need halp with computer upgrading!!

[hagusmagagus777]

ok so im upgrading my computer because unfortunatly its starting to slow down..... i want to get a new processer and a video card and a graphics card. when i was loooking on this website i clicked on nividia software and then on video cards but before i clicked it it showed this drop down menu that had a list of different kinds of video card (i guess idk) it showed stuff like: XFX, BFG, EVGA, ASUS, PNY, GIGABYTE, MSI and LEADTEK could someone plz explain the differences between these if there is any? also i was wondering if anyone had a recomendation on a good graphics card? and as a last thing my bro and i are going to buy a new processor but if we shouldnt plz let me know here are my computer specs (if i need to upgrade anything else plz post a comment!)

dimension C521
processor: amd athlon(tm) 64X2 dual core processor 3800+, mmx, 3dnow (2CPUs)
ram: 3gb
directx 9.0c
(idk if this is the graphics card or the video card) 128mb ATI radeon x1300

srry thats all i can get im really not that smart with computers but anyway thx! :D

[MurdersGalore]

First off..Graphics cards and a Video cards are the same thing :)
As for All those different names (Asus,bfg,evga,ect.) Those are brand names. Ill explain.
nVidia only makes the chips that manufacturers use to make video cards. They do not actually make video cards as complete products for us consumers. Instead, they sell these chipsets to third parties so that they can use them to manufacture video cards. For the most part, brand names don't make much difference on actual performance. Some manufacturers, however, offer better warrantees then others while some may use better memory chips, ect ect....so just pick a company that suits your needs. EVGA has the step up program which is cool for people who want to upgrade often....BFG is known for using better quality memory...ASUS has good overall build quality but may cost more...ect.
As for what video card to buy...I would recommend an nVidia 8800gt for your system. The brand doesn't matter so much here...although I am using the MSI brand 8800gt which has a great cooler on it. I don't think you really need a faster cpu at the moment. Trade that ATI x1300 for a better video card and you should see a world of difference in gaming.

[MurdersGalore]

By the way....let me know how much your are looking to spend on a card and I can do some searching to fit your budget.

[halo-fan-4ever]

ya u might wana get a more powerfull card than a 128mb

[Punkster]

8600GT is a pretty good-value card. not sure which brand is best, but the XFX one has the coolest design, with that green wolf like picture! :)

[halo-fan-4ever]

8600GT is a pretty good-value card. not sure which brand is best, but the XFX one has the coolest design, with that green wolf like picture! :)

i got a captiva 8600gt and the design is really cool.. heres a pic of the box (its the same as on the card)

[Punkster]

i got a captiva 8600gt and the design is really cool.. heres a pic of the box (its the same as on the card)

lol, i still think the XFX design is the best.

i mean just look at this pic, it's a beauty!
http://www.maxitmag.com/images/stories/reviews/graphics/xfx/ucbabe-xfxsm.jpg

EDIT: but seriously, i think the 8500 and 8600 gt XFX design are cool!
http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/486/8600gts_bundle.jpg

[MurdersGalore]

I have bought from some different brands and for the most part have found little difference in actual performance. Something worth considering though is factory overclocked cards. True, you may pay as much as a $50 difference between a reference (or stock) speed card vs an overclocked card of the same make and brand. That might seem silly being that you could easily get the cheaper reference speed card and overclock it yourself but that will void the warranty. With a factory overclocked card you have an overclock that is not only garanteed to run stable but has a warranty to actually cover the overclock.
Personally, I wont pay for an OC'd version of a card if it cost $30 more then the reference from the same brand, especially if it appears to have a stock cooler.
I have owned models made by Pny (a geforce 2mx, a geforce4000mx, and a geforce 5200fx), BFG (a geforce 3, another 5200fx for a friend's build, and a geforce 7950gt), EVGA (a geforce 7600gt which went bad after only 4 months), MSI (the geforce 8800gt that I am using now) Powercolor (a radeon X850XT) and Sapphire ( a radeon X1950GT).
The only complaints from that list was the cards from EVGA and Powercolor. Also keep in mind that I only ever bought 1 card from each of these manufacturers and they both otherwise seem to have good reputations. However, the EVGA 7600gt, though a great performing card, always ran on the hot side even though I have excellent case ventilation and only lasted 4 months before going dead. I think it had a defective cooler but I never bothered to take it apart as it was still under warranty. I had no problems getting a full refund though...so if you like the step up program they offer as well as their warranty, which is probably one of the best in the business....don't let my singular experience stop you. Now the powercolor card ran fine, but out of all the cards I have ever owned it had by far the loudest, ****tiest, most annoying cooler. This thing sounded like someone was running a blow dryer inside my case. I sent it back to newegg for replacement because after inspection I found the fan had too much play in it (A sign of bad bearings in a fan). And the replacement card, which was the same make and model, had the same problem.
One cool thing about BFG is that they usually include some kind of cool extras. With my 5200fx I got a free copy of nVDVD and I got cool little case badge stickers with all of my BFG cards. The PNY cards were really not remarkable but the price was right at the time. The MSI card has by far the best cooler I have ever seen on a card in its price range and is actually modeled after a Zalman aftermarket vga cooler. This has been the most silent of all the fan cooled cards I have owned and perhaps even the coolest running one as well.
And now I have gone on another overly long tangent. But my point, I suppose, is that the brand isn't going to matter much for actual performance. But, each has their own benefits and disadvantages, Things to look for mostly between different brands are price (obviously), the quality of the materials used (especially the cooler), packaging (though that dont matter too much to me), and their warranty.

[MurdersGalore]

Oh, and I agree. I have never bought one from them, but XFX does make some of the coolest looking cards.

[canveyboy]

it matters not one bit what a graphic card looks like unless you plan on staring at it instead of playing games with it. ;-)
im not in the nvidia camp so i cant comment on them cards, i use ati cards (2 x radeon x1950 pro) in crossfire mode at the moment, two cards is not double the power as a previous post points out, there are many other factors to consider also, you could have the best card ever or two really good cards working as one but if the rest of your hardware is not all that then its money wasted, to get the best from 2 cards you would need a mobo that has both pci-e slots @ 16x, a good core2 duo cpu, you dont have to get the high priced ones either, i use a 6300 1.86ghz cpu overclocked to 3.03ghz and its still cool and stable. (games at the moment are not built around quad core yet so theres still plenty of life in core2 duo's yet.
for 2 cards especially the sort i have currently i would recomend a 550w psu for running your rig as the minimum benchmark, theres a lot to run off that, two cards, soundcard, dvd drives, 3.5 drive, card readers ?, 2 hard drives (raid) cooling fans blah blah blah.
one last thing to remember as it took me ages to work out and i couldnt the solution on any forum anywhere, it would save a lot of heartache getting two cards at the same time from the same place as what stumped me was i got my cards seperatly and they didnt have the same bois so they wouldnt work together properly.
If you have patience then best to save your pennies and get the whole bundle at the same time.

[Punkster]

so what is the advantage of having dual GPUs?

[canveyboy]

hmmmmmmmmm, a little advantage, depending on the rest of your set up, probably 30%-60% performance increase or you may have quality settings higher without the lag just one card would have on some games, to be honest ive noticed little diffrence on my rig but im massivly upgrading tommorow, ordered the parts today on 24hour express del.
like my previous post says the rest of the pc needs to be upto the job.
new pc spec tommorow (when ive built it)
2 x 500 gig hdd 32mb cache (raided)
ASUS Maximus Formula Republic of Gamers iX38 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Antec Nine Hundred - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W PSU - ATX 12V V2.01 120mm Fan 20+4pin
2 x Hiper 120mm HiperFlow Chrome Blade Case Fan With Blue LED - 3pin Adaptor with Screws
Cooler Master Sphere 100% Copper with 4 Heatpipes Processor Cooler
Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz------ 8 GiGs Worth
two= Radeon HD 3870 X2
im keeping my existing cpu for now as it rocks!
of course i will overclock the hell out of it.
cost (ahem) £1200
oh and it will be running vista ultimate 64bit

[Punkster]

wow, that's a lot of hardware! £1200? that sounds quite expensive for just the hardware on its own. Couldn't you get almost the same for a pre-built one? and that's without a monitor right?

[MurdersGalore]

yeah..SLI is really pointless unless you want to run at really high resolutions or have the latest greatest cards and want to have really high 3dMark numbers to brag about. But in the case of cards like the 8600gt/gts or anything below it...its often cheaper and better to just sale the card you have and get a single powerful card then to spend money and time trying to get a dupliucate card. SLI and Crossfire still need some filling out as they are both still fairly new (and somewhat buggy) technologies.

[Punkster]

yeh, that's what i though. I think it's better to have a single good card than two average cards.

if you're really rich, then having two really good cards would be great, but it would be unnecessary atm.

[MurdersGalore]

This thread kinda got hijacked. lol

I wonder if hagusmagagus777 ever found what he was looking for?