I have 200-400 pounds to spend

so what graphic cards do I get

I can get a 275 or two 260 in SLi mode

my MB is 2 - 3 years old and can only use the green company cards

so a AMD cards in cross fire will not work due to chip set

so the question what will be faster and better

Mark

95% of the time I would suggest going for a single card over an SLI setup.

Importantly, what resolution are you playing at?

I agree with JL.

SLi is good if you are playing at ridiculous resolutions (i.e. 30+" computer monitor resolutions).

But for normal size (anything up to 1900x1200) I would go for a single card.

With that budget why not go for something like CLICKY!

It will blow the SLi set up out of the water and it's almost twice as fast as the 275. You'll be sorted for the next few years.

What mobo & chip is it?

You won't get the most from a GTX series if you're chip etc is too old

Dear all,

to answer your questions I had to get out my user guide

I have an ASUS M2N32-SLi Deluxe motherboard which is the wireless version

the chip set is

nvidia nforce 590 sli mcp

nvidia linkboost technology

2x PCI express slots x 16 slots with nvidia sli support at full x 16, x 16 speed

the current running a 22" Samsung screen and planning to go to 26" Samsung screen (T260 26-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor) Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

I am running a am2 2x6000 at stock speed

I have windows 7, XP pro and Vista (64 bit) as my OS

4 GB RAM

4x250 western digital GB hard disks

I also have a 800 watt OCZ CPU

Mark

You will be fine with any of the current generation GPUs.

The GTX 295 is a very nice card for the price.

I have a GTX260 and can play Grid at 1680x1050 on ultra high settings.

I'd do a BIOS update on the mobo too. You'll be able to d/l the latest firmware from asus website.

Get a 4890, excellent card at an even better price.

True but I thought he said ATi cards wouldn't work.

Unless he meant they wouldn't work in crossfire?!

His chipset doesn't support CrossFire, but a sole ATI/AMD card should work fine.

This might help:
Best Graphics Cards For The Money: June '09 : May Review/June Updates

I'd go for a Nvidia card every time. The AMD cards may benchmark well, but the Nvidia equivalent is usually easier to live with - quieter, cooler and the drivers are invariably better. There's also the CUDA & Physx thing, which is a nice bonus.

Except that precious few games use Physx, and those that do there's normally little/no noticeable difference. Nvidia cards can also cost almost twice as much for very little performance gain, if any game at all.

Last year the 4870 was unbeatable in some games in "real-world" tests, leaving the competition behind, especially when cost is considered.

With my GTX260 I have Mirror's Edge on Highest settings at 1680x1050 with 4xMSAA and Physx and it plays brilliantly.

Physx is VERY nice.

Also the 4870 (direct competitor to the GTX260) is almost exactly the same price (average).

The 4870 is a superior card to the 260, not to mention the 260 started life as a much more expensive card. ATI embarrassed Nvidia into a price cut.

Not according to the benchmarks I have seen. At all resolutions they come within 0.5 - 1 fps of each other (either way).

The only difference I can see between them is that the 4870 uses 45nm architecture and therefore has a lower power draw (and effectively will cost you less on the electricity side). But he won't be able to use PhysX (on the games that have it) and he won't be able to double up with a second card at a later date if he goes for the 4870.

I wasn't aware of the price drop thing from NVidia.

TBH I'd go for what you feel most comfortable buying

If you go for the 260 up to the 295 or the 4870 or 4890 (or 4870x2) you won't be disappointed.