Considering a new video card, advice appreciated.

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GhOsT1321

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Ever since I have acquired SC2, I have sedired to play it on high settings or ultra settings with little to no major framerate drops. My current video card, the ATI 5670 does decent on a mix between high and medium, however online play suffers, even on low settings at times. I am playing at a monitor resolution of 1440x900 (19 inch screen).
I am considering a GTX 460, in particular This one.

I am willing to spend up to $200. Any other video card suggestions are welcome.
I am leaning towards a nvidia video card as opposed to an ATI/AMD video card. This is because SC2 has been reported to have better driver support for nvidia cards. Also, SC2supports AA for nvidia only, and a little eye candy never hurt.


My additional specs are in my signature, as well as, listed below.

Antec Three Hundred Illusion
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
HIS Radeon HD 5670 (Redwood) IceQ 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz
A-DATA2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin
Corsair 650HX 650W ATX 12V v2.2
MSI 785GM-P45 AM3 785G mATX Motherboard
ZALMAN 9700 110mm LED
 
That is a great card, I doubt you will have any trouble playing SCII with that GPU. It almost seems like overkill for that game. Saw this 460 on sale at CompUSA (galaxy card)- almost 1/2 price from the full 1 GB MSI- granted not same card, but still should play SCII at high settings on that size monitor. Check out the link for the card I am talking about. Tried to link the page- but I failed.
 
That is a great card, I doubt you will have any trouble playing SCII with that GPU. It almost seems like overkill for that game. Saw this 460 on sale- almost 1/2 price from the full 1 GB MSI- granted not same card, but still should play SCII at high settings on that size monitor. Check out the link fro the card I am talking about.

http://images.highspeedbackbone.net/SkuImages/gallery/large/G458-0464-mfg02-sm.jpg

I believe I found the card you were talking about, it is about half the price. However, it's memory interface of 192-bit is a bit concerning, I have heard that the 192-bit 460s are held back compared to a "full" 460, such as the one I listed.
Galaxy 60XMH6HS3HMW GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) GC 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
 
yes- not really the "same " card as the "full" 460 - but still a good card. You get what you pay for. - but, my boys are playing SCII on an older 8600gts card on medium settings with a older HP Athlon dual core on a 19 monitor. So, I don't think it is a really super video card intensive game on a 19 inch monitor. Obviously, the full 460 is much better- the question is do you NEED that much GPU and it is worth the extra $100 to you. Of coarse, the full 460 does have headroom for future builds and future games and the MSI build card is probably better build that a Galaxy card. Just giving my 2 cents and giving you options..
 
yes- not really the "same " card as the "full" 460 - but still a good card. You get what you pay for. - but, my boys are playing SCII on an older 8600gts card on medium settings with a older HP Athlon dual core on a 19 monitor. So, I don't think it is a really super video card intensive game on a 19 inch monitor. Obviously, the full 460 is much better- the question is do you NEED that much GPU and it is worth the extra $100 to you. Of coarse, the full 460 does have headroom for future builds and future games and the MSI build card is probably better build that a Galaxy card. Just giving my 2 cents and giving you options..

Just what I was thinking. It may be overkill, but some future-proofing for me would be nice. Also, the Hawk is rumored to be able to overclock the core clock to 1Ghz:omg:
 
yes- not really the "same " card as the "full" 460 - but still a good card. You get what you pay for. - but, my boys are playing SCII on an older 8600gts card on medium settings with a older HP Athlon dual core on a 19 monitor. So, I don't think it is a really super video card intensive game on a 19 inch monitor. Obviously, the full 460 is much better- the question is do you NEED that much GPU and it is worth the extra $100 to you. Of coarse, the full 460 does have headroom for future builds and future games and the MSI build card is probably better build that a Galaxy card. Just giving my 2 cents and giving you options..

regardless if the 460 1GB card is better then the 768mb varient, its certainly not double the performance and it's almost double the cost, thats a HUGE differance. Also statements like the "MSI build card is probably better" has no basis at all and they are most likely produced in the same factory with a different sticker slapped on. Neither card has lifetime warranty, so definately the galaxy is without a doubt the better buy. For $110 it's the perfect card that can last 3-4 years before you get another one.
 
Yes- I agree VampD, that is why I brought up the option to him- but he was firm on buying the MSI - even though it was nearly double the cost. So I was being nice - which you are obviously not inclined to be. And in my opinion , which I am entitled to, MSI is a better name brand than Galaxy. There is no reason to say my opinion has " no basis at all". I was not being definitive with my opinion and even said "probably" and "my 2 cents" - read the New Egg reviews on galaxy cards before you flame me.
 
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