Nvidia GTS 250 or?

[technix]

I was looking at this card:

EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB

I'm trying to find it for cheaper, though. Would it be worth it to go to 512MB or does the 1GB help improve the card? The resolution on my monitor is 1680x1050.

I was wondering if i should go for Nvidia because I'm a Linux user although I use Windows 50% of the time lately. But, ATI in Linux sounds like it's a neverending PITA and I fear I'd be spending loads of time configuring the driver, experimenting on the "other" driver (in Linux, there is a binary driver and an open source driver) and then dealing with other issues as they effect 3D, video players and settings among other video-related stuff.

I would like to go with ATI and the HD 5770 seems ideal. I don't know whether I should choose an older architecture in the Nvidia card which is certain to work 100% and I can do whatever I wish IN BOTH Windows and Linux or take a chance with an ATI card. The HD Radeon 5770 is better than the GTS 250 for almost everything but this is in Windows.

The HD 5770 card is about $160 and up. The Nvidia cards are between $110 and $150 with $130 (after rebate) allowing me to get a brand name EVGA card. I read that the step-up program is only eligible when you upgrade the card soon after you buy it. So, I doubt that would work out since Fermi is going so slow and I won't be able to afford a 470.

What should I doooooooo?!?

[jcmaz]

You could get the XFX version with the Zalman heatsink NCIX.com - Buy XFX GeForce GTS 250 680MHZ 512MB 2.0GHZ DDR3 PCI-E HDMI DVI VGA Video Card W/ Zalman Fansink - GS250XYSL4 In Canada.

[Sushi Warrior]

I would stick to a GT240 as you don't need that much horsepower in Linux, unless you use GPGPU or something like that.

[technix]

Originally Posted by Sushi Warrior

I would stick to a GT240 as you don't need that much horsepower in Linux, unless you use GPGPU or something like that.

Okay, but then how do I know if it's a GDDR5 version?

I was looking at the GT 240s but they were more money at the time. I think they go from $70 and up. So, I'd consider a GDDR5 version. Maybe go for a GT 240 and wait and see what transpires regarding newer Nvidia cards and ATI support in Linux (for the Evergreen cards).

jcmaz, I noticed that XFX card while checking out the varieties on shopbot and pricecanada. I will consider it if I go for a GTS 250.

[Zero82z]

What do you plan on doing with your PC? Will you actually be using a lot of GPU power? If not, you could get a really low-power card instead, like the GT 210 for example.

[ilya]

XFX Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E 44932 - eBay (item 150433089446 end time Apr-17-10 11:46:53 PDT)
ASUS Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E Video Card 50073 - eBay (item 310213495868 end time Apr-18-10 15:34:10 PDT)
Try your luck on ebay.
ATI has been doing a pretty good job catching up with Linux support and the 5770 has been out for a pretty long time now, so I personally feel it's worth it if you can get it cheap.
You can get a 5770 for 150ish new if you don't care for brands.

[technix]

I like the HD 5770 and the Vapor-X is a good card? Or the reference pcb XFX or Sapphire ones?

If I go with Nvidia, I think I'll go with a GT 240. I thought maybe go with a cheaper Nvidia card and wait for ATI support to progress more in Linux.

But, I was wondering if it's possible to buy a used GT 240 (here)? Or else I thought to go with the MSI GT 240 that was reviewed with other cards in the GT 240 roundup review on this site?