I have a crappy OLD video card. It's leftover from my husbands' old build and I figured I'd use it in my recent one until it died.... well it died and I don't know what to get... it's just so overwhelming.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: When the choice has been made so shall the purchase.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I play mostly Sims 3 and run Catia V5 on this computer... other than that mostly just research and such... I need to be able to research while playing games and I run two monitors.
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: I actually don't remember but the GPU really outdated... it's from like 4 years ago minimum so I'm not sure it's even relevent... PCU is 600W.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: The only specs I know are the CPU is an i3, and I need a PCI express video card.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I would prefer Best Buy but if they have nothing good then microcenter or maybe amazon.... whatever really.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I really have no preference for brand... I've always bought the best deal/rated product I could get...
OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I really just want a good card... quiet operation would be nice but I know I have a lot of constraints that might make that hard (price, needs). Also, if there is a superior brand I should be looking for, I will pay extra for quality. I just want it to last...
Edit: Moved PCU Spec to appropriate point on list and added comment.
Edit: Bought the Galaxy Technology-GeForce GTX 560 Graphic Card - 850 MHz Core - 2 GB GDDR5 SDRAM - PCI Express 2.0 after reviewing several of your answers. I got it for 205 shipped and am pleased to say that Sims3 is running so much better, and skyrim looks phenomenally better, and catia... well it's catia... it runs so it's good. Thanks for the help everyone!
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: When the choice has been made so shall the purchase.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I play mostly Sims 3 and run Catia V5 on this computer... other than that mostly just research and such... I need to be able to research while playing games and I run two monitors.
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: I actually don't remember but the GPU really outdated... it's from like 4 years ago minimum so I'm not sure it's even relevent... PCU is 600W.
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: The only specs I know are the CPU is an i3, and I need a PCI express video card.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I would prefer Best Buy but if they have nothing good then microcenter or maybe amazon.... whatever really.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I really have no preference for brand... I've always bought the best deal/rated product I could get...
OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I really just want a good card... quiet operation would be nice but I know I have a lot of constraints that might make that hard (price, needs). Also, if there is a superior brand I should be looking for, I will pay extra for quality. I just want it to last...
Edit: Moved PCU Spec to appropriate point on list and added comment.
Edit: Bought the Galaxy Technology-GeForce GTX 560 Graphic Card - 850 MHz Core - 2 GB GDDR5 SDRAM - PCI Express 2.0 after reviewing several of your answers. I got it for 205 shipped and am pleased to say that Sims3 is running so much better, and skyrim looks phenomenally better, and catia... well it's catia... it runs so it's good. Thanks for the help everyone!