I am looking at putting together a new PC, and I am debating which graphics card to get. Mostly it will be used for web surfing and light office work in Linux, and I'll run Windows for games, specifically SC2 when it is released. I am looking for a quiet card strong enough to run SC2 well at 1920 X 1080 on a 21.5" monitor. I plan on getting a Core 2 Quad cpu, in case it matters. I plan on using a single card, unless dual is required, which I think is unlikely. Being a Linux machine, I prefer nvidia cards. Asus makes two cards I have read good reviews for as being quiet, and quiet is important to me. My question is, is the Asus Dark Knight GTS 250 with 1GB ram good enough, or do I need to spend an extra $50 for the Asus GTX 260 (the regular one, I can't find the Matrix edition for sale anywhere, plus it apparently runs loud when under stress)? Thanks.
Pancake, no offense, but you should make an effort to not give advice unless you have solid info to back up your claims. The GTS 250 is essentially a re-branding of the 9800GTX+, which is about 1 relative step up from the 9800GT (GTX and GTX+ go up in 0.5-ish increments). And the 9800GT is just a re-branding of the 8800GT, which isn't even in circulation anymore. As far as UT3 goes, it was only used in benchmarks for a short period of time because it's not all that graphically demanding. I would make the argument that you should have at the very least a 9800GT to play SC2 at max settings. Like I stated in my thread (stickied at the top of this forum), the card used to run SC2 in an exposition was a 9700M GT, which is the slightly less powerful mobile-bastardized cousin of the 9800GT. Added the fact that it was being run on a 17" screen, for a 21.5" screen you might even need a 9800GTX. But the 9800GTX costs $130, as does the 9800GTX+, as does the GTS 250. So essentially, you can risk the 9800GT at $120, or be safe with the GTS 250 at $130. I was compelled by the price so much that I changed my card recommendation to the GTS 250 in my build thread. I suggest you visit if you want to see where to get the best deals (ie newegg).
