Need some computer graphics help…

[StainlessBullet]

A few weeks ago I brought home a new computer to replace the one I’ve been using for the past six years. It’s not the fastest thing out there, but it’s a lot faster than what I was using. I’m really big into Flight Sim and games like Call of Duty, etc. and the one bad thing about the computer is that it has an integrated graphics card, which pretty much sucks on the games performance.

I would like to find a good HD capable graphics card for under $300. Anyone have any recommendations? Should I go with ATI or Nvidia? Anyone have any particular models they recommend?

The new computer specs,

HP p6733w-b
AMD Phenom II 511
3.4 Ghz Dual-Core
5GB DDR3 System Memory
750GB Hard Drive
Windows 7
23” Full 1080p HD monitor

[Ozzie]

Gahhh!! Get off that motherboard graphic chip. Almost anything will be a noticable improvement.

I run similar specs to yours, and have an ATI 5770 which is not bad and you can get really cheap today - but I don't run a lot of graphic intensive applications (aka: games).

My son has similar system specs, little better, and he recently got a GeForce 560 (under $300) and says he gets very good performance on BF3 (very graphic intensive demands of the system running it), and that his bottleneck now is the CPU.

Don't worry too much about ATI or AMD, at the specs you (and I) are running, there won't be a big difference between them because the CPU won't be able to keep up with a good graphics card, either brand/chipset.

[StainlessBullet]

My son has similar system specs, little better, and he recently got a GeForce 560 (under $300) and says he gets very good performance on BF3 (very graphic intensive demands of the system running it), and that his bottleneck now is the CPU.

Thanks for the reply Ozzie.

I was actually looking at that card tonight in Best Buy. I noticed there were 3 different versions, 560, 560ti, and a 560ti “overclocked”. Which is your son running?

There wasn’t too much of a price difference between the three. 560 was alittle cheaper than the 560ti overclocked. The 560ti was $20 more than the overclocked one. I'm not exactly sure which one of the three would be the best.

[Ozzie]

No problem. I'd get the cheapest of the three.

You would probably notice very little difference between either on your system. On a faster system, maybe. Also I don't like the OC versions, they are pushed a little harder, and if they are properly designed/sold, they should have a little larger fan/heatsink, which also makes them bigger.

Make sure your system can support the board, I believe most of those are double width. You may have to remove or relocate a board that is already in your system. My system came with a TV-Tuner card which I had to remove, because the graphic card ate into its space. No loss, I never had it plugged into the cable system anyways.