Questions about video cards.

[KJamesJR]

What should I be looking for in a video card? Let's say I'm looking to spend $100 - $200 dollars on a video card in the later future... I know memory is good (1GB), I know the Radeon should be high (just not how high???)... And then there seems to be this GeForce? I'm still not familiar with all the terms/specs.

This is the board I will be getting:

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Now if I'm going to be getting a video card I want it to be a huge, noticeable step up than what's included on the mobo... What should I be looking for? It seems all the good ones come with fans. Can I buy a decent cheap one and just stick a fan on it? Or should I go for something better? I take it I can only use PCI 2.0 x16 types too...

 

[MindoverMaster]

Nearly all except the very cheap come with a fan and cover. There's more to graphic cards than just the prettiness. Look at the benchmarks, that will vaguely tell you what is better than another card.

Charts, benchmarks 2010 Gaming Graphics Charts (High Quality), 3DMark06 v1.1.0

I would get a XFX Radeon HD5770. XFX is just a distributer of cards.

What are you using it for? Gaming?

 

[KJamesJR]

I am a casual gamer. However, I also do a lot of work with a tablet in Photoshop. In enrolled for my Bachelor's in Game Art & Design. Though I haven't hit any 3D rendering yet, however the dragon is just around the corner.

I will have an HD monitor to go along with this so I want imagery to look 'crisp' because well... It has to be.

Also, something that's going to stay current for the next year or two down the line.

And what is crossfire?

 

[MindoverMaster]

Crossfire is a connection between two graphic cards. It runs a lot faster and more performance than 1 card alone

 

[KJamesJR]

Okay, I looked up the XFX cards and came up with this one

Newegg.com - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

It looks small enough to fit in a micro ATX mid tower, the reviews are decent, and because it's CrossFire I can double them up in the future if need be.

Good pick or no?

 

[Trotter]

Very good pick.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I have the very same. It fits fine in my mid tower. You should be fine with your micro.

 

[KJamesJR]

So now it goes on my wish list!

 

[MindoverMaster]

Little too late...