I need help from graphics card guru's

[-SWCowboy.]

Ok I'll keep this short sweet and to the point.

I'm a sailor, I know very little to nothing about purchasing a decent rig to run my games on and I'd like some advice from you graphics card gurus!

I've got my eye on an HP Pavillion Elite 5200t ATX, I'm wanting to get it with all these goodies:
-64bit Windows Vista
-Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q9400 [2.66GHz]
-4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM
-500GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
-768MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600GS

All that plus mouse, keyboard, monitor and speakers will run me about $959, however, for an extra 100 bucks I can get a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT or for an extra 120 I can get a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850.

Can I get away with the 768MB 9600GS or should I bite a bullet and go for one of those 1GB cards? And if I should, which one?

Thanks!


..and crap I just now noticed I tossed this in the wrong forum... :damn:

[AVGWarhawk]

Run away for HP. Bloat-ware. I was looking at these around Christmas time. I found them not so great. No airflow to cool all the nice hardware they shoved inside. More programs that no one wants and if they do it is for chatting on line.:doh: Go to Cyberpower.com and have one built. You can get all of that at the same price with free goodies. Nice cases to choose from. Does not take long to get it to you either. I got mine there and I'm happy as crap with it. I will not buy off the shelf again.

Anyway, I have the 9800 gt. Great card.

I got:

Phenom X4 9850
500 mb hard drive (7200 rpm)
4 gig ddr 400
9800 gt 512mb
680 watt ps
MSI K9N SLI V2 mobo
3 cooling fans
upgraded CPU cooler
Super nice case(do not remember the name)
They added 2 blue neon lights for free
keyboard
mouse
speakers
Hooked up with a clean no bloat-ware Vista 64 bit OS.

$925.00 and included shipping. Got it in about 4 days.

Really, search around Cyberpower.com

[AVGWarhawk]

Just for kicks, check this out:

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Mega_Special_IV/

I7 core and DDR3 memory. Running you about the same price. :up:



CASE: ($20 Mail-in Rebate) Apevia X-SniperG Mid-Tower 420W Case (Black Color)
Neon Light Upgrade: NONE
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans
POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 580 Watts Power Supplies (SLI Ready Power Supply)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
COOLING FAN : Intel LGA1366 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA, Dual GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, & 7.1Audio
MEMORY: 3GB (1GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
FREEBIES: None
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO CARD 2: NONE
VIDEO CARD 3: NONE
MULTIPLE VIDEO CARD SETTINGS: Xtreme Performance in SLI/CrossFireX Gaming Mode Supports Single Monitor
LCD Monitor: NONE
2nd Monitor: NONE
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Data Hard Drive: NONE
USB PORTABLE DRIVE: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: NONE
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: NONE
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
MODEM: NONE
KEYBOARD: Logitech Deluxe 250 USB Keyboard (Black Color)
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
Extra Thermal Display : NONE
Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: NONE
Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
Cable Wiring: None
Rounded Cable: None
VIDEO CAMERA: NONE
PRINTER: None
PRINTER CABLE: None
IEEE CARD: NONE
USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
FLOPPY: NONE
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
FREEBIES: FREE! (Microsoft® Flight Simulator X Deluxe) Game
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
RUSH SERVICE: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS This added up to $1117.00. BTW, the speakers they give you I hear suck so get something locally. HP speakers are not going to be much better. Check out this site. You can do a lot with what you want. Tech support does chat live of you have questions.

[AVGWarhawk]

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Infinity_8800_Pro/

This one is nice. Just swap out the ATI card for the Nvidia card:up: Click customize! Faster CPU also then your HP for the same price. :D It has all that HP offers and more.

Damn...I looked at this one again...water cooled! This is a super nice rig and going for what HP is selling theirs for.

[-SWCowboy.]

Daggone - was so busy the last 2 days I couldn't get on here to check this out, thanks so much for the info!

I will check them out, thanks again! :cool:

[AVGWarhawk]

Let me know what you decide:up: I really think you get more bang for you buck at cyberpower.