it to is the Vid Card.
Enough said, here's a link to the card on Newegg. Only $74.00
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R467ZL-1GI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

P.S. You said that you wouldn't be gaming all day or anything like that. When you are playing a game if you cut corners on your video card even a short time playing can be dissapointing and make you wish you spent even 20 - 50 dollars more.

 

[sblocker]

yeah thats what i thought. what i meant by that i was not going to be serioousally gaming like you no how some people are but at the same time i wanted to be able to play the latest games good.

 

[thefabe]

Here is a review from Toms hardware Titled best Graphics cards for the money:November 09 Hope this can help with your decision. Fabe Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November '09 : October Review And November Updates - Review Tom's Hardware

 

[ThePizzaMan]

do you know what your power supply is though? you always need to take that into consideration before you buy any video card

 

[Mivo]

*nods* Knowing what power supply unit you have is important. For about $100, you can get decent mainstream cards for gaming, but they tend to want a decent PSU. I'm partial to Nvidia cards, since I used to have all sorts of issues years and years ago, so my past seven or eight cards have all been Nvidia models. (But I also use Linux on a couple computers, so Nvidia is generally the preferred choice.)

I'll have some suggestions, but let's find out the Watts of your PSU.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

exactly... its very important... and nvidia is better in linux... whereas ati gives best bang for buck

 

[sblocker]

yeah i just built a new computer so my power supply is good. what happened was that my old card i was gunna use is not working i think it got damaged while i was building my new pc

 

[Mivo]

How many watts does the new power supply have?

 

[sblocker]

its 700w

 

[ThePizzaMan]

hm.... go for the HD4850 then thats way the best bang for your $100

 

[Frostmourne]

You could also consider a 5770 for DirectX 11 support in 7. Right now its about equal to the 4850 due to early drivers, but it runs cooler on a 40nm process, as opposed to the 4850's 55nm.

 

[Mivo]

700W is very nice.

Good ATI cards have already been suggested. I'm more of a Nvidia guy, so I'd chip in the GTS 250, which is around what you want to spend (a few bucks above it), and it is comparable in performance to the HD 4850 and 5750. The older 9800 GTX and GTX+ are solid choices as well and cost about the same. All of these cards, including the ATI ones cost about the same. Might be worthwhile to hunt for discount offers or otherwise good deals.

Plenty of different vendors to choose from. I tend to go with Gainward, but that is more tradition than anything else . I often stick to brands and manufacturers whose products don't give me trouble. Other examples are NEC for monitors, Hitachi for drives, Razer for mice, Logitech for keyboards, Intel for CPUs ...

 

[Frostmourne]

700W is very nice.

Good ATI cards have already been suggested. I'm more of a Nvidia guy, so I'd chip in the GTS 250, which is around what you want to spend (a few bucks above it), and it is comparable in performance to the HD 4850 and 5750. The older 9800 GTX and GTX+ are solid choices as well and cost about the same. All of these cards, including the ATI ones cost about the same. Might be worthwhile to hunt for discount offers or otherwise good deals.

Plenty of different vendors to choose from. I tend to go with Gainward, but that is more tradition than anything else . I often stick to brands and manufacturers whose products don't give me trouble. Other examples are NEC for monitors, Hitachi for drives, Razer for mice, Logitech for keyboards, Intel for CPUs ...

A GTS250 IS a 9800GTX+.

 

[Mivo]

A GTS250 IS a 9800GTX+.

It is a repackaged 9800GTX+, true. There's a 2 GB GTS 250 model, though it's not something I'd buy (I went with the 1 GB model). Might be easier to get a good deal for a 9800GTX+ mostly because it is "older", but I agree, it is exactly the same hardware.

 

[Frostmourne]

The card is good for 1440x900 gaming or 1680x1050 if you choose lower settings.