What is the better video card? ATI or PNY??

[CaymanImaging]

Ok techies! I just got my brand new computer last night. 8 GB RAM, AMD X4 quad core processor, 750 GB HD, Vista 64 bit, very nice.

The only thing I'm concerned about is the video card. It came with an ATI Radeon HD 3650. I found out that it's built by AMD too. Doesn't list a speed, but the sales guy said it was 512MB. Website says 128-bit DDR2/GDDR3/GDDR4 memory interface. So I don't see the memory. Maybe I'm stupid.


I have another card that I replaced on my old computer about a year ago. It's a PNY GeForce 8500 GT, 512 MB, 450 Mhz core clock, 128 bit memory data rate, dual 400 Mhz RAMDACs. Not sure what all that means.

So if anyone has any background on this stuff, please let me know. 90% of the time I'll be doing the work on CS3, but I also like gaming and want the best one in my set up.

Thanks!
Jamie

[cpopham]

You're not stupid - just remember this - every single person who knows what those numbers means at some point in their life did not.

The new card that you have is a good quality midrange card, and it should serve you well for pretty much everything. Graphics memory is 'special', and separate from the main PC memory, so it won't 'show up'. If you want to double check how much graphics ram is there, go into Start -> Accessories -> System Tools, and click System Information. Then when it loads, go into Components, and click Display. If you look in the list which appears, there will be an entry which says Adapter RAM

Your new card is significantly better than your old one, so just stick with that. It will eat all your general work for lunch, and come back for more. In terms of gaming performance, it's decent, meaning provided you don't have a huge monitor and/or want to crank all the settings to high it should serve you admirably.

[Tom S.]

One of the best sources for computer hardware reviews is Maximum PC. They are more than willing to give accolades to the good stuff, and pan fry the bad. You can see their picks at:

Best of the Best - Maximum PC-approved hardware and components for your rig building needs | Maximum PC

BTW: If you want the best for gaming, consider dual video cards - if you have the space and slots for them. I'm currently running Dual GeForce 8800GTX cards with 512 MB each.

Yeah, I do games!

[CaymanImaging]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll stick with the new one and see how it goes.