General

[philosophia]

Originally Posted by Jinx

Also, isn't Skyrim a console port?

Yep. Something weird about it only using 2 GB of RAM as well. I don't know if that's been fixed or anything.

[Acidpaintball]

Quadro is designed a bit different to handle opengl. Gaming gpus are designed to render fast and if needed skip things. Quadro is designed to do the output no matter what.

[melkson]

i'm leaning toward a GTX 560ti ($207) or a HD 6950 ($235) and a BEEFY name brand PSU. comments?

[Jinx]

Well, the TX I bought died with in 5 days of use. Got a second one and no issues yet. I would suggest modular. Mine has way to may wires, but remember to figure out what you need for power for the Graphics. Mine takes 2 separate connectors.

[CCM Photographer]

Originally Posted by philosophia

Yep. Something weird about it only using 2 GB of RAM as well. I don't know if that's been fixed or anything.

It's been fixed and it runs great now.

Originally Posted by melkson

i'm leaning toward a GTX 560ti ($207) or a HD 6950 ($235) and a BEEFY name brand PSU. comments?

I'd go with the Nvidia GTX 560ti. I've always had good results with Nvidia cards but I can't say the same for ATI.

Corsair makes good power supplies. I have the HX1000 and haven't had a single problem with it to date. The only issues I have are the size and the way it sits in towers that have the PSU mount on the bottom.

[philosophia]

Originally Posted by melkson

i'm leaning toward a GTX 560ti ($207) or a HD 6950 ($235) and a BEEFY name brand PSU. comments?

I think the 560ti is a better value than the 6950. However, I also think that the 6850 is a better value than both of them.

As for PSU, I've got a Seasonic X750 and I love it. The reviews that contain tests all said that it was great and I can't agree with them more.

[melkson]

well, if I get the GTX 560ti, that will leave about $90 for a good PSU. Any recommendations in that price range?

[Tenet]

Originally Posted by melkson

I have been offered a Nvidia Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) for $150. However I don't find this card on any of the 'recommended' video card pages for gaming.

It's a bad deal, don't do it! Quadro = Very Old Hardware that has been Factory-UNLOCKED to support Workstation Graphics.
It's an old marketing trick that nVidia and ATI both pulled on Workstation cards to make a huge profit. They are actually the same part as the Gaming cards but with a special unlocked driver allowing them to be used with CAD / 3D modeling programs. For example, the old 3850 and 3870 used to be able to unlock from a $150 card to a $1500 equivalent FireGL (Google: 3850 FireGL Unlock). Same with some nVidia cards.

For gaming your goal should be the nVidia 560 Ti or the ATI 6950, whatever benchmarks the best. Console-Anchor effect makes most advances in graphics pointless - so these cards should serve you for a long time (a year after the next-generation console release... which with the current financial troubles will likely be delayed).
6850 might also be option, check benchmarks and prices. It will run anything out right now, on medium-high for most demanding, and high-settings for everything else.

To power that card all you need is a 500W power supply, so buy 600W from a reliable brand and you'll be set.
Seasonic, XFX Pro/Core, Antec HCG / HCP series (only, and make sure the model # reviewed is an exact match), Silverstone, Corsair (only if well reviewed by the sites below).
If you see anything that offers the same numbers at a much lower price (and not on sale) it's likely a scam.

JonnyGURU.com Read the reviews before you buy. HardOCP or Anandtech.com can also be good. If it's not reviewed by one of these websites, and passed with good results, it's likely a scam part. Check their forums for discussions of each review, and the sticky's if you want details on why it matters.

750W, Japanese Capacitors, 5Y Limited Warranty, $99 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371049
Corsair TX750 v2 is a good option too, check prices.

With these new graphics cards make sure you run 64-bit Windows 7, as you need the expanded memory allocation (32bit allows 4gh system total only). Win XP Pro won't do, and you don't want to mess with it's buggy 64bit version. You'll have to upgrade to Win 7 64bit, which is actually not bad (I was holding on to the XP Pro as long as possible too).

[MorueM]

QuadroFX 4800 is based on the same core as the GTX 260, which is dated by now. I've seen 560ti-448cores for sub-$250 lately, that's getting interesting. I've built a couple towers with corsair's TX750, good psu under $100.

[cdrinkh20]

I picked up an OCZ power supply (850W) with a Gold 80+ rating. Running 2x 6870.

I would honestly recommend a beefier card than a 6850 though, as so far Crossfire is not all that I thought it would be - I have a good cooling case so no issues but the inside one gets quite a bit hotter, so you have to have the right Mobo/Case/Cooling for it. Plus there are a few compatability issues, though they usually get patched now (at least, for new games). It's fine if you don't have enough for a better card and want to leave room to upgrade later, but if you can just get one beefier card and upgrade it when you have to.