Do you make these 6 mistakes when buying a video card?

Mathieu Bourgie | January 14, 2009 | View Comments

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atinvidiaSince I’ve been a computer geek, I’ve heard many horror stories of people buying a slow video card, thinking that they were getting a fast model.

In general, people make the same several mistakes when they buy their video cards. Have they been with me, I’d have helped them avoid these 6 mistakes when buying a video card:

1- Buying a video card based solely on the amount of memory.

More is better, right? That’s their excuse when you have to justify your purchase to yourself or to your geek friend.

Well yes, but not if you base your purchase solely on the amount of RAM. A video card performance is based on many other factors, such as the GPU chip model, the frequency of the GPU/memory, the memory bus width, etc.

A good example of this would be someone buying a 8600GT 512MB over a 8800GT 256MB. Sure, it may have more memory, but every other factor will limit the card performance in comparison.

Also keep in mind that you won’t need the extra memory unless you play at very high resolutions, such as 1920×1080 and/or with AA/AF quality filtering. Why? Because your video card won’t need/use it.

2- Buying a lower-end new generation model over a higher-end old generation model.

It’s newer, so it must be faster!

Not so quickly. When in the majority of cases, this is true, it is not always true. So? Well, you might miss out on a really good deal, as stores tend to lower prices on older generations, to get rid of their old stock, to make space for the new stock.

Now, the mistake some of you make is to choose your card by using the generation number first. You’d think that a 4xxx card from ATI is automatically faster than a 3xxx model. If you take a Radeon 3870, it’d trash a Radeon 4350 or be faster than a Radeon 4650.

Let me quickly explain how model numbers work, using ATI’s 4850 model as an example.

4850: The first number refers to the generation of the card. A higher number there means that the video card is based on a more recent generation, which always brings in improvements over the previous generation.

4850: The second number refers to the range of that card. Same here, higher is better. In Ati’s case, for the 4xxx series, it goes mostly like this:

  • 3: Low end
  • 6: Mid range
  • 8: High performance

4850: The last two numbers refer to the place of that model, within the hierarchy of that range of video cards (See second point, for the “8″); within a generation (See first point, for the “4″). In the vast majority of cases, a higher number means higher performance, but both ATI and Nvidia tricked people in the past with crippled GS/SE models, so keep an eye open for the suffix if there’s one. No, SE does not mean special edition!!

Although ATI don’t really use suffix on their newer models, Nvidia still are. Here’s a quick reference, from slowest to fastest, when you compare two identical models otherwise:
GS<GT<GTS<GTX . Now, even this is not always true, if you take the 8800 model example. Some of the older GTS models are slower than the newer GT. Confusing, isn’t it?

Just keep in mind that many older generation, higher-end models are often faster than some of the newer models, so make sure to google benchmarks and to compare prices!

3- Not considering the space/power requirements.

So you’ve avoided the two first mistakes, ended up buying a Geforce GTX280, are eager to play the newest games…only to realize that it doesn’t fit in your case! Good job =P

This is especially true when you have a small format case, a HTPC or if you buy a high-end video card.

Lesson here: Measure the space available for the video card in your case (Usually from the back of the case to the hard drive cage) and double-check the length of the card, which is usually found under the specs, before buying it. Check reviews and/or contact the store if you’re unsure.

You’ve bought a great card, it fits in your case, but now you’ve one or several of the following problems? :

  • Your video card needs extra power connectors and you don’t have them.
  • Your computer won’t boot.
  • Your computer boots but crashes under games.

I’m afraid that your power supply may not up to the task of powering your new video card.  Now, that’s most probably it, but it might not be it, make sure to troubleshoot before buying a new power supply.

4- Teaming a powerful video card with a slow Cpu

Yay, you’ve got that new Radeon 4870X2 and you’re ready to dominate the virtual world. Only to see that you’re framerates are no where what you expected to be, according to all those reviews.

Well, if you’re using such a powerful gpu with a slow cpu, lik an Intel E4300, it just won’t work as you want it to. Your cpu will bottleneck your video card performance, which mean that it won’t be able to keep up with it and your video card performance will be reduced as it always waits on the CPU.

Simply try to keep your cpu performance in balance with your video card. If you get a midrange video card (9800 GTX, 4850) , try to team it with a midrange CPU (E7400 and such).

If you use SLI/Crossfire or even better (or worse in this case), make sure to team up your video cards with a blazing fast quad-core CPU. Most games may not benefit from quad-core yet, but the video drivers and the cards themselves will. The new Core i7 cpus are a perfect fit here.

5- Buying an overkill video card for the games that you play.

If you play is Counter-Strike 1.6, WoW or the majority of games that are 2 years or older, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card.

If you play on a 17″ or 19″ screen, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card.

This is just like someone who buys a Mustang simply because they want more horsepower. Could they travel to work and do their everyday activities with a Honda Civic? Most probably.

You will waste a lot of money, both on purchase, power consumption and on upgrading the rest of your system (Cpu and power supply) if you buy a video card that is overkill for your needs.

Learn to listen to your wallet, think with your head and figure out how much power you really need for the games that you play!

Now, some of you may not agree with this, as you’ll say that it’s good to have headroom for future games. I don’t think so. Why? By the time that the new game is out, your video card will still be able to handle it, perhaps at lower settings but newer video cards that offer higher performance for the same price will most probably be out by then.

I think that it is better to upgrade at a low cost every so often than to buy some of the most expensive video cards all the time. Not to mention that higher-end cards tend to devalue faster than mid-range video cards. Just like higher-end cars.

Now, if you absolutely need the fastest and most powerful video card with every new release, just to strike your ego and brag about it, go ahead, just be prepared to pay the price!

6- Listening to the recommendations of only one person.

The last, but certainly not the least of the common mistakes done when buying a video card: Listening to the opinion of a single person. What’s wrong with that?

  • The person may be a fanboy, who would recommend an inferior product from Nvidia or from ATI simply because they prefer that company.
  • The person may not have a clue of what they’re talking about. Not everyone have vast knowledge on video cards.
  • That person’s information may be outdated. After all, new video cards are released on a regular base (every couple of months, or even less)

Always make sure to get the opinion of many trusted people, ask around on forums, contact me, read plenty of reviews and comparisons. You’re going to spend a lot of your hard earned cash on that card, so make sure it is the right one for you.

Same goes for me. Don’t just listen to me, I’m human too hehehe.

Conclusion:

Buying a video card requires thoughtful thinking. With such a variety of cards available on the market, it may be confusing, so remember to avoid these mistakes, ask as many opinions as you can and shop around for good prices!

What has been your experience when buying video cards? Have you made any of the mistakes or were you going to? Do you have any tips to share with us or any mistake that I’ve not mentionned that you think we should know of? Let us know in the comments section just below!
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Category: Choose PC Parts, How to, The Best PC Parts For Your Money

About Mathieu Bourgie: Hi, nice to meet you! I’m a computer enthusiast with 10 years of experience in building, fixing and modifying computers. I opened up my first computer case over a decade ago, to see what it was made of, how it works and over time I’ve developed a great passion for computers, especially for all the hardware and bits that makes it happen. In the month of April 2008, I launched Hardware Revolution and ... Read more at my about page. .

  • also go to newegg.com good warehouse full of comp parts
  • Agreed for NewEgg. Amazon, Ebay and Zipzoomfly are also excellent alternatives.
  • im starting realize how stupid people are. this would be helpful to people that dont know shit and are just wanting to buy a graphics card just by its looks. maybe if you posted something telling you how much memory you would need to run this or something like that and tell them that even if the price was low it dosent mean it isnt better than the other.
  • Haha, people are not necessarily stupid, most of them just don't know/understand. But yes, there are stupid people who make their purchases based on looks, which is a very bad idea for PCs.

    Most games will run fine on 512MB, except if you play the few exceptions (For example GTA) or play on a high resolution monitor/tv (1920 x 1080p or higher). Although with future games, you are better off getting 1GB to be future-proof right now. I agree though that 2-3 years ago, 1GB was useless.
  • MD
    @Gary OMG! *jaw dropping*

    Anyways, awesome article, extremely informative. I too have learned most of these points(the hardway) and made some of these common mistakes. I openly admit to being a Nvidia groupie just because in the past Ati had such flakey..ok lets just be honest craptastic drivers, but now they have seemed to change pace and are beginning to pique my interest, so we'll see. Oh, and its true Tom's Hardware is a great source for PC tech reference.
  • Hey MD,

    Thanks for the kind words on the article, much appreciated.

    I think that we all learned along the way with experiences and the vast majority of us (including myself) made these mistakes at one point or another.

    Personally, I'll be the fan of whoever offers the most performance for the money, while being reliable too of course.
  • Gary
    I have not been able to get a really simple straight answer out of anyone, including Nvidia technical support and certainly not various computer vendors technical support. My mistake has always been: "more money than common sense". Perhaps you can clear up some questions for me.

    1. I do not play games. For a hobby I do ultra high-end 3d graphics, using programs such as Studio Max, Maya, Houdini, etc. I have always bought high end Nvidia Quadro graphics cards, typically ranging in the 3-$4,000 range. I have friends that use the same programs on their laptops with integrated graphics cards that probably are a $10 chipset. Is there any practical purpose for these high end cards for a hobbyist?

    2. Having historical always been "buy the best money has to offer" kinda guy, I just bought an Alienware computer equipped with a supermarket video card, the Radeon 5870. This is supposed to be among the best single gpu gaming cards. Although dirt-cheap by Quadro standards, I just did a side-by-side comparison watching identical HD movie trailers on a identical monitor on my wifes computer. She has a two year old Acer compact, with integrated video chipset. We both run at 1920 x 1200. I have an I7 quad core while she has a dual core. I could not see one iota of difference in the image quality (and I know what to look for being a high end audio/videophile). This begs the second question: Of what beneifit do any of these higher-end video cards have for average users? (average being defined as internet browsing, perhaps watching some YouTube videos, doing graphics as a hobbyist, multiple windows, like having Word, Excel, and Internet all open at the same time, etc).

    I bought my first computer in 1986. It was a mini-computer. It had 10 mb of hard disk space and 64k memory. It was almost $200,000. Since then I have bought surely well over 200 computers (between home and office), and my personal PC's have always topped out over 10k. My current Alienware Aurora was $1,700. I think it is the best computer I ever bought. My previous computer statistically should have been able to kick this Alienwares butt. Quite honestly, I can't see a bit of difference in performance.

    After all these years, I have come to the conclusion that we psychologically construct perceived differences to rationalize our purchases. I see this all the time in high end audio. You can buy a Meridian DVD player for about 10k. You could also buy a Burmiester DVD player for 40k. If YOU were the one that spent the 40k, you would see a difference, but you would perhaps be one of the only few in the world that could!

    My wife's Best Buy $600 all-in-one, dual core Acer does not seemingly (to the naked eye) run any slower than my 1 day old Alienware with all the latest DDR3 1333 mHz memory, I7 hyper-threading CPU, and super duper ATI 5870 for 'everyday' computing (as defined above). (I will notice the difference in render times, as 3d rendering is CPU intensive).

    On a positive note: The Alienware is infinitely more attractive!
  • GHANA
    I OWN A ASUS P4G8X MOTHERBOARD. MY AGP CARD IS NO LONGER WORKING. I AM IN PROCESS OF REPLACING THIS VIDEO CARD. I WOULD LIKE TO REPLACE IT WITH ATI CERTIFIED CARD FROM SAPPHIRE. I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD HELP ME CHOOSE ONE.
    THIS MOTHERBOARD REQUIRES A VIDEO CARD WHOSE VOLTAGES DOES NOT EXCEED -+1.5VOLTS AND CAN FIT A AGP PRO SLOT.
  • Aleksander
    I think you would better buy the 9600 gt, but as far as i know that card is going to be replaced by other 40nm video cards of ati company. For the cheap price it has and cuz it had lasted so long i think you should wait, or buy it.
  • Kevin
    As a Linux user, my ATI/Nvidia preference is usually based on their Linux driver support. In my experience, Nvidia has done a better job of making easy-to-install, up-to-date, reliable (albeit binary) Linux drivers. ATI has promised open source drivers (or at least the documentation for them to be written), but has yet to deliver in any meaningful way. When quality open drivers are available for either platform, that will be the platform I use.
  • jwpowers5
    3 all over. Bought ECS Geforce 7050M-M v2. No problems, but when I looked toward the future, I noticed that my Geforce 9800GX2 covered ALL the SATA ports! Don't just look at what you need now. Check that what you may use in the future is easily accessible.
  • salanos
    I typically check out reviews and stuff till I decide which company has done better with their generation.

    I recently got my hands on a 4870X2, because I decided that I felt R700 was the winner of the current generation.

    Along with it, I've picked up the Dragon platform, (Phenom II X4 940BE, MSI DKA790GX-Platinum).
  • I do have one question, and it's probably stupid.

    My motherboard seems kinda odd, because I tried to install a wireless card in it and the blasted thing wouldn't fit in the PCI slot without taking the backplate off of it.

    I have an Asus P5N73-AM mobo (it's micro atx but the case is an atx) and I was wondering if there's a way to find out if the video card will fit on the mobo with all the little backplates and things on it.

    I knew some of those but definitely a lot made me go "Oh, I guess I should ask.."
  • adibaha
    Thank you very much for this informative post.
    I'm about to make a purchase of a new computer system and upgrade the old one and hand it over to my cousin.
    We wanted to upgrade from the old video card - GeForce 5200, to a 9800GTX 1GB, and I now realize that this is not a smart thing to do.
    The Computer is Pentium-D CPU with PCI-e 1.0 and 512MB RAM.
    Its very easy to make at least one of the six mistakes at best.
  • @Carl The blog is designed to do so automatically when your e-mail match with Gravatar database.
  • Carl Waring
    Hey! It picked up my Gravatar. No fair! Didn't ask it to do that!!! :-D
  • Carl Waring
    An excellent article; thanks.

    @Shawn. How you can "consider driver quality"? Surely you need to download and install the drivers before you know how good they are?

    Or was that just a crack at Nvidia? ;-)

    And how do you know if they, for example, could be better even after you've installed them?
  • www.hardware-revolution.com - now in my rss reader)))
  • teddy
    thank you. thank you. very informative. i got a great treat. very easy to read and super organized. the ideas just flowed from ur head to mine. i feel like i know soo much now. thnks
  • fuck i made all of these mistakes.
  • FabreFaction
    Look you bunch of wannabee geeks...........

    Check out the VGA charts on Toms Hardware (website).
    This will help you choose a video card.

    Getta life, or a PS3, or both................
  • Macgyver
    Great article! Being self trained on computers however through trial and error, I learned early on that faster isn't better or that software will make my computer jump through hoops. Point being do the research as with the example of a slower CPU and the fast card. Best thing to do is check with your friends and buddies to what hardware they are running and get the usual bitch and moans from them and go from there.
  • Shawn
    Good article and I basically agree with all of your points, but would like to add 2 more:

    1. Consider the driver quality. You can have the best hardware in the world, but if drivers are garbage, it's wasted. I can't run several apps on one of my machines right now due to the bugginess of Nvidia's drivers.

    2. Consider reliability. I was without my laptop for a month because the video controller failed.
  • Very well said and all your points are true. Buying video card is not as simple as getting the latest one, we have to look into our system and our requirements before buying a video card.
  • Qman
    Well said.
  • Travis
    Point 4 of Teaming a powerful video card with a slow CPU is Bogus. Only a select few games like Supreme commander can truly be bottlenecked by the CPU.

    My system:
    22" Monitor
    e6300 1.86Ghz core 2 duo
    8800GT 512mb (BFG OC model) <- this card was the best money I ever spent on a computer component

    Games I play with 4x AA and 16x AS, max resolution and full effects with 30+fps:
    Call of Duty 4, & World at War
    Mass Effect
    Lord of the Rings Online
    Fear
    Prey
    Half life 2 ep 2
    many many others
  • Chris
    the word bloody isn't a fucking swear word.


    Anyways, awesome article, I didn't understand ATI's labeling system till I read this.
  • Glad to have stumbled this site before making my next card purchase. Good comments too. Very helpful.
  • Nikolaj Borg
    Very nice list. Just a small addition to the first item: Sometimes you'll find two cards with the same model number, where the 512MB version actually is faster than the 640MB version, because they used faster RAM in the 512MB version. I think this is the case for some 8800's.

    Noone said buying a gfx card had to be easy :)
  • goatsgomoo
    A few months ago, I made a bunch of mistakes which mostly came from one initial mistake: lack of research.

    I was at a Best Buy, and saw a nVidia 9800GT for about $120. I remember hearing excellent things about the video card from a while back, so I decided it was a good idea to purchase it without looking around elsewhere, figuring I could just return it later if I found a better deal elsewhere. It was a huge upgrade from what I had before, another nVidia card in the 8000 range that ended in TC. Anyways, I paid in cash and when I got home, I threw away the receipt (I still cannot think of any reason I had for doing this). The next morning, I decide to perform the upgrade. But first, I wanted to check prices online. I found a better version of the same model for about $100 on Newegg. So, I called up Best Buy to see if I can return the video card. I went to look for the receipt in the paper recycling, only to find that the recycling had been taken to the recycling center. Apparently Best Buy doesn't accept returns for items paid for in cash if the customer doesn't have a receipt. Oops.

    Well, then I decided that since Icouldn't return it, I would just install it. It was large enough that it covered up the PATA ports on my motherboard, so I had to unplug my DVD drive, which I didn't use too often anyways. After installing the card, I plugged the computer back in, hooked up everything, and turned it on. Well, I pressed the power button. I had a 430W power supply, which was insufficient to power the video card. On top of that, I needed an additional power connector for the video card.

    In the end, I upgraded my power supply and DVD drive, but only after researching features and prices. On the plus side, however, I can run modern games on high settings now! Or, rather, I could, if my motherboard wasn't screwed up.

    So kids, remember:
    1. Research the video card before buying.
    2. Compare prices from different retailers.
    3. Keep your receipt!
    4. KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!
  • Interesting read, I never knew how their naming conventions worked. That being said, generally you can also tell which cards perform better by how much they cost. Not always accurate, but more often that not it is. You tend to get what you pay for..
  • jermy
    More memory is useful for more than just higher resolutions. The memory is used for textures and a slower 512mb card may perform better in some applications than a faster 256mb card. But the title of the point is still true
  • parheliaeax
    funny.e2200 won't bottleneck your HD4870,if only you overclock it.when it comes to the conroe,oc is as easy as a pie.
  • As others have said, WoW is very hard on graphic cards..
  • Dan
    Great Post, i needed that after a few mistakes
  • Bryce Edwards
    This is usefull. I have an Nvidia/EVGA 8800 Ultra with 6 gigs of ram and a 2.4 ghz amd am2 proc with a 750 gig sata hard drive. If you replaced any of these components such as my ram with only one gig the entire system would be slow not to mention horrible orrible lag in games. READ IT... LOVE IT
  • William Throop
    How about an article on how to compare video cards, maybe include stuff like # of piplines , core clock speeds, memory clock speed, memory types ie. DDR2/DDR3, openGL 2.1 or 3 maybe define some of these terms and how they really apply to gaming.
  • P/L
    4): my experience is that people tend to overestimate the importance of the cpu. especially in modern games the video card is the most important part and spending 50$ less for the cpu and 50$ more for the video card is better in most cases - unless you're playing with 800x600 and low details the video card will be the bottleneck.
    Even an amd 4450e can be sufficient for high-end games if you have a good video card and you will barely see a difference to a quadcore, but you will feel the difference between a 4850 and a 4870.

    http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/hardware/prozessoren/2008/test_intel_core_2_duo_e8600_e0/21/#abschnitt_crysis
  • Dom
    Yup, done three of those with one card once.
  • Jrad
    Interesting read, I never knew how their naming conventions worked. That being said, generally you can also tell which cards perform better by how much they cost. Not always accurate, but more often that not it is. You tend to get what you pay for.
  • Nushi
    Great article with some valid points, thank you.

    2 years ago I bought my first GPU that I paid for myself. I went for a 7950GT just because an 8800GTX wouldn't fit in the case. The 7950GT fan soon failed and the card got replaced by an 8800GTS.
    Being able, for the first time in my life, to play some games at full settings opened my eyes. There was no going back.
    After 2 years, and an upgrade to a 24" 1920x1200 monitor, I have no regrets for buying a high end card. It's totally worth it. However, with the monitor upgrade, some games are already beginning to struggle at that resolution and I have to turn down AA/AF and other quality settings, or play at 1280x800. It's almost time for me to get something better.

    I'm not sure how much better they've become since the 8800GTS. It's an old G80 model, with 640MB memory. I'd respect anyone's comment on teh matter. Is there a single card upgrade that would last another 2 years or should I get a new mobo and go SLI and Quad-Core?
  • @b3ar

    "One of the most eye-opening things I have learned about GPU’s, and frame rates specifically, is that the monitor is most likely to bottleneck the system (taking into account what you had to say about CPU’s). Anything over 60fps isn’t getting past the 60Hz of the monitor.

    …and really, anything over 35 or 40 fps isn’t getting past yer eyeball, either."

    it's not that simple, if the CPU can handle the getting the graphics card to render more frequently it often increases the game loop performance and allows the physics and gameplay engines more CPU time to do their stuff improving the feel of the game as a whole. This of course depends on a whole host of factors from bandwidths of various communications buses to latency of RAM and hardrive and how the game loop was coded.
  • this is great advice, I can't believe how many people don't take it though.
  • lonmax
    For 10 years of crappy drivers that caused more computer problems than ANY OTHER SINGLE device or company from the 486-P2 days.

    Not to mention the making it almost impossible to find drivers for many models during the RAGE days, or mislabling drivers so you had to try 3-4 different downloads until you found the right one.
  • MacD
    I just have to comment on what you say about video card memory. You are WRONG.

    You're right in so far as what you say about screen resolution; taht's one place where video memory comes in handy. But you state that that is all video memory is used for.

    It isn't.

    Video memory also is used to store textures. The larger the video memory, the larger (higher resolution) texture sets can be used there. It makes a huge difference, as trying to squeeze a too large texture set into too msall amount of video memory will cause the game to stutter horribly as the extra textures which don't fit in video memory have to be swapped out from main memory or (shudder!) virtual memory.

    So: memory does matter, and it matters beyond screen resolution. In a big way.
  • Great list.

    This goes along with your suggestion to listen to more than one person: I always suggest people check out the VGA charts at tomshardware.com. They are a great graphical comparison of many cards, and the accompanying articles explain nicely how and why different cards perform differently.
  • Great post, I work at an electronics retailer where most customers fall into mistake category #1 and #5 - all they see is that MB # because they always relate it back to the little bit they know about computers, that more RAM = better. And just like in in #5, most of then come in wanting to get an Nvidia 8800 GTX just to play WoW. Im not commission based or anything so I've no problem steering them away from purchases like that to something a little more appropriate. Lots of misinformation out there.
  • Frank
    I agree completely with your points, and as a person who is sometimes asked for advice in these matters I always hate to see when friends waste money on systems far above what they will ever need. Still, your analogy about the cars is slightly flawed. You said...

    "This is just like someone who buys a Mustang simply because they want more horsepower. Could they travel to work and do their everyday activities with a Honda Civic? Most probably"

    Well, the guy in the Mustang will probably get there quicker - which is what most people will think when they read your analogy. The one I usually use is similar, but with an important difference...

    "This is just like someone who buys a snazzy sports car just to sit in the morning traffic jam for 45 minutes every day just as they did in their old car."

    If this doesn't get the point through then I might follow up with...

    "Meanwhile the new car payments are so much higher that there was no money for a decent AC, good stereo or cruise control, so the they have to sit there for 45 minutes listening to intermittent FM radio."
  • Laurence
    Excellent list, really sums it up well. I did already know these things, but still very good read.
  • Zimmer
    As others have said, WoW is very hard on graphic cards.
  • carny
    Well stated, and a tutorial that the card manufacturers probably won't want people to see.
  • Cokehead
    I always recommend the 8800GT from XFX. You pay a little more, but you get a double lifetime warranty (you can sell the card and the buyer will get the warranty too). It's a solid card - it acts like a high end card for the cost of a mid-range.

    That said, for higher resolutions, a newer card may be more your style. Check around and see what reviews say. Since I run at 1920x1200, the 9800GX2 was a good fit. Your mileage may vary.

    As for the 9800GT: I have no experience with it personally, but I'm under the impression that it's better for lower resolutions that still want high-def gaming. Keep in mind, I'm an nvidia fanboy. It's mostly because of XFX's awesome support and warranty. I got my 8800GT actually from their warranty service - my 7950GX2 died. They sent me a new 8800GT - I registered it, and I shocked the thing to death by mistake - and they fixed it! Amazing service.

    But you may find a good ATI retailer. I just haven't dabbled with ATI much.
  • Glad I read this, I'm looking to buy a computer. I initially had thought about buying this quad core for $750 but the graphics card was integrated intel crap, so I wanted to buy a Zotac 9800 or Geforce 9800 for $190 and then have it installed but the warranty on the comp will be voided if I do.

    So I'm looking for something with inbuilt and found one at 1500 with geforce 9800 gt - from what i've read it's a good card, price is a bit steep but i've looked at the reviews and it looks to be the best on the market without having to spend $2000.

    Would like your opinions on it.
  • Scott_T
    Dont forget fan noise! The sound of a jet fighter might be cool in a game but not if its coming out of your case all the time.
  • TechWeasel
    Great post.

    Regarding the card's dedicated graphics memory, some games are more apt to need a certain amount (generally if they render environments out to long distance). Games' recommended system requirements will generally tell you how much is necessary.

    Richard H, I would bet that if you add an extra gig or two of RAM to your system, you would notice a lot of improvement. Two gigs has become standard for mid-range gaming and will suffice for games like World of Warcraft or HalfLife2, but for cluttered environments like GTA4, you're better off with more. If you run a 32-bit OS your system will recognize and utilize a max of about 3.5 GB but that will be a huge improvement for about $50-$100.
  • Great list. I have made some of those mistakes myself in the past. #3 especially.
  • Aaron
    "If you play is Counter-Strike 1.6, WoW or the majority of games that are 2 years or older, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card."

    While I completely agree with this general statement, I have to take specific issue with WoW as an example. The most recent World of Warcraft expansion increased the hardware requirements quite a bit due to greatly increased draw distances, much denser ground clutter, increased texture detail, and nifty new shaders. In some circumstances the revamped engine can bog down my 4850 to ~15fps (1440x900, max detail settings, no AA).

    And I would be more specific than "If you play on a 17″ or 19″ screen, you probably don’t need the lastest and fastest video card." Monitor size is a poor proxy for native resolution, and it's the resolution that can decide where in a GPU family your dollar is best spent.
  • I'm a sales person at circuit city, excuse me Technology Product Specialist lol, and you would not believe how many people would purchase a video card based on memory Q_Q.

    "Hey son, I want a 512 memory card." "Excuse me?" "You know 512MB!, the thing i have right now is a PoS 256mb."
  • 1, 5 and 6 are good advices I suppose, but very obvious even to a non technical person. As for the other ones:

    Buying a newer mid range card is certainly better then an older top range one...ALWAYS. A lot of games won't run on older cards at all (they might require a newer pixel shader for example). It Won't support features newer cards do, and despite the actual power might not preform that well in newer games. A newer card will allow you to play new games as they come out longer then an older one would (what I pointed out earlier).

    Extra power connectors are not a problem. A LOT of cards actually come with a Y splitter of some sort and if they don't buying one is very cheap. Power supply wattage - good advice but pretty obvious to, check what the card needs vs. what's in the box. Stronger power supplies are not that expensive these days anyways. Card length is a no brainer.

    A stronger card is always a good thing no matter what the CPU speed. Sure a slow CPU will be the bottleneck of the system, but the benefits you get from a top range card will still be obvious and the speed difference compared to a slower card will be very noticeable. Plus if you eventually buy a better CPU you will have a card to go with it (which you will have to do sooner or later if you have an outdated and slow CPU)

    As for buying overkill videocards this is one pretty obvious to. If you have a system where everything you do runs well, you won't feel the need to upgrade in the first place.

    Look at the amount of cash you have available, read a few reviews, look at a few comparison charts. Check price vs performance. And you're set.
    Spend 30 minutes doing some research before you buy and even if you're not a technical person with little or no experience you'll have a good picture of what card to go with.

    Do some research before you buy anything for that matter. A lot of people fail to do that even these days, where all the information to make a good choice is available at our fingertips. 30 minutes of research can save you a lot of money ... and hassle.
  • Great post, slightly disagree on part of point 1 though, "you won’t need the extra memory unless you play at very high resolutions, such as 1920×1080 and/or with AA/AF quality filtering."

    I've got an NVidea 8600XT with 256Mb RAM, I ticked all the above boxes and got the later version with the faster memory rather than the 512Mb version with the slower memory.

    BUT - one game in particular screws you in this aspect - GTA4 requires truckloads of memory for good graphics settings. I'm running 800x600 with graphics quality set to very low, as with only 256Mb of RAM it severely limits the graphic detail you can put on. It disregards the fact I've got a dual core Athlon 5000+ with 2 gigs of RAM.
  • Thanks a lot mate. I've been so confused in deciding upon a card. If only they didn't have so many models in the market!! Or a proper website with benchmarks and comparisons would be awesome!
  • Joe
    Great list. Just one missing though. Make sure you check your available slots to see if they're AGP, PCI or PCI-e. I was dumb enough and did not know what the hell this meant.
  • b3ar
    Good article!

    One of the most eye-opening things I have learned about GPU's, and frame rates specifically, is that the monitor is most likely to bottleneck the system (taking into account what you had to say about CPU's). Anything over 60fps isn't getting past the 60Hz of the monitor.

    ...and really, anything over 35 or 40 fps isn't getting past yer eyeball, either.
  • I must admit that at the moment I am a large ATI fan and supporter of their products. Does anyone dislike the company? If so I really want to know why.
  • steve
    Great list. I have made some of those mistakes myself in the past. #3 especially.
  • useful article.
    I never buy newest, but I never buy lower than top-end for the specific model. Seems to work out pretty well.
    Also, I never become a fanboy for any particular company. Sometimes, ATI is better, sometimes NVidia is better. Right now I prefer ATI.
  • bruce kay
    "Measure the space available for the video card in your case (Usually from the back of the case to the hard drive cage) and double-check the length of the card, which is usually found under the specs, before buying it. Check reviews and/or contact the store if you’re unsure."

    The length of the card is NOT found anywhere in the specs.I remember looking everywhere, even called places and not getting anywhere when I was trying to breathe life into my old aging AGP system and wanting an x1950 agp. Got it anyway and was wayyy too big.
    Good article tho!
  • HardBoot
    Points 1 to 3 are true... same with 5 and 6.
    Here's where the geek RAEGGGGGGEEEEE comes into play.
    "make sure to team up your video cards with a blazing fast quad-core CPU. Most games may not benefit from quad-core yet, but the video drivers and the cards themselves will"
    You do realize DirectX and OpenGL isn't multithreaded... 1 core or 8 cores in a 2P will offer the same graphical performance, if you're already meting the CPU requirements of the rest of the game.
  • John Jones
    Wow its just too crazy dude. I Dont get it.

    Jess
    www.Privacy-Center.net
  • This came at the right time when I was looking for to upgrade one of my desktop's video card. My initial plan was to go with higher memory but this article educated me that it's beyond just memory. Thank you for sharing this.
  • Awesome stuff! Wish I would have known all of this before I purchased the super-duper video card online, and then it wouldn't fit inside the tower. Plus, I had to return it for a 15% re-stocking fee.

    Yes, careful thinking and planning ahead is always a good thing. Thanks for pointing all of this out.

    WebGyver
  • James Feragola
    Very good article.
  • sorry to swear but that was a bloody useful post! I can't count the amount of times I didn't buy a card because I couldn't tell if it would be good enough at the right price. now I have all this information, I can spend even more time choosing! lol
  • velior
    That was a realy helpfull post!
    There's no point on buying the latest technology without checking our needs first, unless we want to be sponsors of the video card industry!
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