Recommend a graphics card

[Gibbo]

Could someone recommend a graphics card? I've just got a new PC with onboard graphics, so I'll obviously be wanting to disable that memory stealer.

I'm not a big gamer, just the occasional bit of FS and GTA, so I thought a 512Mb PCI-E card would be sufficient. But which one? I'm looking to spend about £40.

The PC's mobo has nForce on it so would it be better going with Nvidia? I've used them for the past several years and always been happy with the output.

I'll also probably be buying from Scan as it's just down the road from me.

Thanks All.

[clarky2k3]

Your probably best off with the 9500GT PV-T95G-YALG - 512MB XFX 9500 GT, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1600MHz GDDR2, GPU 550MHz, 32 Cores, DL DVI-I/ D-Sub/ HDTV - Scan.co.uk

[CPLTD]

I would save a few more quids and go for at least a 9600GT as sub £40 cards are useless fella.

[nephilim]

I am inclined to agree with CPLTD on this one. Sub £40 are next to useless, even running GTA and any FS on low, you will still have bad FPS. Save up a bit more and get a better card that will last longer.

[Galway]

I got a 8800 GTX for £80 on Ebay, due to santa bringing COD5 and I have to say it is the dogs danglies.

[Gibbo]

Hmm, didn't want to be paying £90+ though.

What about the 9600GSO? 768Mb of RAM and a bit cheaper.

[PeterW]

What about the 9600GSO? 768Mb of RAM and a bit cheaper.

This should be your minimum really, don't get attracted to low end graphics cores with large memory its only on there because its cheap the card will have such a tiny bus it won't be able to push data round very fast at all.

[CPLTD]

I would stay clear of graphics cards with the prefix GSO or GS, as the memory clock speeds are very low and cant cope with modern games very well, I tend to always choose a GT version or even better a GTX

[DrPerceptron]

What about an ATI Radeon 4670 1024mb GDDR3?

I've got one and am still waiting to get another £70 to add another to make up my CrossFire.

It runs all my games at top level, but then, I've only got Tiberian Sun, Theme Hosptial (OWNS!!!!) GTR2 and Race 07.

[nephilim]

a 4670 GFC card is a good one, runs nicely for HD and what have you, runs a few games at a good rate. A very good card but the trouble is the drivers dont like XP or Vista much at the minute. A recent update that ATI put out caused alot of people having to use onboard GFX cards to sort out the issues.

[CPLTD]

below is a review on the 4670 but it still really only compares to the 9500GT

Legit Reviews - ATI Radeon HD 4670 Graphics Card Review - ATI Attacks The Mainstream - Radeon HD 4670

[DrPerceptron]

I thought it was just in general that ATI seem to be absoultely incapable of releasing stable drivers?

I'm not using their drivers anyway, I use the Omega drivers, they work much better than ATI's it seems and I've never had any problems with the Omega set.

[Halfmad]

Latest ATI Catalyst drivers are fine, aren't omega drivers quite outdated now?

I'd personally go for a Radeon 4670 with 1GB on board for that price range

[Gibbo]

Cheers guys, some good feedback there which has narrowed down my search immensely.

[dhicks]

Cheers guys, some good feedback there which has narrowed down my search immensely.

This month's PC Pro has a general graphics card review roundup, might come in handy.

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David Hicks