Graphics Card Recommendations

Does anyone have any good recommendations for a good card?

Since I posted in another thread that my fan died on my old card, I'm not sure if I should buy the same brand again.

My current card is an nVidia GeForce 8400GS with 512MB RAM. It was manufactured by BFG, and they offer lifetime 10 year warranty. I'd like to get my card RMAd, but they need a proof of purchase and I don't necessarily have that.

I'd like to stick with a good card under $60 since I'm on a budget at the moment.

Would nVidia or ATI be best? And just FYI, I do a lot of gaming, video and pic editing.

Jeez. I checked out some of the BFG cards to read reviews, and many of the cards seem to die fairly fast in just a few months, much like some of the ATI cards I was reading about.

This makes choosing a decent card difficult.

I got a crappy GT 220 1GB for that $39.99 price that's on the page Petey7 linked - Splinter Cell Conviction, Ps and PPro CS5 all run great. My max resolution is only 1600x900. Better cards are almost pointless in my case until I get a bigger monitor, but for what I have at the moment it is more than sufficient.

I think I may just purchase this card, as it's basically the same as I have now, only from a different vendor. The card also has HDMI ports that were on my original card.

I will, and I normally do, but I just don't know what I did with my old receipt. I'll be sure to put this one away in a safe place for when this problem happens again.

thefabe said:

Just out of curiosity I called BFG cause I used to buy a lot of BFG cards and never had a problem RMAing them. They didn't ask for proof of purchase. Phone number 1-866-234-3499. I just told them I had a 8400 gs fan that stopped working and the card went bad. They just asked for my name, email address and mailing address and said they would email me an RMA # within 20 minutes Now I don't know if it's because they have my name in the system or what but you might want to call them, when prompted press#1 for video cards. good luck. Fabe

Just called again to inquire about an RMA. The guy I got this time was very helpful unlike the last idiot who just gave me short answers about any question I asked.

The rep told me I could go to Frys (where I bought my card) and get a copy of proof of purchase since I paid with a credit card. Then, all I'd have to do is register the product online, then create an RMA and they'll send out a new card.

Since I'm down the street from Frys, I'll just go after work.