Which is the best mainstream gaming GPU?

I'm planning to buy a graphic card, but I'm really confused on which one to buy. I've come up with two choices: the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT and the AMD ATI Radeon HD 4670. I'm planning to play games like Farcry 2, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Crysis: Warhead and GTA IV. My PC's an Acer desktop with a 2.2GHz Intel …

[Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware]

@Sushil

Here are a couple of reviews to check out first:

Our ATI Radeon HD 4000 series group test:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/11/27/review_amd_radeon_hd_4000_series/

and our 16-GPU bangs-for-buck round-up:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/08/12/review_gpu_bangs_for_buck/

You can find our other graphics card write-ups here:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/reviews/bits_n_chips/

[Anonymous Coward]

additional hardware

On top of which ever card you buy, judging by your current spec; you will need to buy a new power supply as 350W won't be sufficient and it will also require RAM upgrade if you wish to place those game as 1gb will struggle to run smoothly.

[Phil Clemow]

More Ram

Not sure on the graphics card choice but I would suggest that first stop is more RAM, it is cheap as chips and should give you a good boost on those games.

I run a 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3gb of ram and a HD3850 and get good performance for those games at 1680x1050 (satisfies me anyway), you have to turn down the graphics to get crysis (and by extension crysis warhead and far cry 2) running well but ... who doesnt?!

From all accounts the 3850 and 4670 are similar performance, so with that card I'd say you can run these games and games in years to come, as long as you have more ram, and from a quick perusal of the web, the 4670 also beats the 8600GT.

[Nick Mallard]

ATI

Would definitely side with the 4670 for midrange oomph. Generally better performance levels, driver support is better (slightly ironically!) and you've better IQ and features to boot.