This one, or this one?

Okay! Simply put, I'ma gamer and i need a new and good Graphic Card that will make me go wow when i play the games that matters today & tomorrow, etc WoW, mw2/Black ops! Also, without any lagg

So i read the best Graphic Card for the money Article, so i found x2 Cards that seemed to be very good for the money...

1. Radeon HD 5870 1 GB

Codename: RV870 "Cypress"
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 1600
Texture Units: 80
ROPs: 32
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 850
Memory Speed MHz: 1200 (4800 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0

2. GeForce GTX 470

Codename: GF100
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 448
Texture Units: 56
ROPs: 40
Memory Bus: 320-bit
Core/Shader Speed MHz: 607 / 1215
Memory Speed MHz: 837 (3348 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0

I myself can basically nothing about computers, i mean im not TOTALLY clueless, but overall my knowledge is very tiny
So... I need some help here. I can spend about 390$ on a Grapic Card, which i think isnt too shabby.
If i understand this right, you cant have any RAM, Motherboard in order for a new Card to work? (correct me if im wrong).

So im gonna tell you whats inside of my computer incase you need the info.

Processor: Phenom(tm) 9500 Quad-Core Processor 2.20GHz
RAM: 4GB
OS: Win7 64-bit

Hmm, i can't find wich type of motherboard i have, the information above i got by just right clicking on computer->properties. Let me know if u need the motherboard info and i shall get it!

I have a full HD monitor aswell if that has anything to do with it...

P.S. I bought my computer, it's not self made. And aloso, im getting a new case (i think thats the right word, or "box" maybe?) aswell for my computer. So if you have any good suggestions for that aswell, feel free to let me know! Anything from 74-104$ should be good

You listed the same card twice. Unless that's a typo, I would have to go with the HD Radeon 5870 1 GB.

If it were me, I would go with the Gigabyte GTX470 SuperOverclock for $349 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125338
http://www.guru3d.com/article/giga [...] oc-review/

Hmmm

If you have a Phenom 9500, you probably have PCI-E 2.0, which means you'd be fine with almost every card out today.

As Matt listed, a 470 SOC would be great, as it gets very close to a 480 in performance. It'd destroy WoW and MW2, and I'm sure it'd also spank Black Ops easily.

A 5870 would also accomplish this, and the SOC edition does beat a reference 5870.

But are you really going to notice a difference between 130 FPS and 120? Nope.

You WILL however, notice power usage and heat levels, and the unfortunate fact is that a 470 SOC will use 50 watts more, and run about 8 degrees Celsius hotter, than a 5870. If you don't care about this, then get the 470.

Hmm, first of all, what is a PCI-E 2.0? xD
And what u mention about the 470 is ~8degrees hotter then the 5870. I mean, since i bought this computer and not self build it, it usually means its not good ventilation, in other words, little fans or bad fans, in this case yes. I have i think one fan and my computer now are getting pretty hot i think.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/giga [...] oc-review/
This card does vent heat inside the case. A reference type model would vent heat outside the case. I started a thread several weeks ago asking if it was a problem to vent heat inside vs outside the case, and no one seemed to think it was a problem.

I allways play on highest resolution after getting my new monitor, Samsung SyncMaster BX2335. What do you mean with "wich power supply do i have" Im not english so its maybe a word i alrdy know but dont know the translation of it?

the Power Supply of your computer the (PSU) also what motherboard do you have, you might benefit from a crossfire or sli configuration but if your looking for a single card a would probly go for the 5870 for max settings

are you overclocking that slow ass phenom quad.?
amd chip then got ATI card, my opinion..
my personal preference is the nVidia gtx470 oc'd. lol
you planning on sli or crossfire too.?

I would say it's time to figure out which Power Supply Unit you have (PSU, where you plug in the power cord). Newer cards demand more power and an older system may not have enough power. If you have an owner's manual, it will be listed as "xxx watts".

Hehe Yeah then i knew what it was all along, lol. Hmm, think i ditched the manual tho lol, any other way to check it?

yeah open your case and find out the make and model of it, oftentimes specs are even listed on the side you should be able to see its amperage and wattage

lol well i would say overall the gtx 470 is a better buy right now, supposedly it is better than a 5850 and slighty worse than a 5870 in most situations, however I think a gtx 470 represents the best value in that price range right now, if you can afford a 5870 than go for that but otherwise the gtx 470 will more than suit your needs but you will probly needs to overclock you processor if you want to squeeze all the juice out of your graphics card. So the 50-100 dollars that you save by not buying a 5870 can be used towards an aftermarket cpu cooler, or maybe even a processor upgrade, but you already have a quad core so i would just look into overclocking. However without knowing your motherboard, ram, and the rest of your system there is no telling how stable an overclock might be, and if you have a low end mother board than you might not be able to overclock much at all. This is why all this information is important and pertinent when asking a simple question such as what graphics card do i buy on here.

Are we talking about the GTX 470 or GTX 470 SOC, or are they the same? And what do i do when i overclock my processor?

I would never pay extra money for an overclocked version of a card just get the cheapest gtx 470 you can find and overclock it yourself with a free utility such as msi afterburner. Processor can be overclocked in the bios, but again, without knowing your motherboard I cannot direct you any further with that. Also you do not want to just start overclocking it if you have no clue what your doing, I would start a new thread in the appropriate forum for that to learn about overclocking. It involves incrementing and testing, there is no "fool proof" method although it is not hard. Also you looking at a marginal fram increase for the superclocked version which usually increases the cost of the graphics card significantly. Go with the cheapest gtx 470 you can find and overclock it yourself, if not the superclocked version will not be a whole lot better than the standard version and not worth it in my opinion.

More importantly you need to get a new power supply and video card than worry about overclocking your cpu and gpu

Please read the review I linked. Yes, the Gigabyte SOC is a custom build with a very quiet and effective custom cooler. After reading through numerous reviews, this particular card really stands out.

Yup, i am reading it. @ page 3atm

from past experience with gigabyte I would say that they are a very quality manufacturer of motherboards and gpus. However it all depends on price if you are paying 50-60 extra than no its def not worth it. But if the prices are marginally different and you do not know how to overclock than it might be a good idea to get the superclocked ed. It all depends on price, do realize though that although the gigabyte card may stay cooler and have a higher clock it is still a gtx 470 chip and will not be much different from any other gtx 470 cards. I can however say that I better designed cooler on a card is a big thing if you have an old case with bad airflow especially how enclosed a packard bell I imagine to be. it all depends on what your goigng to do with it for the average user the standard clock gtx 470 is more than enough an will likley save you a few bucks but if you can pick up to superclocked ed for a small price more than go for it by all means, really you cant go too wrong either way

gigabyte is usually top of the line quality

Normally I would, but the overclock is not the main selling point for this card. The custom cooler is really what sets the Gigabyte apart. The regular GTX470 has been plagued by the well-documented heat and noise issue. Overclocking the reference cooler only adds more heat and noise. With a custom cooler, the Gigabyte SOC is "nearly silent", as the review says, and it keeps the card a full 20c cooler at load than the stock card. Add in the factory overclock for even better performance, and it's a pretty good combination. As you can see from the review, it comes very close to top of the line GTX480 performance, and generally beats the 5870 in the games you mentioned you wanted to play.

This review from Tom's Hardware also points out the differences in the card's design:
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2713.html

"Gigabyte's card has a unique circuit board that differs from the reference model. The GV-N470SO-13I sports a beefy 14-phase PWM design, with 12 phases for the GPU and two phases for the memory. Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable VGA+ specification covers a blanket of features that it claims provides the following benefits: 2 oz. copper PCB for better cooling, tier-one Samsung and Hynix memory for better overclocking potential, Japanese solid capacitors for reliability, ferrite core/metal chokes to prevent energy loss, low RDS on MOFSET for faster electric current charging and discharging, and high-quality film capacitors. We have tested Gigabyte's Ultra Durable claims in the past--specifically the benefits of 2 oz. of copper on the PCB--and found the results have some merit."

"Gigabyte’s GV-N470SO-13I Super Overclock edition card performs very well compared to Nvidia’s reference GeForce GTX 470. The ~100 MHz core clock and ~200 MHz shader clock rate advantage result in tangible speed-ups in a number of games. More importantly, the Gigabyte card manages to pull off better performance while using less power than the reference card, sustaining cooler GPU temperatures, and generating less noise in the process."

"Gigabyte’s Super Overclock card has to be the most impressive GeForce GTX 470 we’ve seen yet."

nvm, i found out. Gigabyte GeForce 470 Super Overclock, correct?

Ah thanks! I will be reading that review aswell after im done reading 1000 others
And oh yeah, im still tryin' to find out which mobo i have, and next to the cable that goes into my PSU there's a label which says: 230VAC, is this is? Im trying not to open *** up, cus this case is such a pain in the ass

Haha you do that, GL!

lol true, is it necessary to shut down the PC?

Shut down the PC and unplug the power cord.

Any reference to the IMEDIA A6500 NCD is in a language I don't speak. I'm guessing the PSU in your PC will not be enough.

By the way, if you're Swedish, I'm a big fan of Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Franzen, and any other Swedish players on the Detroit Red Wings.

If you are not getting the Superoverclock version, then go for the cheapest GTX470 available. You need a power supply capable of delivering ~550-600 watts. You may want to consider a slight downgrade to a GTX460 if power and the rest of your system are not ideal for a 470.