Best possible GPU for 1440x900 gaming without bottlenecking/overkill?

What's the absolute best GPU I can get get right now to use with a 19" LCD for games like HL2, Bioshock, COD4, Crysis(although I know its in a category of its one) with highest settings and as much AA and AF as possible? Native res. is 1440x900. Thanks.

forgot to mention i play all of those and on high(even crysis with 4xaa)@1440x900.

What's your budget? If it's under $200 than a 3850 512mb would do. If around $250 or so a 3870 or a 8800gt (although it can be a little hot running). If you have a about $300 than the 8800gts 512mb (g92) would be the best bet. If you have $450 or so than the 3870x2 would be the best. It all depends on your budget.

thanks for the replies every1

Yes, but if you upgrade your monitor in 6 mo. to a 24" or higher, you'd definately want to have the added power. The 3850 512mb would be a perfect fit under $200. If you can spend more, I'd consider the ones I listed earlier by price.

Edit: forgot to ask what is your current system specs, including PSU make/model?

Graphics cards? overkill? same sentence? - There's no such thing as overkill except an 8800 ultra. Get the fastest single card you can afford and your psu can handle. An 8800gts 512mb never seeing a higher res than 1400x900 would last you for Y E A R S !, on a side note 2xaa & 8xaf is 90% as good as 4xaa & 16af and give you loads more frames if you choose an ati card. High shaders, physics, object detail and water with rest on medium and NO aa is all you need for crysis. Using aa would kill crysis fps even with a gts 512mb.

Well, I went for overkill. I still have a 17" Viewsonic A71f CRT and game at 1280 x 1024. It will be anywhere between 2 weeks to a month before I can upgrade to a 20" Viewsonic LCD with 1650 x 1200.

I have a 3870x2 "out for delivery" today and when the AMD 690v motherboard arrives tomorrow, I'll transfer my CPU from the outdated Nvidia 405 board. Then I'll see what fps I get in The Witcher! It replaces a 7600gs!

I agree with Lunyone who recommended you get the best you can afford. In fact, going quad core almost obligates a great card. Admittedly, R700 will be out in 6th months or so, plus 45nm quad cores from Intel and AMD, but waiting is never fun.

I do wish there were a decent chart listing the CPU where bottlenecks vanish with each card at resolutions of 1280 x 1024 and lower. One of the reasons I want to go to a higher resolution monitor when I can is to avoid any possible bottlenecks with an Athlon X2 4600+.

I want a Phenom, but I'm waiting till 45nm. Does anyone think that an X2 4600+ is too light for gaming this year? IMHO, even when the B3 stepping arrives, 65nm's days are numbered in month's, not the indefinite future.

Even if you had a dual core, CPU bottlenecking disappears at 1440 x 900, so you'd not have those issues. Getting a quad core was a good idea. For an Intel CPU, your only other choice would be waiting. Were it not for B2 errata and heat issues, I would not wait on the AMD side.

Overkill with GPU would depend on the person. You might not think so but I would never spend $500-600 on a video card that will be obsolete in 3 years or less especially most of us are on a budget.

I think these new cards won't last you for years playing at highest detail with some kind of AA. That's just wishful thinking. Wasting big money on a gpu can put a big hole in your pocket. Those who bought a 7900gtx for $500 are wishing they didn't buy that card. It performs about fast as a 1950pro or slower in any of the games today. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying high end cards. There is always a sweet spot without breaking the bank to get most out of your money. Current sweet spot is 3850. It's not too far off 8800gt performance once overclocked for fraction of 8800gt price.

OP you should buy 3850 at least but recently 8800gt has come down in price if you shop around.

Can I make one suggestion man if you haven't already ordered? Get this motherboard instead. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128080

The DS4 kicks so much ass and it's the same price with a higher-end chipset. Gigabyte has really stepped up to the plate this chipset generation and delivered some of the best motherboards I've seen in a long time.

Because you mention crysis, and want the highest settings with fsaa, you better consider an 8800GTS 512MB. It should handle DX9 14x9 high with 4xaa/16xaf, but no way DX10 very high at those settings. For the other games, many other cards would do at those settings.

So what is your framerate with it off?