A Brief List of Graphics Cards: Help Me Pick One

[UNHchabo]

Well, good Escapists, I've done some research on graphics cards over the past several weeks, and I have come to a simple, two part conclusion: "Screw" and "It". Computers have never been my thing, and I don't really care to grow into an expert, having already come to the game a bit late. So, I decided to go to Best Buy and pick one, but I think some educated opinions would do me better than guesswork. This is what I've got in front of me:

Radeon 4550, 4670, and 5450
GeForce 210, 430

Those are all of the cards within my price range, and all of them are 1GB, except the 5450, which is 2GB. I've reached my wit's end, so I ask you, fellow geeks: which is the best card for the modern aspiring PC gamer?

In general I'd say you'd be better off saving up a little bit more money, so you can get some good value for your dollar.

The most important questions are ones that I don't think have been asked so far in this thread:
1) What resolution is your monitor?
2) What games do you play?
3) Do you care if you have to turn down graphical settings?

If you're trying to run Crysis at full settings at 1080p, then you'll have to spend more than if you're trying to run Portal 2 at 1280x800, and you don't mind turning down some settings. Answer those three questions, and we can provide you with a video card to match.

Edit: Turns out Treblaine already asked the first two questions; they're still important though.

 

[yundex]

The nvidia 560 ti can max crysis at 1920x1080, minus maxed AA. You can get it for around 200, so I would wait and save if I were you. All of the cards you listed are awful at 1080p, if you're not running 1080p than I wouldn't waste the money.

 

[bfgmetalhead]

thankfully I have a 360 that does all this for me

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

thankfully I have a 360 that does all this for me

While it may be easier to deal with, the 360 is also only about as powerful as a cell phone these days. The gap between even one of the lower end cards in this thread and the 360's GPU is pretty staggering.

 

[UNHchabo]

thankfully I have a 360 that does all this for me

If you have a desktop machine, changing the video card is really a painless process; it barely requires more technical expertise than hooking up your 360 to your TV.

As for the knowledge that goes into purchasing, tell me: which 360 is the best value-for-money? The 250GB, or the 4GB? What about a used Elite or Arcade?

The only trouble you can get yourself into when buying a video card is by going too high-end for your power supply; most of the time though you can avoid trouble by going off of the manufacturer's recommendations; if they recommend a 400W power supply, and yours is 350W, then you shouldn't buy that card.

 

[Amishdemon]

I've got the 430(I think) and it works pretty good for now but i belive i may upgarde sooner or later.