I've been looking for a good video card but on TigerDirect.ca there are name brands i've never even heard of. Chaintech, eVGA, LeadTek, MSI Computer, PNY, XFX. What should I stay away from and why? I can never find a video card that's nVidia GeForce or ATI Radeon (Made and Powered), it always seems to be a knock-off brand. Or am I not looking at it properly? Thanks. I Have The Brain Of A Ten-Year-Old -- I Keep It In A Jar On My Desk

I only speak for brands I've used, so don't take this as a slam on the others. I've used eVGA, Leadtek, and MSI without any issues. Most are simply creations based off of Nvidia's reference card design anyway, so most any should work fine. Nvidia doesn't make complete cards, so you'll never find an actual Nvidia brand card, only cards made by someone else with an NVidia GPU. ATI makes their own cards, and also sells GPU's to other vendors to make cards. ATI are better than some and worse than others, so don't feel compelled to buy an actual ATI brand card. "President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

Yes, I have used many of those brands and I know that EVGA is good...I have never used an ATI card because I have never needed to. Nvidia is the best GPU out there.

"Nvidia is the best GPU out there." Not true. ATI makes a better performing product than NVidia for the most part in sub $100 cards. Nvidia makes a better card in the $150-250 range generally speaking. Neither company is dominant at all price points at the moment. "President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

"ATI makes a better performing product than NVidia for the most part in sub $100 cards" sub 100? Those cards are for people who like starring at there desktop, not playing games, but then again this guy didn't say he was a gamer....generally I always look at cards that are in the 150$-250$ range, that is why I said what I said.....My apology:)

There are several decent gaming video cards sub $100 that will play every game out there with decent image quality and speed. The Radeon 9600 Pro comes to mind. It's a common misperception by many people that they have to spend a lot of money to get a good gaming graphics card. Sure, a sub $100 card won't let you run at really high res, with AA and AF on, but will get the job done if you buy the right one. Even past that, ATI is competitive with NVidia in other price points as well. The X800XL is a good card for the money compared to the similarly priced Nvidia card, as well as in the super high end cards. There was a time when Nvidia dominated almost all price points. There was a time when ATI dominated almost all price points. My point here is blanket statements saying Nvidia is always better or ATI for that matter is overly simplistic. The better card maker between the two changes fluidly as the prices and cards change. "President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

i would just think like chaintech,eVGA, etc. are the companies who sell it. NVIDIA or ATI might have deals with these companies that allow them to sell NVIDIA products.