Which graphic card to get for gaming?

[jmaster18]

Dont wait get gtx475 or amd 6850.Thats my recommendation.

[Hellfire]

"...but GTX 475..are you serious? That chip (first generation Fermi heating crap??) isnt good at all."

hell, I'm starting to think that I should get 8800GT, there's no argument about that one!

[devilek]

I ve said it, because GTX 570 will be great card...also you should upgrade your CPU with this card...
Without upgrading CPU, I will buy HD 6850...best card for about 200dollars

[Hellfire]

so 6850 it is!

[Felix]

Love the thread guys. Lots of great points made and a question that everyone wants answering. I can see that over the months as new hardware comes out we will continue to revisit this question in various forms...

What is the best graphics card to get right now?

or

What is the best processor to get right now?

With so many factors to consider, from price to performance to availabilty to compatibility I am sure many people will enjoy reading everyones opinions. The more questions and answers the better. If you have a question you can bet your ass that hundreds of other gamers will also have the same question bubbling away in their mind and maybe a few others will have that awesome answer we all crave.

So if you are average Joe gamer reading this forum I implore you, don't sit back quietly, slip on your hardware geek hat and register on the forum and shoot the breeze with us. We love to hear what you have to say.

[jmaster18]

Yes 6850 the best available video card right now.And I suggest you dont upgrade your cpu yet.Wait until prices go down and in one and a ahalf year i suggest geting an AMD cpu with 6 cores.

[Hellfire]

i think i'll wait a little longer for the prices to go down,let's say,after new year...thanks again for advices,folks!
i've noticed that a number of games that use/require physx is increasing...what nvidia's cards would you recommend that cost also up to 300 dollars and have more-less the same performance as 6850?

[jmaster18]

Look I mostly prefer nVidia card but 6850 really worths it.It is one of the few new Amd cards with 256 bit and all other features are good.

[devilek]

Physx is mainly counted by CPU, but if you want nvidia chip, you have to wait for GTX 560/550 (comming next year) now you can buy GTX 460, which is 5% less powerful than HD 6850

[R6exR6]

IMO, Athlon X2 will hold back your GPU. Even with the best GPU, you'll not be able to max settings like what the OP had intended in the 1st post. Anything at or above 6850 or 460 will be wasted. Even the mainstream 6850 & 460 will be bottlenecked by the Athlon X2. There're lots of articles from Tomshardware about this that you can read up on. If I were OP, I'll either (1) upgrade CPU to X4 965BE + GTX 560/570/580 or (2) get Sandy Bridge in a month's time or (3) just buy the GTX 460 768MB (I like PhysX) and play at high settings (max 4 MSAA) on a 18.5 inches monitor (or 26 inches LCD TV) with low res of 1366 x 768.

You can have a look at this very helpful website for info on building a balanced gaming rig: http://www.hardware-revolution.com/

They detail matching components needed for $400 to $2000 builds.

OBTW, there's no GTX 475.