New video card

[Clonedsheep]

Who's making a nice one for around $100 US. I have not had to deal with this for awhile and now it needs to be done. I need to stay within this price range because I have 4 to upgrade. I need the most bang for my buck. I'm getting the wifey into some major gaming and the choppiness is killing it.

[Lilwolf]

MMORPG multiboxing?

[Lilwolf]

I've been a ATI fan for a few years now.  I love my ATI 9500->9700 GREAT deal in that it still plays the latest games pretty well and I bought it for a 150 2 or 3 years ago.

BUT..

I hear that nvidia has the best price / performance cards these days. 

What prices your talking about your either talking a used card, or one with slower speeds / ect.   

Geforces 6600 have some that are in that price range.  But I don't know how they compare to the 6800 (which a friend has and loves). 

ATI has the 9700 pro for 96 bucks on pricewatch.  Good card.  Might be faster then the newer 9800 (non-pro) that you can get for 102 shipped.

btw, last I heard, many people are having great luck overclocking their 6800 to 6800 gts.  So its a 160 card -> 300 card.   I think this is probably the best price / performance right now.

btw, if you don't care about anything over 800x600 you don't care about many of these cards.

and if you know the game itself, you should mention it.  Geforces are MUCH better at OpenGL games like Doom3 and ATI is better at directX games (most the others)..

[Clonedsheep]

  Thanks for the reply. I have been looking @ the ATI Vs. Nvidia issue so your post helps. I am looking at playing F.E.A.R,  and call of duty 2 etc. My wife loves the sims 2 I am running an athlon 64 3200 for one system and can put more into the video. The other is an xp2400 so I was going to wait till I upgraded the whole thing.

[RayB]

Just stay away from "MX" (nvidia) and "SE" (ATi) versions.

You are better off with a "PRO" version of the an older ATI card, than you are with an SE version of a newer card.

Same with Geforce/Nvidia. MX series have stripped features, so you're better off with a slightly older non-MX crd than a brand new MX version.

[Clonedsheep]

Thanks for the tip. If you were looking @ cards right now, What ones would you consider? Price is no object....Ok under 300

[Alcohol]

ive just purchased a nvidia 6600gt, and it runs doom3 very nicely.. also it came with a dongle that has svhs composite and component(red -green-blue) so it may be handy for a cab once your fed up with it 

club 3d 6600 gt

it cost

[gmorse]

I've become a big fan of the Newegg refurbished video cards.  Grab a Radeon 9800 Pro for $90 shipped.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102281R

You just get the card, none of the extras, but if you're upgrading, who cares.

[SirPoonga]

FYI, my ATI 9550 can play fear demo at highest setting, there are some glitches at maximum setting.

[Clonedsheep]

Damn this is tough....So many choices. I think I am only going too upgrade my top 2 computers. This way I can spend a bit more right now.  I think I am going with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. I am going to look into the refurb or may buy new. I did look at the newer Nvidia's however there were some reviews on heat issues that scared me.  Thanks everyone.

[fiscap]

ATI is on the verge of releasing it's x1k line. The x1300 should start in the $100 range and should give you bang for your buck.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3566

[SOAPboy]

[SOAPboy]

ATI is on the verge of releasing it's x1k line. The x1300 should start in the $100 range and should give you bang for your buck.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3566

Read many of the benchmarks?

Nvidia > ATI
Once again..

Sucks, huge ati fan, but i went nvidia because lets face it, they own right now

[freakinshoe]

http://www.pricewatch.com is a really good place to get all ur pc parts, i just got an amd 64 2800+, motherboard and 512mb ram for $220 usd shipped. there is 128mb ati vid cards there for around $50.. my mame runs and amd 64 2800+ /w 512mb ram, 128 mb ati 9200 vid card, 10gb hdd for os, 120 gb hdd for storage, 12xdvd-rw, 550 w psu, 21" mitsubishi monitor. i run mame, emu's and pc games with no problem.

[Jabba]

I just bought an ATO Radeon Pro 9800. No problems with it. Plays al the latest games...

[fiscap]

ATI is on the verge of releasing it's x1k line. The x1300 should start in the $100 range and should give you bang for your buck.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3566

Read many of the benchmarks?

Nvidia < ATI
Once again..

Sucks, huge ati fan, but i went nvidia because lets face it, they own right now

Actually, I have been checking out the benchmarks - as limited as they are right now.

"The basic architecture, clocks and memory size of the Radeon X1800 XT make it undoubtedly the fastest overall graphics accelerator on the planet, ATI regaining the crown they've not worn since GeForce 7800 GTX and G70 blew us all away back at the end of June."

Have another look - http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3603

[StormGiant]

IMHO the best site for hardware reviews is www.tomshardware.com.  There are other good sites out there but this is the Consumer Reports of computer tech.

When I'm building a budget PC I search through the older round-ups to find out the best comparable products like motherboards and videocards and get the biggest bang-for-the-buck.

You can use pricewatch but double-check the seller rating at www.resellerratings.com.  If newegg has it, I get it from them - their price+shipping usually can't be beat.  If you've ever had to try and return something like a bad memory stick via online purchase, you know how important customer service is, and saving a buck or two isn't worth it.

[D5A1AC]

I think I am going with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro.

I can recommend this card. I've had it since the beginning of 2004 and it plays most recent games (Halflife 2, Doom 3 etc..) very well at above average graphics settings. It has no trouble with the Sims 2 at all. That's with 512MB ram and an Athlon 3200+ which is a pretty significant factor - Don't expect much performance if you have a low speed processor or very little ram.

I wish I had a 9800 Pro in my arcade too.....

[divemaster127]

Toms hardware did a huge review & they stated right now for the bang for your buck its the nividia 6600 GT thats what i purchased & it works great
thanks
divemaster

[AceTKK]

I have a 9800pro also and it's starting to show its age a bit. IMO a 9800pro is not good enough to fully enjoy the next-gen shooters like F.E.A.R. and maybe Quake4.

[GGKoul]

I have a 9700AIW and its a great card.  No issues with Far Cry or Half-life2.  But you the 1gig of ram and a good CPU to run those games at max detail anyways.

So if you have a high-end pc, I wouldn't cheap out on a low-mid end videocard.

[RayB]

I have a 9800 Pro 128mb. I run Far Cry with all settings on HIGH. Half Life 2 I get excellent results with, but it chugs sometimes. But I had only 512mb of ram when I was playing it. 1 gig is better. Plus now I think I'd recommend going with 256mb of VIDEO card ram if you can afford it.

[Abomination]

FYI, my ATI 9550 can play fear demo at highest setting, there are some glitches at maximum setting.

At what resolution?  I read a review with a guy who had an AMD FX and 2 7800gtx's in SLI that couldnt run fear at max settings.

[BobA]

Some cards will and sometimes the same card won't so could we please post CPU info as well so we can see what the limiting factors might be?

Thanks
BobA

[krick]

Just my $0.02...

Personally, I'll never buy a video card with a fan again.  I've owned four so far and the fans are always really crappy and fail after a year or two even with regular cleaning.  Plus they're almost never replaceable.

If you have to run the latest and greatest games at the highest resolutions with all the eye candy turned on, then you probably don't have a choice. 

[Tiger-Heli]

Personally, I'll never buy a video card with a fan again.  I've owned four so far and the fans are always really crappy and fail after a year or two even with regular cleaning.  Plus they're almost never replaceable.

Agreed . . . I have an ATI 9200 and an FX5200, both fanless after about 4 cards had fans die on me. . .

Also, ATI's drivers tend to be more troublesome to configure, but in general I still like their cards.

[SOAPboy]

I have a 9800 Pro 128mb. I run Far Cry with all settings on HIGH. Half Life 2 I get excellent results with, but it chugs sometimes. But I had only 512mb of ram when I was playing it. 1 gig is better. Plus now I think I'd recommend going with 256mb of VIDEO card ram if you can afford it.

Owned a 9800pro

HL2, yes, Farcry, Kinda..

Had a gig of ram, didnt make a difference in farcry, while it still ran ok for the most part, the slowdown was horrid in some areas and just not worth it..

9800pro, dont bother anymore..

FYI, my ATI 9550 can play fear demo at highest setting, there are some glitches at maximum setting.

At what resolution?  I read a review with a guy who had an AMD FX and 2 7800gtx's in SLI that couldnt run fear at max settings.

Fear also isnt out yet.. the DEMO is, and its NOT at all, in any way shape or form, optimized for the 7800GTXs.

And btw, the fear demo runs flawless with everything cranked to max in 1280x1024 on my 7800gtx

IMHO the best site for hardware reviews is www.tomshardware.com.  There are other good sites out there but this is the Consumer Reports of computer tech.

When I'm building a budget PC I search through the older round-ups to find out the best comparable products like motherboards and videocards and get the biggest bang-for-the-buck.

You can use pricewatch but double-check the seller rating at www.resellerratings.com.  If newegg has it, I get it from them - their price+shipping usually can't be beat.  If you've ever had to try and return something like a bad memory stick via online purchase, you know how important customer service is, and saving a buck or two isn't worth it.

its a shame he has such a bad rep tho, First company to toss him a few $$ gets a better review..

ATI is on the verge of releasing it's x1k line. The x1300 should start in the $100 range and should give you bang for your buck.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3566

Read many of the benchmarks?

Nvidia < ATI
Once again..

Sucks, huge ati fan, but i went nvidia because lets face it, they own right now

Actually, I have been checking out the benchmarks - as limited as they are right now.

"The basic architecture, clocks and memory size of the Radeon X1800 XT make it undoubtedly the fastest overall graphics accelerator on the planet, ATI regaining the crown they've not worn since GeForce 7800 GTX and G70 blew us all away back at the end of June."

Have another look - http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3603

Wait til everything is retail, and all the new games come out this month.. Im making no judgement on any of the "new" stuff yet.. ATI has alot of catchup to do.. 6XXX series slaughtered and the 7XXX is just flat out gaining more of a lead..







As far as ram talk, 2 gigs, if you cant afford it, and already have 1 gig, start saving.. Games are getting more and more ram dependent, and honestly, i dont know HOW i played WoW, BF2, and a few others without 2 gigs of ram..

[D5A1AC]

the fans are always really crappy and fail after a year or two even with regular cleaning.

What card did this happen on? It seems odd because I've never had a video card fan die on me. It actually is possible to replace pretty well any video card fan - Some people even replace their stock coolers with large heatsinks and fans designed for processors for extra cooling.

[SOAPboy]

the fans are always really crappy and fail after a year or two even with regular cleaning.

What card did this happen on? It seems odd because I've never had a video card fan die on me. It actually is possible to replace pretty well any video card fan - Some people even replace their stock coolers with large heatsinks and fans designed for processors for extra cooling.

Well, when you put a card in, then "forget about it" and never clean them, itll die..

[D5A1AC]

I haven't touched mine since I bought it in early 2004 and it's showing no signs of failure yet, but this is almost o/t.

[SOAPboy]

I haven't touched mine since I bought it in early 2004 and it's showing no signs of failure yet, but this is almost o/t.

Not alot of dust in your house?

[D5A1AC]

Theres quite a bit actually! My neglected pci 56k modem plug is filled with dust bunnies along with pretty much any other gap or un-used port. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[SOAPboy]

Theres quite a bit actually! My neglected pci 56k modem plug is filled with dust bunnies along with pretty much any other gap or un-used port. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Crazy sir

[Crazy Cooter]

Damn this is tough....So many choices. I think I am only going too upgrade my top 2 computers.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG/article.php/10708_3550661__5

"The GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB is a video card tailor-made for our value system, and the day we moved to this mainstream powerhouse represented a significant milestone. It is a serious gaming speed demon for its class, and is the perfect sub-$150 gaming card on the market. Of course, we're always looking to upgrade, and although we did give both the GeForce 6800 128-MB and Radeon X800 128-MB cards a good look, there is still nothing in this price range that offers the same mix of performance and value.
...
The GeForce 6600 GT core is manufactured on a 0.11-micron process, and ensures that it runs cooler than the 0.13-micron core found in the GeForce 6800-based cards..."

I've been an ATI fan for the past few years though.

[Tiger-Heli]

the fans are always really crappy and fail after a year or two even with regular cleaning.

What card did this happen on? It seems odd because I've never had a video card fan die on me. It actually is possible to replace pretty well any video card fan - Some people even replace their stock coolers with large heatsinks and fans designed for processors for extra cooling.

Question was directed toward Krick, but since I affirmed his findings, I'll try to answer it here.

First off, Krick said after 1 or 2 years - Early 2004 is only a year and a half, so you're probably getting close to failure . . .

[krick]

I had a Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro where the fan died twice.