BleepingComputer.com: New video card

All signs are pointing to my video card being fried. It was only 17 months old!
I'm not real savvy when it comes to hardware, and there are so many options out there; looking for a little guidance.

This is a work system, so gaming is not a requirement, but I do need dual digital outputs. I do a lot of CAD work and not much 3D rendering, but I would like a capable card for that purpose. Otherwise, something that can handle the daily grind and the occasional net video.
I would like to keep the price down (I'm hoping around $200), but I refuse to sacrifice quality for frugality. I want something that is going to last longer than 17 FREAKIN MONTHS! Sorry...

My system:
Xion 630W power supply
ASRock 4Core1333-eSATA2 mobo
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz processor
2 - 1GB 800MHz DDR2 RAM

Any and all guidance would be greatly appreciated. Any particular resources for research or particular cards to look at would be great! Also, if anyone has any suggestions for how to extend the life of my video card I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you very much in advance.


istbar

GTX 275 FTW or if you can afford it, a GTX 285.
but if you pile on AF/AA totally get a 4870x2


Edit: Edited to remove unnecessary quote. ~tg

The GTX 275 is just a bit outside my price range, so I looked at the GTX 260. Is this too much of a step down? Is the extra $100 worthwhile for the 275? The 260 seems to be very well received, and I think the 275 is overkill for my needs.

Also, I'm a little confused by the requirements for the 260:
"PCI Express or PCI Express 2.0-compliant system motherboard with one vacant PCI Express x16 slot
One vacant add-in card slot below the PCI Express x16 slot. This graphics card physically occupies two slots"

Is my mobo adequate?
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=4Core1333-Esata2

It says it physically occupies two slots, but I don't think it actually ports into two slots. A little help? And please pardon my ignorance.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?...ecs&family=

Thanks

istbar

260 core 216 at the least.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150329

it will fit, you need to punch out 2 slots to fit the card and its cooler in. put it in the purple slot. you'll see what I mean when you buy it


Edit: Edited to remove unnecessary quote. ~tg

here is a card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102726 I put in a computer for my dad who does a lot of programming/virtualization, and similar stuff, not going to play Crisis at max settings anytime soon, but its cheap, affordable, and will play the full 1080p of HD glory so it can definetly handle what you want to use it for, and I can speak for its quality cuz like Ive said, I put it in a build for my dad, and I put saphire video cards in all my builds and never had one go bad on me. their good cards. If that one doesnt suit your fancy, heres a slightly upgraded version of the same card, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102845 or, if you want something more modern and with a bit more gumf this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102770 though a bit pricier, will do everything you want it to and more.

Fanboy much?


Edit: Edited to remove unnecessary quote. ~tg

ohai, on Jul 30 2009, 04:03 PM, said:

Ok, that's what I thought; thanks for clearing that up.


Thanks to both of you for your input. I'm feeling a lot more confident about my choice now.

Is the install straight forward? Plug it in, turn it on and install the drivers kind of thing?

istbar, on Jul 31 2009, 11:35 AM, said:

Yes, plug it in, put the power connectors in (TIGHT!) and boot it up, if there's an alarm sound and no video when you boot, reseat it.

ohai, on Jul 30 2009, 07:41 PM, said:

maybe actually yes, I use what works. Ive always liked ATI video cards for their video quality in games, and saphire has never steared me wrong. :D

The 9600 GSO is a decent card, it's ATI counterpart, in terms of performance, is the HD 3690 or the HD 4670 as you can see here at GPUReview. Both NVidia and ATI make good cards, typically ATI is a bit cheaper. Since your motherboard does not support SLI or Crossfire, you can afford to be choosy. With your power supply, you can get pretty much any but the X2 models of cards.

Here's a selection (I'm using the Canadian Newegg since you are in Vancouver. Newegg.ca ships to Canada whereas Newegg.com goes to the U.S.):

POWERCOLOR AX4890 1GBD5 Radeon HD 4890 1GB - This is the best single GPU card ATI makes and competes directly with the GTX 280. The GTX 280 is faster (usually plus or minus 5fps). The GTX 275 will, depending on the game, outperform this card slightly.
XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB - The 4890 listed above is merely a refresh of this card, but this one is much less expensive. Since the 4890 is a refresh of this card, a faster and more efficient one, this card competes mostly against a GTX 260.
XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB - Some people don't need the super high-end performance of the above cards, this is a good mid-level choice. This card is meant to compete against the GTS 250 and the 9800 GTX...those two cards are pretty much the same thing.
GIGABYTE GV-R467ZL-1GI Radeon HD 4670 1GB - Here is where we begin to enter, in my opinion, budget territory. This card's performance is a bit below the 9600 GSO, but higher than the 9500 GT.

Keep in mind, that performance can vary drastically. For instance, in some games the GTX 280 is beat, by a wide margin, by the HD 4890. In others, the opposite is true. Some games tend to favor either NVidia or ATI cards due to optimizations. Drivers can also seriously affect card performance.

I'd have to go ahead and recommend the GTX 260. Not only is it a great price for what it offers, but it's also decently speced. From the rough specs you provided, the card should be no problem for you to run, especially if you're looking for the sub $200 range.

This is my recommendation based on the feedback you have provided in this thread:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121316


Regards,
- Robb

In terms of raw specs, the HD 4870 and the GTX 260 are usually tied. The POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB can be had for less and comes with a mail-in rebate. It should be noted that the link TechTeachings provided goes to the American Newegg and not the Canadian Newegg. That specific card is unavailable at Newegg.ca but the XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB, a very similar card, is.

the_patriot09, on Aug 1 2009, 03:27 PM, said:

WELL, I have no preference in video cards but CPUs, AMD, I mean intel is good but what the hell? $1000 for a CPU that's 20% better than a $200 AMD? Well someone show me a CPU that matches the PII 955 x4 for the same price or less. lol

I mean the 4890=275 pretty much but with nvidia, 3D, physx, cuda, F@H, etc.