Need a graphics card

[Seiphas]

I decided in December that I was going to get rid of my old desktop, so I picked up the following:

Asus P5K-E
Intel Code 2 Quad Q6600
2x2gb Mushkin 800MHz RAM
Antec P182
Corsair TX-650 PSU

I stole DVD drives from my brother, and I took the old HDD out of my old computer (Seagate 320 gig 7200.10 IDE), although that's since been replaced by 2x250 gig Maxtor drives in RAID0.

When I initially got the computer, I lacked money for a graphics card, so I used an old card I had lying around for a couple weeks (old computer was AGP), so I used an ATI Rage 1. Then I borrowed an ATI Radeon 7000, then a Geforce 6600.

Point is, I need a GPU. I'm fairly certain my board doesn't support SLI fully, and after setting it up on a friend's computer, probably don't want to deal with it here (I spent two hours getting the stupid cards working). I'd like to know what the best card is for the money, so that I may buy it and own various noobs.

Additionally, am I going to encounter problems with PSU wattage?

[ASharp]

I'm fairly certain my board doesn't support SLI fully...

The P5K-E doesn't support SLI at all. Crossfire on the other hand....

Additionally, am I going to encounter problems with PSU wattage?

You generally shouldn't have any issues with the TX650 in terms of power for a single card. Which card to get comes down to a few things. What kind of games are you going to play? How much are you willing to spend? What resolution do you play at?

[Seiphas]

I currently play at 1280x1024, although I'm looking into replacing this monitor with a Dell 2408WFP in the near future. Currently, I play the following games:

Simcity 4
Starcraft
The Sims 2
Audiosurf
NOLF 1 / 2
GTA 3

Yeah, I know. Don't even bother pointing out flaws with my list. The reason I don't play much is because my old computer had a Geforce 4 MX 440 (aka the worst card ever made), and I prefer really high frame rates over playing the latest stuff. I'd much rather wait to play stuff if it means I'm not playing at 2fps.

Regardless, I have every intention of playing many current releases. However, I can't specifically point to one timewaster as being critical to my purchase. It's more of a "general performance" thing.

As for how much I'd be willing to spend, it's all dependent on the card. Seeing as though each generation of video cards usually slaughters the predecessor, I wonder if it would be more cost effective to just get a new card every gen, rather than buying the best card and using it for many years.

[tmpz]

I currently play at 1280x1024, although I'm looking into replacing this monitor with a Dell 2408WFP in the near future. Currently, I play the following games:

Simcity 4
Starcraft
The Sims 2
Audiosurf
NOLF 1 / 2
GTA 3

Yeah, I know. Don't even bother pointing out flaws with my list. The reason I don't play much is because my old computer had a Geforce 4 MX 440 (aka the worst card ever made), and I prefer really high frame rates over playing the latest stuff. I'd much rather wait to play stuff if it means I'm not playing at 2fps.

Regardless, I have every intention of playing many current releases. However, I can't specifically point to one timewaster as being critical to my purchase. It's more of a "general performance" thing.

As for how much I'd be willing to spend, it's all dependent on the card. Seeing as though each generation of video cards usually slaughters the predecessor, I wonder if it would be more cost effective to just get a new card every gen, rather than buying the best card and using it for many years.

ATI 4850 -- check NCIX sale.

Later you can pick another one up and crossfire them or buy the next gen card.

[darius_m5]

I would definitely recommend a 4850 for that board. 4870 if you can afford it.

[mysticalinfluence]

ATI 4850

I agree the only card to own is HD4850 just bought mine yesterday. You could also get way with 8800 GT for those games there about $130.00 at Direct Canada with MIR for Evga or BFG one.



http://www.directcanada.com/search/?kw=geforce%208800GT

[darius_m5]

I forgot to mention that your psu is more than enough. I use a OCZ 500w to power:

Asus P5L-MX
3.4 Ghz Dual Core
3 gb ddr2
Sapphire ati 4850
DVD/RW Drive
Seagate 320gb Hd
Seagate 200gb Hd
+ 3 case fans