I am currently running Skyrim on a i7-2500 with 8gb of ram. I stare at a 28" monitor at 1920x1200 resolution. Currently I am running Skyrim on medium settings with no AA other then FXAA on a Radeon 4850 512mb card. The video ram is always maxed and I see FPS around 30-40.

I just came in to a $250 budget for a new card. I am looking to run the new texture pack as well as textures from the mod community. My power supply won't handle a x2 card and I'm not interested in SLI. I am however keen on the 2gb cards.

The question and what I'm looking for advice on is whats a good card to run Skyrim on Ultra, keep higher then 35+ fps and run texture packs- best price/perfomance ratio. Don't factor in AA because I don't use it anyhow (I don't need a debate on this, I am too old to pay attn to jaggies and I don't sit still in game long enough for it to show up in most cases).

I'd rather not overkill it, and would like not to use up the whole $250 budget (in this economy, having money for other things is nice).

There's a nVidia 560 that's 2gb. Not sure on the price though. I used to use the 1gb 560Ti but upgraded to a 1.5gig 580 eventually. No increase in performance between the two cards for Skyrim (its more CPU intensive). Get 60+ FPS with both cards. But, yeah, i'd take a look at the 2gb 560 if I were you.

My 6950 2GB is doing pretty good atm. I'm not sure how much it costs in the US though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162085
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150563

Here's a couple that fit the bill without rebates to make them under $250. Occasionally you can catch an HD 6950 2GB for $250 or less.

So it takes a $250+ graphics card to play Skyrim on Ultra @ 1920x1200 without AA?

Does anyone think otherwise?

I think you could do it with the HD 6870 2GB. Its a very capable card for the price and better at higher resolutions than the GTX 560 (and it handles AA better at those resolutions should you choose to use it). Plus Skyrim seems to be more AMD-friendly where mid-range cards are concerned. It would absolutely wipe the floor with your current card.

The Nvidia would be fine as well - and that double fan design would be quieter.

Thanks for the post guys. I haven't decided yet but I like how you broke it down there in the last post... makes the desicion easier.

NorCal eh? Hello from Fair Oaks.

nVidia's driver releases have been a lot better than the AMD/ATI ones recently. Another thing to consider when you purchase a new card. But honestly, I think it comes down to pure preference. I've had a good history with nVidia, so I tend to purchase their cards. Consumer loyalty and all that lol.

You can also get a Gainward/EVGA 560Ti 2GB video card like I have, game runs fine with 4xAA and everything on Ultra.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-PCI-Express-100312-2SR/dp/B004TA6RY0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1328685461&sr=8-6

Here's an HD 6950 2GB in your price range.

Guess you will have problems with this dlc and current game patch anyway, but 2 gb will save some of your nerves, so buy any videocard with this amount of memory. I prefer NVidia as less buggy drivers than ATI at this moment, game from beginning had very low fps on ATI unless drivers where updated. For other games it's also better as it have PhysX acceleration. If you can wait for better drivers from ATI and will not update them after some stable will be released, then fine.