Help Choose a Video Card? - Hardware & Software

Hey! I am planning to get a new video card soon and I was wondering which video card I should get. I've decided between these 5. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069633099%205007%201068320729%201369840994%201068509619&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-150-351^14-150-351-TS,14-121-376^14-121-376-TS,14-150-482^14-150-482-TS,14-125-236^14-125-236-TS,14-125-258^14-125-258-TS I was pondering about the "core clock" in the cards as well. What are they and why are they different? Also, what difference is there between a GDDR5 video card to a GDDR3 video card? Thanks Facepunch. I would really appreciate your help if you could help me out! Thanks in advance! P.S I have a nVidia 9500 GT 512 MB card currently.

The core clock is the clock speed of the GPU itself. The reason it varies between manufacturers is because some manufacturers choose to factory overclock their cards in order to charge more for the card as a higher end part. You can easily buy a cheaper version of the card and overclock it yourself and save some money, but manufacturers of cards may cherry pick the best GPUs out of a lot to put in the higher end cards, so your overclocking mileage may vary. GDDR3/GDDR5 are different memory standards. GDDR5 is the newest in the series of graphical memory standards. GDDR5 is more efficient, uses less power and can be clocked higher than GDDR3 can.

Thanks for replying, but which card do you suggest I buy?

I would say [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150351[/url] it has a fan a good memory clock and some good reviews. With 1GB of graphic memory you cant go wrong and it goes at 1990 MHZ which is faster than all the ones you listed it also has a warranty on it if it ever breaks return it get a new one.

I'd say they're all good, but whichever you buy, don't get the one with a passive cooler (unless you add a fan to it yourself). The 5750 and 5770 seem to have about the same price as 4850/70 and i think they're very close performance-wise, but you get dx11 and eyefinity with the 5 series.

[QUOTE=pebkac;21527716]I'd say they're all good, but whichever you buy, don't get the one with a passive cooler (unless you add a fan to it yourself). The 5750 and 5770 seem to have about the same price as 4850/70 and i think they're very close performance-wise, but you get dx11 and eyefinity with the 5 series.[/QUOTE] If you want to future proof for DX11, anything below a 5830 isn't going to cut it in terms of performance.

I think you want this forum: [url=http://www.facepunch.com/forumdisplay.php?f=243]PC Building[/url] This isn't technical support, under any level. Plus you're going to want a 5850 or 5870 on the ati series if you want better dx11 performance.