Which graphics card is right for me?

[fusedpro]

Right now I have a 4870. Great card for Windows, don't get me wrong, just horrible drivers on Linux. That said, I'll probably be moving back to good 'ole NVIDIA.

Things to note, I'm running two monitors, one at 1920x1200 and the other at 1920x1080. I plan on getting another of the 1920x1080 somewhere down the line. With that in mind, I also do not have a motherboard that supports SLI -- will I still be able to, say, slap-in any cheapo card purely for the monitor support?

Lastly, I do not game TO TEH MAX. My 4870 is overkill as it is. I recently bought Borderlands so consider that the most graphically intense game I own and will play (with any luck, that may change to Half-Life 2: Ep. 3/HL3). Otherwise, TF2, Bioshock, etc... nothing fancy. I know that the GTX 260 is the equivalent but I'm not sure I even need/want that. I imagine a GTS 250 would be fine but the old-tech irks me but eh... thoughts/opinions?

One last thing to note, my PSU is the Corsair 520HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001) and my processor is a stock i7 920.

Thanks!

 

[3DVagabond]

If you can get by with the 4870 a bit longer I'd say possibly the 460 when it comes out? Sounds like the 465/470 is more than you are looking for. Also, I'm not too sure I'd put the 465/470 with a 520W PSU. I'm sure there are others here though that would disagree with me on that. Only god knows when nVidia is going to release any lower end DX11 cards.

 

[taltamir]

i'd wait for the GTS460 (GF104 based card)

 

[RussianSensation]

If you do not play a lot of intensive games, get a used GTX260 216 / 275 card. There is no need for any of the new NV cards for you. Besides, GTX465 is a horribly slow card for $280 and GTX470 would be overkill for the few games you play.

As a side note, the Corsair 520 will easily handle the GTX470: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/18682/13

In fact, people have run Core i7 920 + 4890 in CF on that PSU. Corsair produces PSUs which run at sustained wattage, not maximum. So other brands would have labelled it a 600-650 W PSU.

 

[Lonyo]

On the multiple monitors, yes, you will be able to throw in a cheap card purely for extra monitor support.
I did it using NV in Windows XP and currently do it with ATI in Win 7 (see sig). So you don't need to get a 3 output card (i.e. an ATI card) just for 3 monitor support.

 

[fusedpro]

Alrighty, thanks everyone. I'll probably wait to see what the 460 has to offer before making any decisions. In the meantime, feel free to post any more comments/suggestions.

 

[fusedpro]

Guess I'll bump this up to see if there's any other opinions.

 

[tweakboy]

Yes 4870 or go for the bargain and get a 9800GT

gl

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Yes 4870 or go for the bargain and get a 9800GT

gl

Tweakboy, they already have the 4870. They are looking for something more powerful.

 

[taltamir]

AMD released design documents allowing the creation of an open source driver for their hardware.
You should try it: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver
it might be better than the closed driver.

 

[v8envy]

Not all the specs for their hardware have been released. Notably lacking and needing reverse engineering is hardware DVD decode & playback acceleration and power management.

That said, the ATI open source driver for golden oldies is progressing very well. ATI even funds a project manager and some developers to work on it. For old hardware it's more stable and faster in 2D with better video playback support than fglrx (which doesn't support anything older than an HD2xxx card anyway). But for newer hardware (e.g. the 9 month old 5 series) and 3d it's still a few years away from being usable.

ATI drivers for Linux are dire, whether you go with open or proprietary blob. NV is at least six years ahead in terms of functionality and stability.

 

[tweakboy]

Stick around prices fall my friend.

 

[fusedpro]

Tweakboy, they already have the 4870. They are looking for something more powerful.

Well, I'm not exactly looking for something more powerful although it wouldn't bother me if it were something more powerful assuming I can get it on the cheap.

 

[taltamir]

sidegrade to a GTX260 and call it a day... you can buy one cheap, and it will give you the linux drivers you covet. Sell your current card on ebay.

 

[happy medium]

Right now I have a 4870. Great card for Windows, don't get me wrong, just horrible drivers on Linux. That said, I'll probably be moving back to good 'ole NVIDIA.

Things to note, I'm running two monitors, one at 1920x1200 and the other at 1920x1080. I plan on getting another of the 1920x1080 somewhere down the line. With that in mind, I also do not have a motherboard that supports SLI -- will I still be able to, say, slap-in any cheapo card purely for the monitor support?

Lastly, I do not game TO TEH MAX. My 4870 is overkill as it is. I recently bought Borderlands so consider that the most graphically intense game I own and will play (with any luck, that may change to Half-Life 2: Ep. 3/HL3). Otherwise, TF2, Bioshock, etc... nothing fancy. I know that the GTX 260 is the equivalent but I'm not sure I even need/want that. I imagine a GTS 250 would be fine but the old-tech irks me but eh... thoughts/opinions?
One last thing to note, my PSU is the Corsair 520HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139001) and my processor is a stock i7 920.

Thanks!

Just buy a 1gb gts 250 and you'll be set.

 

[fusedpro]

So here's what's on the table:

GTS 250
GTX 260
GTX 460 (no release date?)
GTX 465

I don't know much about the 400 series and the GTS 250 appears to be a rebranded 9800...

 

[edplayer]

My 4870 is overkill as it is.

...


I know that the GTX 260 is the equivalent but I'm not sure I even need/want that.

...

I imagine a GTS 250 would be fine but the old-tech irks me but eh... thoughts/opinions?

GTS 250, 9800GT or even the GT 240

I use the 9600GT SSC but recently bought a GT240 for a friend. I installed it and like how little power it uses and how quiet it is. $40 after rebates and came with several games (downloads).

 

[FragKrag]

GTS 250 looks like your best bet, but I would also wait a bit for the Mid July GF104 cards that should be coming out.

 

[Leyawiin]

New GTX 260s are back down to a somewhat reasonable price again ($170 to $180). At least do a sideways purchase. If you already have a comparable card I wouldn't recommend a downgrade. You may think your current card is overkill for the games you play, but you might not be too happy when you can't keep the same quality settings on the new, slower card the way you can on your HD 4870. Try to wait a month to see how the GTX 460 turns out though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...TAC-_-14500160

 

[taltamir]

when did the GTX460 come out? there was no review on anandtech or anywhere else that I noticed...

Don't even bother with the GTX465, it is made out of concentrated failure.

EDIT: doh, you said GTX260 not 460

 

[jpk]

Well, I'm not exactly looking for something more powerful although it wouldn't bother me if it were something more powerful assuming I can get it on the cheap.

I picked up a second GTX260, core 216 superclocked for $150 several months ago. I wanted to sli with my original 260/216 SC. I'm guessing you could find one cheaper than I bought mine for now and I'm pretty happy with my vid card setup for right now.

 

[fusedpro]

Well, I can't really wait for the new GF104 line to roll out since I need this card for work. Thanks for all the input though -- I went with a GTX 260/216 SC. Got it for $130, used. Here's to hoping I won't need the warranty it doesn't come with...