Which Graphics Card Should I Buy?




Nothing puts a smile on a gamer's face like the smell of a brand new graphics card. The ability to see the sweat trickle down your opponent's face while you pump him with shotgun rounds can only be captured if you have a graphics card that's powerful enough. But, most of the time, a graphics card is seen as an extra investment, which it is to some extent, so why buy it?

Why should I invest in a graphics card, what about my onboard graphics?

Well, quite frankly, onboard graphics only meet the minimum requirements of a game, which means you can play the game, but the experience wouldn't be very enjoyable. If you only plan on playing Solitaire, you need not read further. Now-a-days, with Nvidia promoting CUDA and ATI coming out with their Stream technology, your graphics card is being used for more than gaming, such as for applications like video encoding (Badaboom and AVIVO), physics processing (Nvidia's PhysX), and multimedia features like Photoshop CS4, which supports hardware acceleration.

Instead of pointing out the features you should look for when you go card hunting, we've defined three categories/characters of gamers, who have completely different mindsets; it's up to you to figure out which category you belong to.


The Entry Level Joe
This is the guy who doesn't take gaming seriously but loves an occasional Deathmatch in UT3. He may be a casual gamer or someone on a really tight budget who enjoys Crysis a lot.

Prerequisites
There really isn't any special requirement for graphics cards for users of this category since their games would draw all the power from the PCI-E slot it self. You can even get away with a slower CPU because speed won't be an issue. Just make sure your motherboard has a PCI-E slot (it will be the first and the longest slot, mostly with a clip at the end).

Recommended Graphics Card - ATI HD4670




Right now the best entry level card you can get is ATI's HD 4670, which falls in the price range of Rs. 5200 to Rs. 5600. This graphics card is based on the RV730 core and features 320 shader units, with 512MB of GDDR 3 memory and very good default speeds of 750MHz for the core and 2000MHz for the memory. The only catch is the memory bus, which is stripped down a little to 128 bit instead of the standard 256 bit, which is expected, since it is an entry level card.

The thing I like best about this card is the power consumption figures, which you can read here. If you look at the graph, you can see that the Idle power draw is low at just 8W, while on full load it goes to just 58W. Its direct competitor from Nvidia, the 9600GSO, uses up to 46W when doing nothing, and goes all the way up to 108W on full load. 

The Mid-range Junkie
Here we have a slightly different breed of gamers; those that are willing to shell out around 10K to 15K for a graphics card. In this segment, you'll typically find people with a 17" to 19" monitor, so the maximum resolution will be either 1280 x 1024 or 1440 x 900 (wide). The cards in this segment will easily allow you to crank all the way up at native resolution and will also leave some room for the future.

Prerequisites
Before you go out and splurge, there are a couple of things that you need to have on your check list.

CPU : You need to make sure that you at least have a Dual Core CPU, an AMD Athlon X2 or an entry level Core2Duo, just make sure the speed is above 2.0 GHz, and a little overclocking won't hurt.

Power Supply : A often neglected component of a system, power supply is a crucial component when building a gaming system. Midrange cards typically require a 6-pin PCI-E power connector to work optimally. Make sure you at least have a 450W PSU from a reputed brand like Antec, CoolerMaster, Corsair, or Tagan; all of which are easily available today. If you're upgrading, make sure your new PSU has a 6-pin connector.

Recommended Graphics Card -ATI HD4850




The HD4850 from ATI continues to rule this segment showing strong performance ability with Anti-Aliasing enabled for all of the games available today. Based on the RV770 core, this card packs in 512MB of GDDR3 memory running on a full 256-bit bus. It requires a single PCI-E power connector and will fit into most midsized cabinets due to its slim profile.

The HD4850 falls into the price bracket of Rs. 8500 to Rs. 9500 and is available from all major brands like Palit, Sapphire, Asus, and even XFX. Its direct competitor, the 9800GTX+ from Nvidia, offers a similar performance but is priced around 2K-3K more, making the HD4850 a much better buy.

The High-End Freak

Recession has hit us hard, but that doesn't seem to stop gamers from splurging on high-end gear. If you belong to this segment, then you'd probably have done your homework before you go on a spending spree, but there are many brave souls who don't do so. Here are a couple of items you should have on your shopping list to take full advantage of your high-end graphics card.

Prerequisites

CPU : Make sure you have a fast dual core CPU with at least 3.0GHz core speed; either that or a quad core, but again, going by today's games, the speed of the CPU makes more of a difference than two extra cores. It's still going to be a while before we see true multi-threaded games.


22" monitor or above: To really exploit your high-end card, ideally you should have a 22" monitor with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 or above.

 
Power Supply: Once again, make sure you have at least a 600W PSU from a reputed brand. This is surely going to drive your upgrade budget up, but hey, we are in the high-end segment now, so you cannot expect to cut corners. A typical 600W PSU from Corsair or Tagan will set you back around Rs. 6000 or upwards.

Recommended Graphics Card - Nvidia GeForce GTX 285






We've chosen the GeForce GTX295 for two reasons, first for the incredible performance it offers, and second, for the really low power consumption thanks to the new 55nm fabrication process.


Nvidia's GTX285 is the next iteration of the GTX280 and features the new 55nm fabrication process giving a low thermal and power foot print. The specifications haven't changed much from the original, with the new GTX285 sporting 240 shader units and 512MB of GDDR3 memory running on the 512-bit memory bus. This allows the card to achieve a high frame rate even at full HD (1920 x 1200) resolution, which means, no compromise when it comes to cranking up the eye candy in today's top 3D games.

For The Elite Few
This is a group of people who do not belong to the ordinary. These elite gamers demand nothing but the best and, not to mention, take their gaming very seriously. They will do anything to get the max out of each graphic setting, even if it means stacking up a couple or even more graphics cards in CrossFire or SLI.

One of the great things about SLI or CrossFire is that your gaming needs are easily taken care of for the next two years without the need for an upgrade. The downside is obviously the cost, not only for the two cards but for a CrossFire or SLI ready motherboard and a high-end quad core CPU to balance the system.




If you don't want to go through all that hassle, ATI and Nvidia have done the dirty work for you with their flagship offerings, the HD4870 X2 and the Geforce GTX295, both of which are dual-GPU cards that feature two graphics cores pre-configured in SLI or CrossFire, allowing you to use it with any motherboard with a single PCI-E slot. Between the two though, we have to pick the GeForce GTX295 for its incredible performance and not to mention the very modest power consumption figures. Nvidia's shift to the 55nm fabrication process has definitely been working in their favor as they reclaim the crown for the fastest card in the world. The GTX295 starts off with a price tag of 34K, and if you are really crazy, why not pick two of them?

To Sum It Up

Long story short, no matter what graphics card you end up buying, just make sure your system is balanced. Putting a high-end card on a system with a single core CPU does not make sense. Check your budget, if you already have a good CPU then save up and splurge on a mid-end to high-end card. If you're still stuck with an Athlon64 or a Pentium 4, I would suggest that you zero in on the card you aspire to own and then build your system around it keeping the size of your monitor (mid-range card for 17" or 19", high-end card for anything above 22") in mind. Remember, you don't always have to have the best graphics card to truly enjoy a game. 
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