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My desktop is running an i7 chip with 8 GB of RAM.

From what I'm seeing, my current bottleneck is the graphics card - it's a GTS 240.

Does anyone have any recommendations for an updated card? I'd like to spend around $150 or less.

For that price, could I get something with a noticeable difference from what I have? (Haven't followed the video card market in a long time).

Thanks

For about 150-160 you can get a 6870, which by the looks of it is quite a jump from your card. there are occasionally sales for better ones, but the 6870 seems to be around this price point the most.

What type of video card slot(s) does your motherboard have? I'm assuming one or two PCI-Express 2.0 slots, but just making sure. That will be important in choosing a video card.

If you're not sure, just tell us what motherboard your PC has, and we will be able to figure it out from there (and if you're not sure which motherboard, run dxdiag from the Windows start menu).

I would go for something like the NVidia GTX 560 SE

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-G.../dp/B007TMXFE0

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130770

That one is going for $129 right now with a further $10 rebate. It's a pretty decent card, got great reviews.

I have the GTX 560ti which is really similar but supposed to be bit faster. Still it's a good bit more than that price Amazon is running on the regular 560 SE so not sure if it's worth the difference.

Anyway mine has run pretty much everything I've thrown at it. I think with the 560 SE and your i7 cpu you'd be set for a while.

Originally Posted by psyanide82 For about 150-160 you can get a 6870, which by the looks of it is quite a jump from your card. there are occasionally sales for better ones, but the 6870 seems to be around this price point the most.

I have a 6870. For ~150 it will run anything at 1080p.

Thanks for the feedback guys - really appreciate it.

Josh, here's what is being reported for my motherboard:

Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. Maximus III GENE Rev 1.xx
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 2103 12/15/2010

BTW - power supply shows a 350W. Will that be sufficient for the cards recommended above?

Originally Posted by jkimrey BTW - power supply shows a 350W. Will that be sufficient for the cards recommended above?

god no, get at least 500w

750w id recommend

Originally Posted by shosh god no, get at least 500w 750w id recommend

Haha. Was afraid of that. Now I gotta find a PS too I suppose...

Most all of them seem to have 4 out of 5 "stars" on Newegg, and seem to range in price from $70 - $150...

Originally Posted by Motoki I would go for something like the NVidia GTX 560 SE http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-G.../dp/B007TMXFE0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130770 That one is going for $129 right now with a further $10 rebate. It's a pretty decent card, got great reviews. I have the GTX 560ti which is really similar but supposed to be bit faster. Still it's a good bit more than that price Amazon is running on the regular 560 SE so not sure if it's worth the difference. Anyway mine has run pretty much everything I've thrown at it. I think with the 560 SE and your i7 cpu you'd be set for a while.

I support this if you want a great card then go with the GTX 560 SE but if you can get the GTX 560 Ti I have heard nothing but great things. Here is tomshardware take on the best cards in your price range: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ew,3107-3.html

Dang, the GTX 560 Ti does sound nice, but it's more than I can spend right now.

Perhaps the GTX 560 SE and this power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182200

Originally Posted by headpiece747 I support this if you want a great card then go with the GTX 560 SE but if you can get the GTX 560 Ti I have heard nothing but great things. Here is tomshardware take on the best cards in your price range: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ew,3107-3.html