I have basically got $300 to spend on a card as mine seems to be dying.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150172

For the money is this the best I can go for? Or are there any in this range that are better?

Just in case.............

my mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131014

My case + PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811156062

Thx.

Also, I have a 500w PSU so I should be OK I believe?

Are those extended warranties worth the money?

Oh and it's compatible with DX9 right?

thx

It's compatible with Direct X 10. And what is your current graphics card, out of curiosity?

Piece of pooh 7300GS

Also ended up plopping for this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130071

After chatting with their tech support before ordering he assured me my PSU will be fine. Got a couple (2) more amps than I need.

that's quite a card there . . .

Yeah, but someone on gfaqs said I'm running a risk with a PSU that came with my case.

If this is truly the case should I plop for this lesser card just to be safe?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150172

Went over it with EVGA tech support again and they said to definitely give it a try. There shouldn't be a problem. But if there is I'll just have to get a better PSU which wouldn't be the end of the world.

I would rather wait for the ATI dx10 cards to be released, especially after the AMD and ATI merger.

Got it today. PSU had no qualms.

There was one problem however. Fitting the damn thing in. It's fucking HUGE. Longer than measurements people were giving in the reviews (on newegg). My dirk tooth bar had to be completely removed due to its height and I had to push so many damn wires around. Then to make sure it snapped in completely I had to really squash one of my IDE cables. I was a little worried it was too squashed but it doesn't seem too bad.

The performance is absolutely staggering. Running everything on 1680x1050 with such smooth frame rates is like moving from night to day.

It's such a shame it'll be useless in a couple of years (if I'm lucky).

Oh and I had to remove a PCI card cos it takes up double space............ No 2nd ethernet port for me. God it's such a fatass.

Any particular reason why? The ATI drivers suck. They rely on the .net framework for Windows which is still essentially in development for the most part.

Well, nvidia has been kinda crappy about drivers lately. Chances are they might stop making drivers for AMD CPUs due to the AMD/ATI merger.

right, and lose half their customers?

lol

How do you figure? Both drivers, regardless of generation, are still built on the x86 architecture, warts and all. The only difference is that one is written for native use and one is written for a particular framework. Coding drivers for x86 becomes cpu-independent as long as it still supports x86. If ATI dropped their dependence on .net, I'd wholeheartedly support their chipsets. As it stands, .net has gone through three full versions between substantial changes in DirectX 9. That's not exactly a stable environment on which to base your drivers.

EDIT: By native, I mean within the XP system. nVidia drivers work with hardware on the DirectX level specifically. ATI drivers need a second layer to interract with the DirectX format.

a bit of a rumor that has been going around ever since the AMD/ATI merger. Hence the key word being "might"




Well nothing is set in stone now, but I am curious as to what plans AMD-ATI now has.