I'm looking to upgrade my computer and I was doing some research and now im completely confused. So what would you guys recommend. Whats a good all around Graphics card that can do gaming and videos?

Every needs and degree of satisfaction is different from one to another ...
There's also the money which is a variable to consider.
Anyway, if you like playing new games at 1024*768 or more, don't go under 7600 GT for nvidia and X1600 for ati ?
I don't really know ati products but i've bought a 9600 Pro 256 Mb more than a year ago and it was working fine.
I know that ati product can manage better anti-aliasing & HDR.
Nvidia is good too.
It's hard to give advices without knowing your expectations and needs ...

What do you plan on spending? and what is your current computer specs? can't realy recommend anything with out knowin that simple stuff. but if i had to recommend something id say to get nvidia gfx card they Own.

and why not go under 7600 my 6800 hasnt failed me at all since i bought it 5months ago.

@~BioXVirus, ATI and Nvidia's numbering systems are different now, so, for example, the new ATI X1300 and their older 9600 and 9800 cards are actually on fairly equal footing, at least from what I've heard. I'm pretty confused about it too. I've been wanting to replace my broken ATI 9800 Pro, and I don't know what the current equivalent is now that the 9000 series have been pretty much discontinued for the X line of cards.

@Hiyomika, if you don't plan on upgrading your computer anytime soon, and your motherboard only supports AGP, I'd suggest getting an AGP video card for your upgrade within the next few months while there are still some reasonably priced ones available ($150 - $200 US). At least on retail, AGP cards are slowly being phased out by newer PCI Express cards to the point that only the most expensive and the cheapest AGP cards will be on shelves. So if you can't buy things online, keep this in mind. This is the case where I live, and it got kinda frustrating trying to find a replacement card (which I still haven't done). Also, if you do plan on getting a new computer within the next two years, I would suggest considering waiting for Vista, and more importantly DirectX 10 to be released, and the cards that will come out for that. But that really depends on how much you want to save money in the long, long run.

As for your question, I would recommend an ATI 9600 or 9800. They play all new games reasonably well, and should play all games coming out within the next year and a half with the graphics settings on low to medium. I don't know what the Nvidia equivalents are, and I don't know what the equivalents are with the new numbering systems in place, but a graphics card with that sort of performance should last you for a good amount of time.

@~pomorales :

I had the Ati Radeon 9600 Pro 256 Mb (400 Mhz-400 Mhz version) one year ago and i've to change it to a 6600 GT 128 Mb (more performances than a 9800 Pro) because it was not enough to play NFSU & ...; so how can you say it's enough to play at recent games ?
My 6600 GT (AGP) is enough to play at 1024*768 with F.E.A.R. & ...
But everything depends on the cpu he've got and what is is preference for resolution in gaming ...

It would be great if you could post your momentary computerhardware. :)

Start with telling if you want AGP or Pci-express and tell us what cpu you have got ...

Another thing you might keep in mind is Windows Vista coming up early 2007. If the rest of your hardware is up to that, it's IMO certainly advisable to look for a DirectX10 supporting vidcard. Assuming you want to keep your new to buy videocard for a while (like 3-4 years).

But please do post your specs first, it all depends on that (CPU, Motherboard, Memory). And your budget, please.

Well Im looking at building a computer so I'm open for opinion. Its going to be a all around comp but mainly for gaming and for watching anime. Still in the planing stages but from what you guys posted Ill wait for Vista and Direct X 10 to come out and shoot from there. But on upgrading I have a Radeon 9200 AGP with 128MB. CPU is 3.2 Ghz 512 ram

What is the difference between AGP and Pci-express and what do they mean.

Sry if I shouldn't double post.

AGP and PCI-Express are just different standards for the slot where you plug in the video card onto the motherboard, to keep things simple. Most motherboards have an AGP slot to plug in the video card, but newer ones have a PCI-Express slot, and PCI-E will gradually become the common standard as AGP gets phased out due to just being an older technology. It's something to keep in mind if you plan on upgrading in the future.

Also, with your current specs, I'd recommend moving the RAM up to 1 GB, ESPECIALLY if you're going to get Vista and do (cutting-edge) gaming. This is of course alongside every suggestion everybody has made about video cards so far.

Sry if I shouldn't double post.

Don't worry, you could and you must interact in your own topic.
:-)

About, hardware :

I agree with pomorales that at least 1 Gb of ram is better for gaming & ...
Now, top graphic cards have 256 or 512 Mb of ram.
Anyway, about the cards, i think there are not yet (and i don't know if there will be) agp versions of 7600 GT or above but you can find a 6800 GS or ... to upgrade in your agp motherboard.
About the future PC, it depends on the period you'll mount it ...

Another thing you might keep in mind is Windows Vista coming up early 2007. If the rest of your hardware is up to that, it's IMO certainly advisable to look for a DirectX10 supporting vidcard. Assuming you want to keep your new to buy videocard for a while (like 3-4 years).

I've been reading up on this and apparently this argument is bunk...
95% of DirectX 9 cards right now support every feature of Direct X 10. It's just that these features weren't being utilized by DirectX 9...

Okay a few things nvidia vs ati - go with nvidia because of the compatibility, unitfied driver set, funtionality and preformance. there are too many issues that can be caused by the ati chipset and driver set that nvidia has not suffered from. In fact if you look at how crossfire and sli work - well hello the nvidia sli is sooo much easier to work with, configure, and well to get it to work you do not have to think as much.

now in terms of function there are some thing to consider chipset most graphics cards that you can get retail are designed for gaming not for video or picture editing. So overall you have to make a choice what are you really going to do with this computer? games or editing. in essence to do either proficently you should have two computers one to do each task. that way you can design your hardware and software needs to build the perfect system.

So my recommendation find your price range, go to nvidias web site and pickout the right video cards for your needs. oh yeah dont forget pci, pci express, or agp.

Some graphics cards need more power so you might have to buy a PSU (Power Supply Unit), the higher end graphic cards need atleast 350+ volts.