Wow, it's been a while since I posted. now my daughter is 13 months old and in late 2009 I was here complaining about not being able to find a girl lol.

anyways, I'm looking to upgrade my video card. It's funny that I have been following a complete-upgrade-every-3-years pattern. In fall 2001 I got a new PC. in 2004 summer before my college began I got a high power thinkpad. in fall 2006 I built a new PC to play oblivion, and in 2009 when I started working (and got money), I built another PC which I've been using since then. Now it's summer 2012, I actually don't feel much pressure to build a new PC, but I'm thinking about getting a new video card.

So here's what I have right now:

ASUS M4A78-E AMD 790GX Socket AM2+ Motherboard
XFX Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1GB PCIe w/Dual Link DVI
AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0Ghz 6MB AM3 CPU

I'm not sure which card I should upgrade to so that it's compatible with what I have right now? I actually never tried upgrading a single component, always bought complete new sets lol

Thanks

For a general ranking of GPU power, I tend to use http://www.overclock.net/t/502403/graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-and-last-updated-daily.

Of course, different companies will trick out their version of a card in different ways, so not every HD 6870 is the same. But the list is still good for getting a basic idea.


Another good source is Tom's Hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html articles. Pick your price category, and go.

Thanks! I wonder if there's any caveats on hardware compatibility, like if I pick 6870, which "flavor" will work with my motherboard?

Try asking in the http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1397168-the-community-tech-thread-no-117/. They know lots.