Home
Here's some nice video cards that you can get for your PC, these are selections based on your budget. I've included some video cards that are just a little above your stated $150. You will however need to verify the actual price in your local area if you're purchasing from stores and not online. Basically I've split them into three sections, all video cards are PCI Express x16.
They have been color-coded with recommendations on the below criteria
Recommended but can be above your budget
Within your budget
Below your budget, cheap alternative
Nvidia cards:
eVGA GEFORCE N773 8600GTS 512MB DDR3 PCI-E
eVGA GEFORCE N795 8600GT 1024MB DDR2 PCI-E
eVGA GEFORCE N757 8600GT 512M DDR3 PCI-E
If you want to stay within your budget, the option of 8600GT @1GB is the way to go. If you want an extra little oomph, go with the 8600GTS. They are approximately $3 ~ 5 difference in price. There's not too much difference between these two stated cards. The 8600GT @512MB is decent enough for FFXI but not some of the higher end online games. Since your motherboard has an nVidia video card already installed, you might be familiar with them or just like the brand.
The 1GB RAM video allows you to do more with your video card than then 512MB. Example, you're playing FFXI with windower on so you can simultaneously watch a DVD movie along with 3 porn movie (admit it, who the heck just watches one porn movie at a time these days?). With all these video programs running at the same time, you do not want any of them to slow down. That's where the RAM size comes into play. If you don't plan on doing things simultaneously, the lower option is just as good.
Sapphire (ATI) cards option 1:
SAPPHIRE ULTIMATE HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E
SAPPHIRE HD 3850 1GB GDDR3 PCI-E
SAPPHIRE HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E
These are the equivalent cards to the nVida series card I listed in the prior section. Most often people will not notice any difference between them other than the brand name. High end-gamers will notice them and can be pretty aggressive in defending whichever brand they like. Also note that I listed the cards as Sapphire, not ATI themselves. Sapphire is a third party company licensed by ATI to make their video cards. In all ways they are an exact replica of the true ATI brand video cards. You will not notice any difference in their performance against each other. The difference in them is the price with true ATI obviously being much more expensive. You are paying for the name brand, nothing more. Don't let any one tell you otherwise. The only time where you will see the difference between the ATI brand and Sapphire brand is very high end video cards. I'm talking $5000 - $20,000+ range. Only businesses that deal with extreme graphics are: graphic designer companies ($5000 - $10,000), Hollywood movie studios for special effects like George Lucas' ILM studio ($20,000+), video game companies like Konami (Hideo Kojima demands nothing but the best, $20,000+ as well, look at MGS 4 versus other PS3 games), and so forth.
If you plan to watch Blu rays as well with this video card on your computer, go with the Ultimate HD 3850 @512MB. If not, stick with the reg HD 3850 @1GB. As a cheaper alternative, you can also go with the HD3850 @512MB. The 1GB RAM video allows you to do more with your video card than then 512MB. Example, you're playing FFXI with windower on so you can simultaneously watch a DVD movie along with 3 porn movie (admit it, who the heck just watches one porn movie at a time these days?). With all these video programs running at the same time, you do not want any of them to slow down. That's where the RAM size comes into play. If you don't plan on doing things simultaneously, the lower option is just as good.
Sapphire (ATI) cards option 2:
SAPPHIRE HD 4670 1G DDR3 PCI-E
SAPPHIRE HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E
These series matches the above two sections, the difference in this section from the other Sapphire card section depends on what your computer is hooking up to. Both have support for dual outputs but their strengths lies in how big your computer monitor is or how big your tv screen is. For larger monitors go with this section because you'll get a crisper image that looks nice because of the higher resolution. If you have smaller monitors, the 3850 series are the better option because they have bigger memory BUS. They also give you the better bang for your dollars. I'd personally go with the 3850 series, but then again you know what size your monitor(s) is(are) and how you like your images to be displayed so you may go with this series.
I'll have to admit, I'm slightly biased towards ATI video cards instead of nVidia when it comes to recommending cards for people.
Support
ATI has nVidia beat hands down. No question about it. When you deal with different types of video cards & computers every day, ATI is simply the easier option to work with. I'm talking drivers here. No drivers = no working video card. ATI has a nice easy system that lets you download your drivers whereas nVidia makes you wonder what they were smoking when they designed their support. Hunting down drivers for nVidia is a time consuming task compared to ATI. When I'm installing a video card or re-installing a computer, the last thing I want to do is hunt for drivers because someone at nVidia fucked up. Sure there's the CD with the drivers that comes with the video cards, but most people tend to lose their CDs or get scratched or something that renders it useless. Either way, ATI is much easier to deal with than nVidia. 90% of the people that I deal with fall into that category. I don't know which category you belong to.
Performance
nVidia does have some very nice cards that ATI can't match without going to a higher video card or releasing a card to match it after nVida released theirs. Fortunately almost all cards by nVidia is matched by ATI so there is no right or wrong in choosing which brand you want when it comes to performance.
Naming scheme
Those fuckers at nVidia need a better naming scheme. Every time they release new cards, you almost have to do research to see if you want to upgrade to that card or not (typical upgrade of video card is between 3-5 years). ATI has a better naming scheme so you can follow easier of choosing to upgrade or not. For those true gems that nVidia do release, they beat ATI hands down - no doubt about that. The question becomes how hardcore gaming are you? Do you always want the best video card on the market or save yourself the hassle and settle for 2nd best and then upgrade every 3 -5 years?
Price
ATI wins this part thanks to Sapphire. Sapphire cards are almost always cheaper than the same nVidia card for similar performance.
Desktops vs Laptops
ATI has the market share for desktop video cards. nVidia has the market share for laptops. I have both laptops and desktops in my home and at work. I use ATI for desktops and nVidia for desktops, but I still favor ATI more because of support, support and support. Read the section of support above.
They have been color-coded with recommendations on the below criteria
Recommended but can be above your budget
Within your budget
Below your budget, cheap alternative
Nvidia cards:
eVGA GEFORCE N773 8600GTS 512MB DDR3 PCI-E eVGA GEFORCE N795 8600GT 1024MB DDR2 PCI-E eVGA GEFORCE N757 8600GT 512M DDR3 PCI-EIf you want to stay within your budget, the option of 8600GT @1GB is the way to go. If you want an extra little oomph, go with the 8600GTS. They are approximately $3 ~ 5 difference in price. There's not too much difference between these two stated cards. The 8600GT @512MB is decent enough for FFXI but not some of the higher end online games. Since your motherboard has an nVidia video card already installed, you might be familiar with them or just like the brand.
The 1GB RAM video allows you to do more with your video card than then 512MB. Example, you're playing FFXI with windower on so you can simultaneously watch a DVD movie along with 3 porn movie (admit it, who the heck just watches one porn movie at a time these days?). With all these video programs running at the same time, you do not want any of them to slow down. That's where the RAM size comes into play. If you don't plan on doing things simultaneously, the lower option is just as good.
Sapphire (ATI) cards option 1:
SAPPHIRE ULTIMATE HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E SAPPHIRE HD 3850 1GB GDDR3 PCI-E SAPPHIRE HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-EThese are the equivalent cards to the nVida series card I listed in the prior section. Most often people will not notice any difference between them other than the brand name. High end-gamers will notice them and can be pretty aggressive in defending whichever brand they like. Also note that I listed the cards as Sapphire, not ATI themselves. Sapphire is a third party company licensed by ATI to make their video cards. In all ways they are an exact replica of the true ATI brand video cards. You will not notice any difference in their performance against each other. The difference in them is the price with true ATI obviously being much more expensive. You are paying for the name brand, nothing more. Don't let any one tell you otherwise. The only time where you will see the difference between the ATI brand and Sapphire brand is very high end video cards. I'm talking $5000 - $20,000+ range. Only businesses that deal with extreme graphics are: graphic designer companies ($5000 - $10,000), Hollywood movie studios for special effects like George Lucas' ILM studio ($20,000+), video game companies like Konami (Hideo Kojima demands nothing but the best, $20,000+ as well, look at MGS 4 versus other PS3 games), and so forth.
If you plan to watch Blu rays as well with this video card on your computer, go with the Ultimate HD 3850 @512MB. If not, stick with the reg HD 3850 @1GB. As a cheaper alternative, you can also go with the HD3850 @512MB. The 1GB RAM video allows you to do more with your video card than then 512MB. Example, you're playing FFXI with windower on so you can simultaneously watch a DVD movie along with 3 porn movie (admit it, who the heck just watches one porn movie at a time these days?). With all these video programs running at the same time, you do not want any of them to slow down. That's where the RAM size comes into play. If you don't plan on doing things simultaneously, the lower option is just as good.
Sapphire (ATI) cards option 2:
SAPPHIRE HD 4670 1G DDR3 PCI-E SAPPHIRE HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI-EThese series matches the above two sections, the difference in this section from the other Sapphire card section depends on what your computer is hooking up to. Both have support for dual outputs but their strengths lies in how big your computer monitor is or how big your tv screen is. For larger monitors go with this section because you'll get a crisper image that looks nice because of the higher resolution. If you have smaller monitors, the 3850 series are the better option because they have bigger memory BUS. They also give you the better bang for your dollars. I'd personally go with the 3850 series, but then again you know what size your monitor(s) is(are) and how you like your images to be displayed so you may go with this series.
I'll have to admit, I'm slightly biased towards ATI video cards instead of nVidia when it comes to recommending cards for people.
SupportATI has nVidia beat hands down. No question about it. When you deal with different types of video cards & computers every day, ATI is simply the easier option to work with. I'm talking drivers here. No drivers = no working video card. ATI has a nice easy system that lets you download your drivers whereas nVidia makes you wonder what they were smoking when they designed their support. Hunting down drivers for nVidia is a time consuming task compared to ATI. When I'm installing a video card or re-installing a computer, the last thing I want to do is hunt for drivers because someone at nVidia fucked up. Sure there's the CD with the drivers that comes with the video cards, but most people tend to lose their CDs or get scratched or something that renders it useless. Either way, ATI is much easier to deal with than nVidia. 90% of the people that I deal with fall into that category. I don't know which category you belong to.
PerformancenVidia does have some very nice cards that ATI can't match without going to a higher video card or releasing a card to match it after nVida released theirs. Fortunately almost all cards by nVidia is matched by ATI so there is no right or wrong in choosing which brand you want when it comes to performance.
Naming schemeThose fuckers at nVidia need a better naming scheme. Every time they release new cards, you almost have to do research to see if you want to upgrade to that card or not (typical upgrade of video card is between 3-5 years). ATI has a better naming scheme so you can follow easier of choosing to upgrade or not. For those true gems that nVidia do release, they beat ATI hands down - no doubt about that. The question becomes how hardcore gaming are you? Do you always want the best video card on the market or save yourself the hassle and settle for 2nd best and then upgrade every 3 -5 years?
PriceATI wins this part thanks to Sapphire. Sapphire cards are almost always cheaper than the same nVidia card for similar performance.
Desktops vs LaptopsATI has the market share for desktop video cards. nVidia has the market share for laptops. I have both laptops and desktops in my home and at work. I use ATI for desktops and nVidia for desktops, but I still favor ATI more because of support, support and support. Read the section of support above.
