New PCI-E graphics card (advice needed)

[Mutz]

Now building a new PC, question is what card should i be looking at?
What makes 1 card better than another?
is a Geforce 9600gt the same no matter who makes it?
am i better off getting a 512mb or 1gb?
Stuck on the card all the rest i got sorted!! (well nearly)

only used as a general card, games occasionally.

All advice appreciated, especially the steer clear of ones :roll:

[strapping young lad]

nvidia make the ones you mention (the choice card for me for years)

ATI are their main rivals, and i think its down to personal preference which is better..

ive got a 7900 gtx running two lcd on dvi cables and it works fine

its overkill for what i use it for now but it came into its own when playing games..

my mate spent a grand on two cards.. the SLI thing where you hook two up together....  some people have too much money!

ive never tried ATI but im sure some people here have...

but to avoid disappointment in the "if only i wish id bought the other one" syndrome, buy the best performing one you can afford and shop around as they are not the same price everywhere

i bought mine from scan (www.scan.co.uk) but they have a shopfront in middlebrook retail park (near bolton wanderers FC)

[Mutz]

Had an ATI a while ago but didnt work with a lot of games so was advised to go nvidia.
From the link you gave me i guess that speed and quality is down to cores, not the mb rating?
ie. 512 or 1gb is less important than the amount of cores or ddr2 or ddr3?

[strapping young lad]

tomshardware.com does gfx reviews and does a comparison chart

also
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/reviews/2008/02/nvidia-9600gt-review.ars
which isnt the gtx but is close

ddr3 is better but a gig at ddr2 is better than 512@ ddr3

but it depends on your game library and their requirements.... and your screen res too

[gnasha]

Find as many reviews as possible the chip is the same across the cards but the boards are different one manufacturer may be better than the others for support another may give life time guarantee some come overclocked and guaranteed alot depends on what you want to spend
ebuyer sell's al pc bit's and customer's leave reviews
like i sais more reviews the better the last card i brought i rushed in as it was for my old pc running agp got a msi hd2600 then found out after ati was not supporting agp anymore so have to wait for msi for drivers i wont be rushing again

[Boddle]

Had an ATI a while ago but didnt work with a lot of games so was advised to go nvidia.
From the link you gave me i guess that speed and quality is down to cores, not the mb rating?
ie. 512 or 1gb is less important than the amount of cores or ddr2 or ddr3?

 Rather amusing I really, I've had 2 Nvidia cards both troublesome lasted less 2 month before becoming non-functional (they were not overclocked) so never touch them they also had lots of issues with game even though most of the reviews at the time seem to favor the cards I bought so I have been sceptical about the reviews.
 Have ATI for over 10 years only had 1 issue with a driver once and was a beta driver(when beta mean't beta) since the catalyst drivers I had no problem I obviously don't play the right games for problems and once where I place anti-aliasing on in the drivers and the game made Quake 4 and doom turn Pink it was quickly fi.x and you could run it though the game itself.
 But you could have the opposite experience.
Personally I have learn to ignore the reviews on the net it's a bit like buying a car because it got a good review on Top Gear (which tends to on you giving the presenters a car for the next few years)