Best video card for 150-200??

IDAFC21 · Sep 28, 2003

What do you all think? Whats the best graphics card i can get out there for 150-200 bucks. preferably at least a high end DX8 card. Im thinkin radeon's the way to go but i dont know. Id love to get a DX9 card...but i just cant justify spending 400 bucks on somthing like that. i dont really play that many games on my computer anyways, and the only games i can think of that are really push a dx9 card to its limits are half life 2 and doom III, both of which i'd love to play. But im not gonna buy a dx9 card for 2 games. I'd love to be able to play those games tho. a high end DX8 card should be able to handle those games FAIRLY decent right? , and maybe i can save myself a couple hundred bucks...theres just somthing wrong when a graphics card costs more than my motherboard and processor combined....haha

Solid Fro · Sep 28, 2003

If you want to play HL2, you will NEED a high end DirectX 9 compliant card. Even a GeForce FX 5600 (which is DX9) will not run HL2. You probably want to wait until HL2 comes out before you get a new card.

If you can't wait, a GeForce 4 Ti4600 will be able to run any game out right now. Remember to check out newegg.com for the best deals.

IDAFC21 · Sep 28, 2003

hmm...i dont know. i havent been hearing very many good things about geforce cards these days. i saw some benchmark results on one of HL2's demos and they didnt score very well against the radeons. I was checkin around and the radeon 9600 pro seems to be the choice to get for a decent card w/ a good price, it should have power enough to play *most* of hl2's features, but i agree, if you really wanna play HL2 the way it was meant to be played you NEED a high end dx9 card, however i just cant afford somthing like that for one game. the 9600 pro should be able to hold its own pretty good (i hope)

Solid Fro · Sep 28, 2003

If you really want to play HL2, I would go with ATi. (I'm a hardcore nvidia fan :lol:

). Something with Nvidia's pixel shaders in the FX cards are causing the problem. The Radeon 9600 should do fine.

Flerbizky · Sep 28, 2003

My suggestion as an nVidia fanboy. Go with the Radeon 9600 (or above if you can find one for the price)... Or better yet - Wait till HL2 gets here. The prices will have dropped and you'll get something where you're sure it'll work....

A slightly annoyed voice in my head is telling me to go out and buy a 9800

IDAFC21 · Sep 29, 2003

I think i'll go w/ the 9600. My main purpose here isnt to get a card that will play half life 2, i just need a new card, period. half life 2 would just be a bonus. my 32mb geforce 2 just isnt cuttin it anymore

Flerbizky · Sep 29, 2003

The 9600 would be a quantum leap up from the old GF2

Go for it !

IDAFC21 · Sep 29, 2003

yup. goin w/ a 9600 pro. its DX9 compliant so it should be able to do *fairly* well with HL2 , and will be more than enough to play any games I might have now. like i said, i dont really play too many games on the computer, but that might change if i have a card that can actually handle them now. haha

Solid Fro · Sep 30, 2003

Tom's Hardware has benchmarks of the Radeon 9600 and 9800 against the Geforce FX 5600 and 5900. I'm sorry, but the Geforce scores are pitiful.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030912/index.html

IDAFC21 · Sep 30, 2003

ordered a 9600 pro from newegg tonight. 155 shipped, cant beat that. should be here by this weekend

Flerbizky · Sep 30, 2003

Btw.. What kinda CPU do you have to back the 9600 board ?

Vasco · Sep 30, 2003

I will be getting myself a Radeon 9800 Pro soon...should be good for at least 2 years.

Flerbizky · Sep 30, 2003

Originally posted by DODGE the VIPER
I will be getting myself a Radeon 9800 Pro soon...should be good for at least 2 years.

Or atleast till Doom 3 shows up :rolleyes:

IDAFC21 · Sep 30, 2003

Originally posted by Flerbizky
Btw.. What kinda CPU do you have to back the 9600 board ?

athlon xp 1.8ghz w/ 512mb ddr ram

OmicroN · Oct 1, 2003

1.8ghz eh? then did you get the xp +2000 or what one was that. I got the 2600 myself, I want to get the 3200 or faster. :cool:

Cobraboy · Oct 1, 2003

I'm currently looking at getting a 2500+.

Just need to start saving :banghead:

Solid Fro · Oct 1, 2003

1.8 GHz equals to a 2200+.

I have a 2000+ and I'm going to skip over the Barton core Athlons and go to the Athlon 64 FX chips. $765 for an OEM at newegg. :eek:

Cobraboy · Oct 1, 2003

Is there a motherboard thats compatible with the 64 yet?

I recall seeing a picture of a 64 chip and the entire bottom was covered with pins :eek:

CDailey · Oct 1, 2003

Originally posted by Cobraboy
Is there a motherboard thats compatible with the 64 yet?

I recall seeing a picture of a 64 chip and the entire bottom was covered with pins

940 pins for the AMD 64bit FX chip! :eek:

Cobraboy · Oct 1, 2003

Imagine if you stood on it! :nervous:

Lotta money down the drain...

Solid Fro · Oct 1, 2003

Yes, VIA and Nvidia both have chipsets for the 754 pin and 940 pin Athlon 64.

Vasco · Oct 1, 2003

I think Gigabyte have some as well...

Flerbizky · Oct 1, 2003

Originally posted by Viper Zero
Yes, VIA and Nvidia both have chipsets for the 754 pin and 940 pin Athlon 64.

Yup.. I'm looking at the Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP with the nForce3 chip(set) and an XP64 3200+ (not FX)... Still not sure whether or not to do it now or wait till Doom 3 HL2 starts shipping.... :irked:

Flerbizky · Oct 1, 2003

Speaking of graphics cards... This looks pretty interesting : http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/editorials/article/1660/ Looking forward to seing some real benchmarks (and prices too)

Solid Fro · Oct 2, 2003

Yeah, 3DMark03 is no longer valid in my opinion.

Best video card for 150-200??

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Weltanschauung

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I told you so.

Weltanschauung

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Salting the snail

Weltanschauung

Weltanschauung

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