Recomendations for spending about £60?

[jstaylor89]

I was wondering what graphics card to get, spending about £60?
There seems to be a lot more about than when I got my last one and I’m getting a bit confused with all the new numbers etc, and also have no idea about ATI cards.

The current specs of my system are:
Mobo: Asus M2N-SLI Delux
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600
RAM: OCZ DDR2 1GB Dual channel Gold Series
Graphics Card: Nvidia 7600GS 256MB, core clock 490MHz

The RAM is being replaced next week with: OCZ DDR2 1066MHz Platinum Series 4GB Dual Channel

I run my computer through a 32” LCD TV, currently using DVI to HDMI from my old card. This works ok for normal use but sometimes struggles with blue-ray films, and can’t handle newer games at all.

Having had a bit of a search It looks like a 512MB GDDR3 card would be better for me than a 1GB DDR2, but as I said I really don’t know!?
Any help would be appreciated to steer me in the right direction of some good cards.

Cheers

 

[coupe69]

Save yourself a few quid and get this memory then with the extra cash get one of these. No need for 1066 memory unless you're considering a massive overclock. If you're after nvidia and want something a bit cheaper get one of these although they appear to be out of stock at the moment at overclockers.

 

[jstaylor89]

yea iv already managed to find the same OCZ memory but 1000MHz for £39 inc VAT, so £23 saved there . just realized il probs need to spend that on cooling tho, as all my current fans have become very noisy.
I like the look of the GeForce 9600 GT, thanks!
what are the differences between Nvidia and ATI? and what ATI card would be on a similar level to that 9600 GT?
Cheers

 

[Quixote]

ATI 4670 is the nearest, it's both a bit slower and cheaper than the 9600gt - it's direct competitor is the 9600gso which it beats overall.
Also, you might save a bit more money by adding 2*1GB to your existing RAM, instead of replacing it with 2*2GB. You'd still be able to run dual channel and you'd have 3gb.