[Suggestions] Graphics Card Under 12k

[srch07]

Wanted to know suggestion,recommendation on Graphics Card Under 12k.
Was settling down for Sapphire HD6850 TOXIC @ 11.2k (as configured by jas

But am open for suggestions.
Also, please explain.
1. What are these Catalyst drivers, talked about in the forum?
I have always used Nvidia till now, so am geting curious, is GC drivers incompatible for games or what

2. Please give a trusted review of card you suggest

[vickybat]

Thats the best card for the price at the moment. Go for it but nvidia is also launching gtx 560 this feb and it might be worth waiting.

In ces , evga (an nvidia only board partner) showcased a dual gpu aimed for antilles. So nvidia is keen on expanding its fermi line up so better wait a bit.

[srch07]

Nah, feb will be too much.
Depends on SNB arrival in india though.
Btw vicky, mind elaborating what is this catalyst driver thing, i mean why people use it. Why not the original drivers provided with the card or its latest update?

[sam]

mind elaborating what is this catalyst driver thing, i mean why people use it.

Catalyst = AMD graphics drivers. its just a name as Nvidia drivers are known as Forcewares.

Why not the original drivers provided with the card or its latest update?

the bundled drivers are at least 2-3months old. so its always advisable to get the latest ones available as many bugs are sorted out & in case of highend/mainstream GPUs, one may get noticeable increase in performance.

[srch07]

Ah, ok..
In the past 6 months of my away from internet, i missed alot. lolz

Thanks for the info

[vickybat]

Its simple ati or amd chose catalyst cause in general, it speeds up a chemical reaction. So drivers speeds up a gpu's performance.

For new game releases , optimized drivers are written to enhance performance in the particular title so its advised to use latest drivers but sometimes this becomes unecessary.

[ico]

This is not a buying advice section. Thread moved to PC Configurations.