Thread: Graphics card advice

great chart, guess you weren't kidding. A card equal to a 295 GTX is only $165, thanks for the advice. It really helped me out :9

I actually prefer this site's benchmarks to Tom's now. Both are good though.

http://videocardbenchmark.net/

scoot,

You might find the discussion in <a href="http://www.texasteamplayers.com/inde...g1185245">this thread</A> of interest; it's a bit of a rambling discussion, but there is mention of the ATI vs Nvidia question (I've linked the post that really starts the GPU discussion).

I, also, have been an Nvidia guy for many years (after some driver headaches with ATI), but the best value now does seem to be with ATI.

Originally Posted by Sgt.TmH

Originally Posted by scoot

great chart, guess you weren't kidding. A card equal to a 295 GTX is only $165, thanks for the advice. It really helped me out :9

Another vote for the 5770 ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447

With your CPU and RAM, you have no trouble running BFBC2 at max settings.


BTW, if you go with the 5770, make sure you uninstall your video drivers and install the lastest 10.2 drivers.

Looks like a great card but the only thing that worries me is that it's 128 bit and each one of the cards I have now are also 128 bit but I'm running SLI so I guess it's more like 256.

Are you running a 24 inch or larger monitor? 1920x1080 or better resolution? If not then the 128 bit memory bus will have little impact. It does become a limiting factor at high resolutions with higher levels of AA turned on but if your running at 1680x1050 or less you should be just fine.

If your really looking to step up the graphics power get a ATi 5850 for just a bit more than the 275 you where looking at.

Either way I would steer clear of Nvidia until they get a DX11 part out and even then I would expect the initial ones to be more than you want to spend...

Originally Posted by Mcstrange

Are you running a 24 inch or larger monitor? 1920x1080 or better resolution? If not then the 128 bit memory bus will have little impact. It does become a limiting factor at high resolutions with higher levels of AA turned on but if your running at 1680x1050 or less you should be just fine.

If your really looking to step up the graphics power get a ATi 5850 for just a bit more than the 275 you where looking at.

Either way I would steer clear of Nvidia until they get a DX11 part out and even then I would expect the initial ones to be more than you want to spend...

No, I am running a 22" wide screen at 1680x1050. So what exactly is the 128 bit for? I was under the impression it was the rate at which the gpu processes info but by the sound of it it sounds like it has more to do with the monitor size? And like I said before, one of the main reasons for upgrading is because I'm buying bad company 2 and I want to be able to run it well at good settings which most are saying will be done well by the 5770.

Originally Posted by Sgt.TmH

Originally Posted by scoot

So what exactly is the 128 bit for?

That is the size of the bus between the video card's GPU and it's on-board memory. The bit size is how wide that bus is or how much data can be moved during a single clock pulse.

Obviously, a 256-bit would be more desirable as it has the theoritical ability to double the throughput of a 128-bit.

But the capacities of the GDDR5 memory makes up for this and allow the manufacturers produce a more cost-effective card using a 'smaller' architecture. Note how many 256-bit cards come with slower GDDR2/3/4 memory.

You might think of it in terms of automotive traffic management. (Crude but you'll get the idea.) The goal is to move X amount of traffic during a set amount of time. You could build more 'lanes' or raise the 'speed limit'. Raising the speed limit doesn't require you to build more lanes. Thus 128-bit @ GDDR5 = 256-bit @ GDDR4.

Ideally, you'd have 256-bit (or even higher) with GDDR5. But then look how much those cards cost!


The only thing monitor size has to do with it is simply real estate. Larger monitor at higher resolution means more data has to be processed to see the same sharp image on a smaller monitor. You really don't have anything to worry about.

Alright, cool. Makes a lot of sense as to why the cards that are 128 bit are DDR5 and the ones with 256 are DDR3 mainly. Really helped me out, I'll be getting the 5570 then.

Thanks a lot for all your help guys :9