Hi everyone, i'm trying to buy my son a graphics card for his pc for christmas but i'm unsure which is best. I think he currently has ati radeon x600 which i believe is x16? pci-e, i hope this helps. I'm looking for a card which i can just plug straight into his pci-e port, nice and easy. I'm trying to get this done as a xmas present so all the help is very much appreciated, thank you in advance and the cards i was looking at are in links below. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inno3D-Gefo... http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-8600-25... http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-8600GT-... Are all these just able to plugin to the pci-e and not needed to be hooked up for extra power or something? also which is best? any other suggestions? Thanks alot :) Mike x

The X600 isn't a bad general purpose card, but it's not much for gaming. Of the three 8600GT's listed, the last one is the best/fastest. None of them require an aux power connection. For slightly more, you *may* wanna consider the X1950 Pro. This article should help you with your choice: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12...

Cheers for the reply so quickly Jam :) I found a few of the X1950 PRO like you mentioned but havent a clue on the differences, is this just branding or is it a big difference? I'll post the links to the ones i can afford, i really thought Nvidia were the better choice for graphics cards? Anyway if it'd be possible to tell me whats best and worth getting for the price that'd be excellent.. i could assume the highest price = best but.. thats too risky around xmas time!! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-RA... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Ra... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-X1... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-3D-X19... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Ra... Thank you so much for your help and sorry to bother you with all this, just want to make sure he can do all the games he likes :) Could you please let me know which of the X1950 pro cards i listed is best? and if they will out perform the 8600 GT XXX Nvidia card you chose as best? ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/XFX-8600GT-... ) Also the same question.. these cards dont require aux power connection? Thank you so much :) Mike x (Also i read through the link you gave me and i'm still a little confused lol, sorry) >_<!

Sorry...after having a look at the X1950Pro, it appears that the aux power plug-in IS required, so if that's a problem (which apparently it is), stick with the 8600GT. If you wanna have a look at this interactive chart, you'll get an idea of which cards offer the best performance. The 8600GT vs X1950Pro are in blue: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graph...

Thank you again :) I would like to go with the card you suggested, from those charts it blows 8600gt out the water! The problem with a card that requires the aux power and i've never connected one before and am worried i'd blow his pc up lol! Also i'm not sure his power unit can take more, no idea what it can handle and that comes into consideration too right? It's a shame really :( Hope the 8600GT will still do the job, unless you have any other idea's? Thank you Jam for all your input mate. Mike x

Just to add, i own a X1950Pro (PCI-e) and it does have an aux power plug. From memory the power requirements for it are VERY steep. Do your homework in terms of amps on the +12v rail. BTW, as you are uk - check out www.ebuyer.co.uk I purchase from them all the time and recently got a 7600GT from there for an upgrade to a Dell, It has no aux power required, but i think the 8600GT will blow it out the water performance wise. Regards D PS - used the 7600GT to play UT3, ran well with med settings Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2x1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800Mhz Sapphire x1950Pro 160Gb Seagate Baracuda 500W FSP Bluestorm PSU

Much thanks D Thats what i was worried about the power supply / aux on the x1950 pro, so i will just go with 8600 GT XXX version for his machine, it should do what he needs i think. It surely will be a huge improvement from his ati x600 atleast lol, thanks alot for all your help (jam, D) and i'll look at that ebuyer site and order something tonight. Take care and happy christmas :) Mike.