GeForce GTS 250 or Radeon HD 5750 (+ compatibility question)

[Jamesqin]

Hi guys,
if anybody answered this question already (as comparison between those 2 is pretty common I would imagine) please redirect me, thank you
so here is the thing, I decided to upgrade my computer which now has only "ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics", which is integrated in my motherboard (ASUS M3A78 PRO motherboard)
and I'm stuck between those two graphic cards:
GeForce GTS 250
Radeon HD 5750
it seems that they're pretty much the same in performance (or GeForce slightly better), but Radeon supports DirectX 11 which is better than NVIDIA PhysX (or so I have been told) + Radeon seems to have smoother performance (eats less energy) and have 1gb instead of 512mb. And least but not last Radeon is a bit more expensive (20-30 dollars I think)
that said I dont know which one to go with. if we compare price and performance than GeForce is better I think, but I dont know, since it is pretty old model, if it has any perspective to buy such card + I dont know if it is compatible with my motherboard, or where to find that out..
thanks for any hints

btw here are some more specs for my computer:

1. Motherboard - ASUS M3A78
2. Graphic interface - ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
3. Memory -2048mb (dual)
4. CPU -AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
5. CPU Speed -3097 (overclock from 2900) / bus speed: 213,6 MHz
6. Power Supply Make/Model -
7. Watt output/Amperage - not important since I obviously need a new one for this graphic card
8. OS: Windows XP Prof. 32bit

 

[Archean]

If i have to choose between these two; I wouldn't be bothered thinking about Geforce 250GTS in any respect at all because it would be waste of time, beside 5750 is fine for reasonable gaming performance nothing more.

 

[Ritwik7]

Use CPU-Z to find out your motherboard model.

If your board supports Cross-Fire then go with the HD 5750. Later on you can add another one if needed. If your board does not support CF and you might upgrade your system next year then go ahead with the GTS 250. Now, if you are waiting for DX 11 titles and/or you are going to use more than 2 monitors then the 5750 is the clear choice.

 

[BMfan]

His board doesn't support Xfire,i would go with the 5750.

 

[Puiu]

go with the 5750, but i think it's best to save a bit more money to buy a 5770 to be able to take advantage of dx11 in more demanding games.
If dx11 or physx (both having only a few good games) is not that big a deal for you then a 4870 will help you more in games.
As for a PSU, a 80+ 450W one should be ok.

 

[Jamesqin]

well if you look at specs. of my motherboard it says:

...
1 x PCIe x16 (Support PCIe 2.0 / 1.0 Architecture )
2 x PCIe x1
3 x PCI 2.2
CrossFire

Hybrid CrossFireX™ Support (For Windows Vista only)
VGA

Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 GPU
Supports HDMI™ Technology with max. resolution up to 1920 x 1200 (1080P)
Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1600x1200 @60Hz
Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2560x1440 @ 75Hz
Hybrid CrossFireX™ Support (For Windows Vista only)
HDMI/DVI/RGB Support
Supports Microsoft® DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.0, Pixel Shader 4.0
Maximum shared memory of 256MB
Storage
...

in my native tongue (czech) it is writen there that it does not support 2 graphic cards with exception of Crossfire between integrated graphic card and one aditional graphic card.. or at least I understand it that way.. Im no expert in such things but shouldn't crossfire be between two similiar cards ?
anyhow, if we look at specs it says that crossfire should be allowed for only Windows Vista users so since I have XP it shouldn't work anyway right ?
Im sorry to ask such noobish question, but better be sure than sorry..

 

[Jamesqin]

as for what Puiu has writen: so what you're saying is that 5750 is better for those games who require dx11 but for others would 4870 work better ? Because I choose those two graphic cards based on one graphic card owerview/test on the internet and those two should be, as they say, best, or among the best in such price range..
so is there a better graphic card than ATI RADEON HD 5750 in price range of this graphic card ? I mean in terms of "modern gaming", thats what I would like to use the card for..

 

[Archean]

If you compare 5750 and 5770 ...... the later is far superior. And CrossFire can be implemented with varying-GPU cards of the same generation; however, you can't do this with nVidia cards.

 

[Ritwik7]

The Radeon HD 4870 would definitely outperform the HD 5750. It's also marginally better than the HD 5770.

 

[Puiu]

as for what Puiu has writen: so what you're saying is that 5750 is better for those games who require dx11 but for others would 4870 work better ? Because I choose those two graphic cards based on one graphic card owerview/test on the internet and those two should be, as they say, best, or among the best in such price range..
so is there a better graphic card than ATI RADEON HD 5750 in price range of this graphic card ? I mean in terms of "modern gaming", thats what I would like to use the card for..

HD 5750 will be able to use the visual improvements dx11 will offer in newer games that support it, but it's not powerful enough to play those games with dx11 enabled at full details (it's counter productive) --> thus i recommended 5770 if he really wants to play dx11 games. if he doesn't care about dx11 and wants to play at high details without worrying about FPS (frames per second) than a HD 4870 will do better (dx10.1). Depending on where he lives a gtx260 might be a better choice compared to 4870 (prices vary greatly from country to country).
The best way to know what the best card is for him is to read some benchmarks and see how well they perform.
When i buy something i read a lot of benchmarks/forums/articles and chose the one for me.

 

[Archean]

The Radeon HD 4870 would definitely outperform the HD 5750. It's also marginally better than the HD 5770.

It is, but it is not as future proof atm as 5770 would be with DX11. However, if DX11 is not that much of a concern, then Puiu's suggestion about 4870 is very good.