What's a good video/graphics card for 2010 for gaming?

I'm curious as to what the best card is for PC gaming this year.

Keep in mind please that I can't afford any that are over 400$.

Thanks.|||It's difficult to say without knowing the specifics of your motherboard and power supply.



The best single card in your price range is the Radeon 5870, which hits your budget exactly... some models are $399 with free shipping.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



However, like most high-end graphics cards, power supply requirements must be considered. In order to run a 5870 your computer needs a 550W or higher power supply with two PCI-E power connectors. So if you're currently sporting a 400W psu with a single 6-pin connector, you'll have to allocate some of your budget to a new power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



If you have an SLI or Crossfire motherboard, you've got the option to run a pair of $160-$200 cards instead of a single $350-$400 card.



A pair of Radeon 5770's in Crossfire is a powerful combination, even faster than the 5870 in a few game titles.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_p…



Those are your two best options. Nvidia's cards are more expensive so unless you've got an SLI motherboard they aren't really competitive in your price range. The GTX 470 is about $350 but barely keeps pace with ATI's Radeon 5850, which only costs $300. The GTX 480 is slightly better than a Radeon 5870 but costs $450, uses more power & generates more heat.

http://www.techspot.com/review/283-gefor…



The GTX 460 is the new king of $200ish cards, so if you've got an SLI motherboard it's an interesting option. The good cards (256-bit 1gb models) go for about $220 so you'd overshoot your budget with two of them. Although you could buy one now, then purchase another one later down the road. Don't bother with the cheaper 192-bit 768mb versions, their smaller frame buffer hurts their performance in high-end games.



Since technologies like SLI and Crossfire aren't supported by all games, I tend to prefer a single higher-end card to a pair of lesser cards. It's really hard to argue with the 5870 at this price point.



FYI, the best card in existence currently is the Radeon 5970, but it's much more expensive.|||Nvidia and ATI are the largest GPU distributors in the world. I would suggest going to tigerdirect.com and looking on the left side for the "video cards" link. The website offers discounted pricing and it will be easier to select depending on your needs. They offer video cards from the $50 dollar range all the way up to $700. But to be safe I would be willing to spend about $100-$200 on a decent graphics card.



Also when buying hardware make sure it is compatible with your system. If you need any more help just contact me.



My pick for you would be an ATI Sapphire Radeon HD 5770

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/…



Priced at $140



Has very good speeds and 1 GB of on-board DDR5 RAM



The product is on sale and may not stay at that price for long.|||Good video cards out right now for 400.00 bux or under are the 5850 and there are quite a few 5870's you can find just under 400.00 bux today....



On the nvidia side the best card you can get for 400.00 bux or less is the GTX 470 and the GTX 460..The GTX 480 Is well over 400.00 bux....



The radeon 5970 is suppose to be the fastest card out on the market today but its not....The ASUS ARES Limited Edition GPU is....Its a 5870x2 with 4gigs of vram...Cost is 1200.00 bux....Its much faster than the 5970 and it smokes the GTX 480....



5870X2 4gig video card.......

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1357…





As far as my experience goes I have owned A 4850,4870,4770's in crossfire,5770's in crossfire and I own a 5870 now with is by far the fastest card I have had so far....Cant beat it for under 400.00 bux...



XFX 5870 for 389.00------

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



The GTX 470 is still a nice performing card that is cheaper than the 5870....



So take your pick,the GTX 470 or the 5850,5870....Cant go wrong buying anyone of them...Have to throw the GTX 460 into that category also....Its about 4% faster than the GTX 465 in some instances and can be had for 230.00 bux...Best bang for your buck card really....





Scott|||For your budget, the best you can get is either ATI's Radeon HD 5870, or Nvidia's Geforce GTX470.



The HD 5870 performs slightly better when compared with the GTX470, both cards at stock clocks. And the HD 5870 is a tad more expensive than the GTX470.|||for under $200 the ati 5770 (if you can find the 4870 or gtx 260 then get those [no direct x11])

for under $250 the gtx 460

for everything over $250 go for the gtx 470 or 5850.

Power consumption on (idle) makes me choose the 5850.

Two gtx 460 is great as well.|||I think either ATI Radeon HD 5670 or NVIDIA. The ATI Radeon is better, in my opinion. I don't know their prices but if you want today's gaming graphics, you gotta have the budget for it...|||The ATI 5970 is the best single card solution out there, i dont know how it fits your budget|||Well the best video cards currently on the market right now are the Nvidia Geforce GTX 400 series cards with the undisputed best being the GTX 480. The best ATI card is the Radeon HD 5970. The cards in the Radeon HD 5800 series are also pretty good although probably not as good as Nvidia. If I were to get a high end video card I'd go with the GTX 470.