Is there an online Graphics Card Upgrade advisor similar to Crucial's memory advisor?

I have an oldish Dell (Core 2 Duo) with 4GB Ram and running Windows 7. Its not a bad machine to have hanging around but the graphics card is a bit weak now - ATI 15xx series.

I have used Crucial for years to quickly determine the cheapest/most cost effective memory upgrade. Is there a decent website that checks your machine in a similar way to the Crucial memory advisor and suggests compatible upgrades?

Despite building my own machines for years - I'm confused by the sheer number of options and upgrades at the various price points.

Fortyrunner

Posted 2011-08-16T15:44:07.987

Reputation: 243

Try visiting our "Root Access" chat - the people there might be able to recommend one to fit your needs! http://chat.stackexchange.com/

– Simon Sheehan – 2011-08-16T16:17:23.283

Answers

I dont believe there is any program out there that does what you ask. Graphics cards are in a world of their own. And there is no de facto standard that makes one card better than another. Some cards are better than others for certain games/applications since they have faster GPUs, or more memory for textures, or they have been overclocked by the manufacturer. Your best bet is to thoroughly research the cards by reading reviews, benchmarks, etc.

Keltari

Posted 2011-08-16T15:44:07.987

Reputation: 57 019

Thanks. I was hoping to shortcut the process. Life is too short to spend a lot of time researching a $50 card! I guess any card with double the memory (or more) that is 4 years younger will be a better card.. – Fortyrunner – 2011-08-16T16:08:29.447

for $50, you might be better off buying a used card off of craigslist. You might be able to get more card for the money than a new one. – Keltari – 2011-08-16T19:16:07.657

Personally I trust Anandtech reviews most, and they do have handy graph out of cards tested: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188

However, like most hardware sites, their main focus is on mid- and upper range cards, so it might not help if your budget is $50.

These graphs might help for sub-$100 cards: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4278/amds-radeon-hd-6670-radeon-hd-6570/4

Zds

Posted 2011-08-16T15:44:07.987

Reputation: 2 209

I'm in the UK so it will be more of a £35-40 card. Even so - the cards for that price are much better than my old card! Thanks for the link – Fortyrunner – 2011-08-17T14:38:39.843