Graphics Card Advice

[shaglio]

First off, I’m not 100% computer literate. I only have a rudimentary grasp of computer terminology, so don’t be afraid to talk down to me.

The fan on my graphics card crapped out on me recently and I need a new one. I currently have an ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series, but I was thinking about going to an nVidea GeForce.

1) I would like my new card to be at least as good as I currently have, if not better. I don’t remember the specs for my card, so hopefully somebody here will be more familiar with it.
2) I want to keep the cost down so my master wife doesn’t flip out. Maybe under $100 if possible. Basically, I want to get the most bang for the least buck.
3) I searched a local electronics store’s website (Best Buy) for GeForce and noticed that other brand names came up besides nVidea (EVGA, PNY, Galaxy) and I was wondering how these compared to the nVidea ones (I thought GeForce was only made by nVidea, but I guess I’m wrong).

Does anyone here have any advice for me in my search? I would greatly appreciate the help so I can get back to playing Civ ASAP (I’m going through withdrawal).

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Many brands like Gigabyte, Asus, EVGA, PNY... build its own cards, mounting ATI and Nvidia processors . The differences with original ones are basically different memory chips, overclocked cores and such, so some specifications which can increase (or decrease) original performance, but only slightly, so the main thing to watch for is which processor the card mounts into.

For some info about what is currently there out you can look here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Lately it seems ATI processors are a bit better than Nvidia on money/performance relation, so personally i would go that way.

 

[Zelig]

Yeah, the Tom's Hardware guide is good, the AMD 6670 is the best bet under $100, it will be faster than any 4600 series card.

 

[tokala]

Yeah, the Tom's Hardware guide is good, the AMD 6670 is the best bet under $100, it will be faster than any 4600 series card.

The 6670 might not be a good option for the specifics given in the OP, compared to a 7750.

Ignoring the [nVidia] part for the moment, a HD7750 (GDDR5, 800MHz chip clock) is the perfect match for the given requirements.
It runs Civ5 exceptionally well, meets the $100 price tag and draws about the same amount of power as a 4650.

The 6670 GDD5 is already significantly slower, while it only costs $10-20 less.
The 6670 DDR3 is slower still, but could be sensible option if you can get it for about $50-60, if you don't mind to run Civ5 on medium'ish settings.

The nVidia lineup simply does not have any sensible options below $100.
The next best thing would be a GTX650 for $100-120, which is slower than the 7750 in Civ5.
The older 550Ti cost about the same, and is almost as fast as the 7750, but is a power hog in comparison and might require a new PSU.

 

[Phrossack]

Thanks for making this thread! I've been having framerate issues lately, so I might need to get a new card. More on this later.

 

[shaglio]

Thanks for everybody's help with this. For the record I ordered the Asus - AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 and I'll be back to spending too much time playing . . . just . . . one . . . more . . . turn . . . by the end of next weekend.