I need a new videocard, Suggestions?

-=Warhead=- · Jun 2005

Hey my current video card is a Geforce 5500 FX OC.
I'm in need of a new one thats not to expensive around the price range of 200 - 300$ maybe a little over..
ATI/Geforce are both acceptable..

I found this on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...ATI+Video+Cards

Which would be the best buy.. I'm not sure if the x700 is as powerful as the x800 and if the price is worth the card.

Heres the geforce one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis....x=0&Go.y=0

I'm in a lost hole, I don't know which is the best to buy :S it has to be in the 200-300$.. Unless ofcourse theres an excellent one there that beats them all for 150

Respond ASAP

Mark Dygert · Jun 2005

I found myself doing the same thing (as well as thousands of others) after playing BF2

I did some research yesterday and I really like Nvidia's Geforce 6800 256mb card. It seems like it is the best AGP card I could find in that price range. If going over 300 is out of the question the 6600 is pretty good and alot of people say they like it. However most of them also say it would be worth it to spend the extra money and step up to the 6800. Now ATI did manage to bench mark higher in some cases but the stablity was not really equal to Nvidia. I saw ATI cusotmers complaining, where I didn't see any Nvidia customers saying anything but positive feedback. Also stay away from the LE versions, sure it looks like a great deal but you get what you pay for.

For me I will more than likely go with the Geforce 6600 and save the extra money for a ram upgrade.

In the end I plan to upgrade my processor to 3.4ghz, ram to 2gb, main board to a Asus P5WD2 Premium, HD to S-ATA, and grapics card to PCI-E. I will be doing a piece at a time since I don't have that kind of cash. I am alittle worried about PCI-E since it doesn't always play nice with the AGP games. But I will still have my old system to fall back. Whenever I upgrade mine, the wife's computer gets the hand-me-downs, which she could care less about.

Also pay attention to the DirectX version. unless you are playing games from last year/early this year you want a card that says it is a DirectX 9 card. DirectX8 and even 7 cards MIGHT work with directX9 games, but you are really screwing yourself over because they where designed before DirectX9 came out.

KDR_11k · Jun 2005

Let's put it like that: GeForce 6800: Battlefield 2 at full details without a drop in framerate.

iMag · Jun 2005

look at the 6600 gt series, quite a good buy was going to get one myself, but I need the video in ability and the card I was looking at didn't have that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143027

also www.ncix.com has the card for $200 canadian after rebates until the end of the month.

KDR_11k · Jun 2005

Make sure you get a 256MB card, 128 MB is already too little (Battlefield 2 needs more on highh detail , Doom 3 sometimes exceeds it, etc).

frosty · Jun 2005

Goodluck. I bought a ATI 9800 pro about 6 months back and the guy I bought it from said his new X800 was NOT MUCH BETTER.

JKMakowka · Jun 2005

My 'little' (he is 19) brother just got a Gigabyte 6800GT 256mb for 249.

It seems to be the best 'bang' for the buck right now.

Otherwise get a 6600GT for around 170 (notice both are GTs... much better than the nonGT ones).

I am currently thinking about getting a Gigabyte 6600GT with a passive cooling solution build in... might not be as fast as a 6800GT, but I am finally getting fed up with noisy computers after all these years

Don't get a x700 it is slower than the 6600GT and generally sucks

oXYnary · Jun 2005

[ QUOTE ]
Gigabyte 6800GT 256mb for 249.

It seems to be the best 'bang' for the buck right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT get a Gigabyte. That supposed pipe cooling heatsink is only in reality held on to the chip with double sided thermal tape. You will idle around 140-150 degrees. The only solution I found was spending an additional $50 for an after market heatsink, where I now idle around 122 degrees.

JKMakowka · Jun 2005

Yeah you are right, there seems to be a faulty production line of that particular card. The one my brother got is just fine though. (There is a '2 weeks without reason' return law for online shopping here in Germany, so he took the 'risk' of getting a faulty one

)

oXYnary · Jun 2005

No , no faulty. AFAIK all the coolers use the same design. Ask him what he is idling at. If its at what I stated, I would recommned he purchase a aftermarket sink to extend the life of the card and no lockups.

KDR_11k · Jun 2005

I suppose that's Fahrenheit? In a german Windows the NV conrol panel will report the temperature in Celsius.

cochtl · Jun 2005

I recommend http://www.pny.com/products/quadro/fx/3400PciEx.asp

Despite what you may have heard about the quadro drivers not supporting games well, this thing is just flat out fucking awesome! Doom 3 in ultra mode at 1600x1200 pulls in more than 60 fps.

It's what i have in my compydora at home.

oXYnary · Jun 2005

kdr, the gigabyte one is incomatible with the nv temp one (Another strike). You have to use the temperature program that comes with the card (and it switches between c and f).

Major Clod · Jul 2005

I have an X800 Pro, runs everything fine. Midrange look at the 6600GT's, they are quite good value.

thnom · Jul 2005

My suggestion: Avoid ATi. I got one and really do look back at it and think shitty buy.

ming · Jul 2005

I just got a 6600GT and I'm really pleased with it. I was upgrading from a GeForce 4 MX 440

. I asked a few people for recommendations and almost everyone recommended the 6600 GT. I specifically bought this card although it had a $20 rebate when i bought it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122206

Joshua Stubbles · Jul 2005

Wait a few more months to buy one. Since the 7800's just popped out, the 6800 cards are going to drop in price pretty quickly.
I bought a 6800GT card, and o/c it to a little over 6800ULTRA spec, and it runs great. I'm using a Zalman VGA cooler on it as well.

sal_manilla · Jul 2005

Ming: do you have Battlefield 2? I'm wondering how well it ran with the 6600GT. I'm going to get a new card as well. I don't know if I can wait till the prices drop on the 6800.

sonic · Jul 2005

6800 unlocked to 6800gt = unlocking 4 pipelines, one shader, and OCing with an aftermarket cooler.

I need a new videocard, Suggestions?

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