What GPU should I get for my PC

Radeon HD 6870 or GTX 560 Ti would suffice.

If you wanted even less power consumption then a GTX 550 Ti would do well on that resolution

For 210$, of course ati. 6870 will be good for you. It is around 170$ and you can play 1920x1200res.

It require 151watt for its own. You need 650w psu which will be good for you. Get a decent psu like, corsair, antec, xfx,seasonic etc.

If you can manage 235$, then you can get a 6950 which is very good.

If you want less power consumption then get a HD7770. It only require 80w and price will be ~160$. Performance will be near to 6850.

Yep either a 7770, or a GTX 560 ti will be perfect for you on that res for the years to even come

My vote is the AMD HD 7770. It's got decently low power consumption and it should be able to power modern games at 1024x768 for the foreseeable future.

Also, graphics cards won't have any impact on how sharp font appears.

But gtx 560ti will cost more. It is better to get 6950 with nearly same price as 560ti.

A 6950 or a 560 ti are way way WAY overkill for 1024x768. In fact, a 7770 is probably overkill for today's games at that resolution but it's a good value as far as power consumption & "future proofing" are concerned.

The cheapest 6950 on Newegg right now is $260, while most GTX 560 Ti's are between $190-$220. The GTX 560 Ti is the most powerful video card you can get within your $210 price range.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7770/26.html

AMD Cards are great pieces of hardware, no doubting that but their drivers are in their adolescence and need maturing to become to their full potentiel.
Nvidia cards are truly my favorite right now, and their drivers are very stable for me and I was glad I went nvidia with my 560 ti's.

Now, onto choosing a card.
AS you can see from the chart Matto posted the 560 ti is the best card for mid ranges, hands down, you should probably get the Msi GTX 560 ti twin frozr or the MSI hawk models, or get the EVGA 448 core version. You won't be disappointed with Nvidia or AMD but I favor nvidia when building.

go with an evga gtx 560 ti

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey

What GPU should I get for my PC ?

what about GTX 550 Ti ?

The 550 will certainly work, but don't expect ultra performance on top end games

buy the 7750 instead of the 550 ti, it uses much less power and should be arround the same performance and price, also has some nice new features.

I would recommend the 560 ti for the upper limit of your price range and the 6850/7770 if you don't wish to pay that much.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

See that price? There is $224.99 only for 6950. I didnt know price is high right now.  


Agree with esrever, but 7750 instead of the 550ti.

That card is OUT OF STOCK. The OP has stated that $210 is his budget limit anyway.

Wow, it seems like most people here are pro-ATI I was always told that Nvidia was actually better than ATI and now hmm...

That was past. Now Ati = AMD is the fastest video card(HD 6990). Ati give price/performance best where nvidia is much more expensive. Thats why we like ati. But nvidia is good however.

How come ?

Most people are biased, that does not necessarily mean that one is better than the other. It just means they tend to shout louder and make claims without providing reference links.

Clearly, your question has been answered though, with a budget of $210, there really is no better choice right now than a GTX 560 Ti. The 6950's and GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores are too expensive; and the GTX 560/6870 are cheaper, but significantly less powerful. Refer back to that performance chart and keep in mind that the GTX 560 Ti listed there is one at stock clocks, while most of the models that you are likely to purchase are going to be factory overclocked. Bump up the performance to 950 mhz, and you will running more in the range of a 6970 and GTX 570... for $210.

To illustrate the point, the Zotac AMP! comes factory clocked at 950 mhz:

All this looks very interesting. I ask so many questions cause I've NEVER had ATI, it was always Nvidia.

What about temps , can one say that Nvidia is colder than ATI (cards at the same level) or are temps basically the same ?

AMD is cooler than nvidia but its going to depend on the fan setup and its not a big difference.

what about Ubuntu, can I use it with say MSI R6850 Cyclone PE/OC ? I've read somewhere there might be some issued with drivers ?

shouldn't be a problem. Might not give you the most optimal performance but the card should work.

what do you mean by that ??


What about older games I could play while having nvidia would I be still able to to do that ??

AMD linux drivers aren't the best but then do ok. You shouldn't have problems running older games. The games should all still work as long as something doesn't mess up on the drivers.

Go for a ATI 6870 or GTX 560

Both are great cards.