half of what i meant was i prefer performance to graphics so i'm not afraid to play on just 'high', the other half was that games i tend to like are never really that demanding. I could probably play Mini Metro and Papa & Yo on a $50 card.

but like i said, you can do waaay better. i got the Sapphire just to get me by. its not like you need more than a 2gb card (neither does CC).

If you go AMD, get the best octocore FX chip you can afford.

also think about a mobo with on-board graphics. hopefully you'll never use it, but its a good fail-safe if a windows update screws up your card driver.

also get an aftermarket cooler. i didn't realize what 'loud' meant