video card

[cement]

sooo im on the market for a new video card and was wondering what you guys thought would be a good fit for my pc. i dont know much about computers so i could use the help!

the card im using now is GeForce GT220 1gb ddr2 pci express 2.0 .

i use my tv as my monitor so i was looking for a hdmi port. the specs on my comp tell me i need ddr2 and im using pci-e. can i use a ddr3 card? some sites say yes most say no because it wont fit or some crap.

if anyone could point me in a good direction that would be so helpful and maybe it will help me from d/cing every 10 minutes in raids.
btw its so good to see everyone pouring back in! i want to be ready for some fun with you guys.
thanks!
ct

[Drewbie]

probably need to give some more details about your computer for people to help you

But before buying a new video card make sure you downloaded the latest patches for it to make sure that is not the issue.

[Gid]

The sites you see saying that DDR3 won't work on a DDR2 board is because they're talking about RAM, not the memory on a video card. You don't have to worry about the type of RAM on a video card really, anything should work so long as its a PCI-E 2.0 compatible card. Of course, better memory will give you better performance. But the card itself is the biggest factor in performance.

The important questions that need to be asked are:

• What's your budget?
• Besides WoW, what other games or programs will you be running?
• How much room do you have inside your case? Video cards keep getting longer and longer, and finding a video card that fits in your case is a real concern nowadays.
• How comfortable are you with overclocking?
• What is the rest of your computer like? No use buying a high-end video card if you're going to hit a CPU bottleneck

In terms of budget and performance needs, Tom's Hardware puts out an article once a month that suggests best buys for certain budgets. It also includes a performance hierarchy chart that I find invaluable. you can find the latest such article here.

Of particular interest are the Radeon HD 5770, HD 5830, and the GeForce GTX 460. These three cards all offer great performance-to-cost ratios. The HD 5770 is a good bit cheaper than the other two cards, but can be pretty easily overclocked to match or come close to the other two mentioned. If you're not comfortable with overclocking, the other two won't steer you wrong.

Of course, if you have more money to burn and want something blistering fast, you can take a look at cards like the HD 5850, 5870, or 5970. I'd recommend those over the other GeForce 4xx series cards, but the GeForce cards aren't too bad.

Another big factor as I mentioned above is your CPU and other computer specs. Let me know what those are and I can make further recommendations.

[cement]

omj Gid you are so totally awesome!
soo actually i bought this Gateway off tigerdirect.com
i have no idea what or how to overclock either
if the link doesnt work its item number is: G180-4514

thank you!

[Gid]

Assuming I'm looking at the right computer then, its not bad. A lot of RAM, CPU will be your limiting factor. I see its a Athlon X4 805. Not the best, but fairly decent. Coincidentally, Tom's Hardware also does an article on gaming CPU's like the video cards, and has a hierarchy chart for CPUs, too. Here it is.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend either the HD 5770, HD 5830, or GTX 460. Anything higher and you might be CPU bottlenecked. Lemme check real quick to see what the physical dimensions of these cards are...

GT 220 190x100x16mm
GTX 460 200x100x33mm
HD 5770 200x100x33mm
HD 5830 259x137x38mm

So, the GTX 460 and the HD 5770 are the same size and only barely longer than your old GT220. The HD 5830 is considerably longer at 259 mm (10.5 inches). So, assuming you have the room in your case for the 5830 to fit, any of those cards ought to do. Whichever way you go, you'll see a quite significant performance increase over your old GT 220.

[cement]

you have been so much help gid, thanks again!

im interested in getting the HD 5770. i think itll do well in my machine.
before i click to buy i just want to make sure that above is the video card you were talking about.

[Gid]

Yep, looks good. Enjoy the card, its actually the same model I have =) Just from a different company, I think. I forget who packaged mine exactly. Meh, whatever.

[cement]

hey gid the new card came in the mail the other day but when i went to install it i noticed i didnt have an extra power supply connector wire floating in my pc. i know the cards power source calls for a 3x3 connector i think a pci e connector? i saw there was a 2x2 coming out of the power supply hooking into the mother board buut i dont know if thats powering the mother board or the old on board graphics card? i dont know
if i can take the 2x2 out of the mother board i think i would just have to get an adapter?
there were actually two ends to the chord i think 4 prongs long?
i dont know anything about this mumbo jumbo and thank you in advance for your help if you can even!

[Gid]

Yeah, don't unplug that 2x2 cord. That goes into the motherboard, and you need it.

You can get an adapter for that PCI-E connector. It'll take two of the 4-pin connectors and give you the PCI-E connector.

Like this one.

[cement]

!thanks again gid you have really been helpful! i just purchased the adapter so hopefully when i get home in s couple of days ill be able to set things up real fast.

hopefully no more d/cing! if not i need a new modem