Thoughts on buying a new video card

[LouisL]

I don't know whether or not to purchase

an EVGA nvidia 9800GTX
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

or a XFX nvidia 9800GTX
Newegg.com - XFX PVT98WYDFU GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

or...is there even a difference among the two?

Then my second question, the most important to me, is how do I go about determining if the card will fit inside my case? It seems rather large.

This is the kind of case I have.
Newegg.com - Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000SWA Silver Aluminum Modern Dream Tower Chassis Computer Case - Computer Cases

 

[Pinscher]

If thats the card you want, get a GTS250. It is pretty much the same card renamed but a little faster and more efficient. The choice between XFX and EVGA is pretty much personal preference. They are the top two brands for Nvidia cards. Of these two, the EVGA has a slightly higher core clock for a little cheaper (after MIRs)

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

To see if the card will fit, take a measuring tape an measure from the back inside to the HDD cage and then see how long the card is. If it is smaller than the length you measured in your case, it will fit.

 

[rileeey]

It'll fit. If I can fit an EVGA 9800 GTX in my Dell Dimension 9100 case I'm pretty sure it'll fit in yours

 

[philbar71]

ya, a GTS 250 or 9800GTX will fit in the case the op has. and i would get a 1GB version too, instead of the 512mb

 

[Gothch1ck]

XFX - I recently found out about their godly support section and I bought my 4890 from XFX and love it, no hassles at all, the double lifetime warranty and free game was nice, but the customer support (rated 5star and is on the packages as advertisement) is REALLY not 5 stars.... its 6/5 - its that good.

And no I am not a fangirl of them now, I just like to pick Quality Parts.

 

[Pinscher]

ya, a GTS 250 or 9800GTX will fit in the case the op has. and i would get a 1GB version too, instead of the 512mb

Is it worth it? It still has a 256-bit bus on it.

XFX - I recently found out about their godly support section and I bought my 4890 from XFX and love it, no hassles at all, the double lifetime warranty and free game was nice, but the customer support (rated 5star and is on the packages as advertisement) is REALLY not 5 stars.... its 6/5 - its that good.

And no I am not a fangirl of them now, I just like to pick Quality Parts.

EVGA also has amazingly great support. XFX beats them on warranty though. Especially in this case with the EVGA only having a 2 year warranty. But if you think realistically, the double lifetime isn't really needed on a card like this because in a year it won't have much resale value let alone 2 years. So that is why I recommended the EVGA since it has a slightly faster clock speed.

 

[philbar71]

Is it worth it? It still has a 256-bit bus on it.

well, it will def help if you are running at a high resolution. and it will help in games like GTA IV. that card is fast enough not to be bottlenecked too much by the 256 bit bus.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

This HD 4850 is cheaper and slightly faster than the 9800gtx+/GTS250

Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

 

[Druid]

If he doesn't need WaW, then, yeah, go with the 4890.

 

[LouisL]

Thanks for the input, **** now I have even more decisions on which video card to pick.

How important is the memory on the GPU? Like is there going to be a huge difference between 512 and 1024, just curious.