I'm very new to this so if the answer is painfully obvious I'm sorry, but I need to know which of the three graphics cards here is the better buy performance wise, ignore pricing, just tell me which one will crank out the better graphics. Also if you could put them in order from best to worst that would be great too. Thanks in advance. One from the ATI Radeon 4200 Series ATI Radeon 5550 HD Graphics Card or ATI Radeon 6850 HD Graphics Card
Don't worry mate, all of us at one point had no idea about anything. I'm not sure if I still have no idea... But yes, as above, 6850 by a country mile. Why do you ask out of curiosity? Are you looking to get a new GPU?
Just a heads up, with the ATI/AMD naming scheme you have three operative numbers and a fourth useless number on the end (it's always a 0). The first number signifies the series, there's roughly a new series every year. Currently the 6000 series cards are the most current. 5000 cards are then the previous series, roughly a year older, with the 4000 series before them. The second number gives a rough idea of performance and cost. For the 6000 series 9 is the highest (6900), for the 4000 and 5000 series 8 is the highest (4800 and 5800 respectively). Lower numbers represent progressively lower performance. The third number is even an even more granular marker of performance. Numbers used here are usually 9, 7 or 5, and rarely 3. Again, the higher the better. For example, a 5870 will be higher performing than a 5850, but not by such a large margin as a 5870 compared to a 5770. Given that, take a fresh look at your listed cards: -The 4200 series cards are relatively old now, and with the second number being so low (2) will be relatively poor performing, but also be cheaper. However, such old cards are no longer in production and will be overpriced. -The 5550 will be a little newer and therefore easier to find and, having a second number of 5, will offer more mid range performance with a more mid range price. However, there's usually little reason to buy a card that's even one series old unless you found a sale or good deal. -The 6850 is a current series card, making it easier to find and at a price more appropriate for its performance. With a second number of 8 it's near the top end of the line with a steeper price. If you want to play newer games at decent settings this card might not be a bad idea, though there are still more powerful ones available. If your budget can't fit such a card you can opt for cheaper variants with lower second numbers such as a 6770 or 6450 (these aren't the only two, just examples), whatever fits your budget. If you want to totally ignore pricing and look just at performance the best card would be Nvidia's GTX590. AMD's best card would be the 6990.
The above isn't even a great rule. For example 5850>6850 @thatdead Try typing the graphic card name and adding review on the end into google.
You might find that I never said such a thing was true, please read more closely. Never did I say that the series number was an indicator of performance, only rough release date and age. I make note of the difference between the 6000 series starting at 9 and the 5000 starting at 8, it can then be understood that a 5850 is at the maximum level for the second number in its series whereas a 6850 is not the highest in its series and perhaps is not as high performing. Should the OP have asked about cards which were closer together in performance clarifying specific differences in performance between years would have been more applicable, but thankfully a 5550 and 6850 are far enough apart to skip over the slight difference in numbering for each series in a quick guide aimed at a new comer. Also, be wary of typing in a card name and review as well. Reviews written around the time of a card's release will only be comparing the card to other cards available at the time and the score it recieves is likely to no longer be applicable today. For example: A review from OCC dated June 9, 2010 claims that "The Powercolor HD 5550 offers great casual gaming performance for a modest price point" yet this may not be true September 8, 2011 since many other cards have since been released. For $70, the price of the 5550 at the time of the review, one could instead buy a 6570 which may offer better performance. To make matters more confusing, the 5550's price may have dropped making it still a better value per dollar, a prospective buyer would want to research this further. Simply seeing if the card got good reviews in the past is only the first step on a long road.
Sorry I kind of wrote the review search point as someone who knows how to glance at the cards release date and then adjust the feedback based on that.
Thanks to you all, you have helped me out greatly. I'm now well on my way to learning more about this kind of stuff thanks in part by Sloth. @Zinfandel I was looking at system requirements for a couple upcoming games and all the numbers and each individual card's specs got me a bit confused.
You may find this helpful to help get your head around how different card compare e.g. if a game list a 9800 as recommended you can find that on the list and see what comes above it. http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html
