Author Topic: What good video cart in the 200-250$ range ? (Read 745 times)

straffo · « **on:** March 29, 2006, 02:07:40 AM »

Not having followed the news since 2 years I'm lost

The video card need to be efficient in AH (the only game I've time to play) and silent !

I'm thinking of a 7600GT

GS != GT

straffo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2006, 03:37:12 AM »

Punt !

Help please

Brooke · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2006, 03:37:21 PM »

I like my 6800GS a lot -- it is the best performance for its price (about $200).

The 7800GS is higher performance. Eagl was saying he likes the 7800GS, I believe.

A factory-overclocked 6800GS is about $200. The 7800GS is about $300. (For XFX brand from Newegg.com, anyway.)

However, I don't think these cards will be silent. The 6800GS I have is definitely noisy. If you want silent, I'm not sure what to suggest of any of the newer, higher-performance cards, as they all dissipate lots of heat and need substantial fans.

If you do want to minimize fan noise, here is a suggestion:

http://www.electraforge.com/brooke/misc/riva_tuner/riva_tuner.html

Or you could buy a lower-performance card that is still fine for Aces High Maybe a standard 6800, not a 6800GS, for example -- I have a 6800 in my machine at work, and it is much quiter than my 6800GS. Of course, it is lower performance, too.

Maybe someone has experience with the newer Radeon cards and can comment on their noise.

Some card reviews mention the card's noise output in db, too. If you search on the GPU (such as "6800") and the word "review", you'll find all the usual sites.

LePaul · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2006, 06:02:27 PM »

Check Tomshardware.Com, a few weeks ago they covered a bunch of cards in that price range

Most of the manufacturers are offering some good deals on em with overclocked gpus and more ram

ALF · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2006, 10:07:18 PM »

The 1st question is whats is your computer, because theres no point in getting a video card that doesnt match your computers power:aok

straffo · « **Reply #5 on:** March 31, 2006, 01:05:39 AM »

A64 3800 + 2 Go Ram

Eagler · « **Reply #6 on:** March 31, 2006, 05:27:50 AM »

agp or pci-e?

I am looking at upgrading from a AGP ati 9800 pro but seems like I have to upgrade the mb to pci-e unless I want to hit a dead end after the this next/last agp upgrade ... that adds another $150 to the upgrade idea ...

eagl · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2006, 05:32:05 AM »

I have a 6800GT, and on the same reasoning I used to buy the 6800Gt, I'd get a 7x00 series card right now. I think I'd suggest a 7600GT, 7800GS (for AGP), or stretch your price range a bit and get a 7800GT.

A 7800GT would be a nice match to an A64 3800, but it's a bit above what you list as your price range. I wouldn't get a 6xxx series card even though the 6800s are right there at the low end of your price range. I'd go for a 7600GT over a 6800anything, but personally I'd want a 7800GS (I have an AGP mobo) or 7800GT (if I had a pci-e mobo) if I wanted to upgrade right now.

There are even 7900GT versions for as low as $320 on newegg, so take a look at the $300 price point. Chew on it a bit. Think about it. Let the idea rattle around in your brain for a while. Convince yourself that it is an "investment". By the time you convince yourself it's a good idea, they'll be down to $290ish and you'll congratulate yourself on finding a good deal.

Seriously, AH will ROCK on any 7600GT or better card, so don't worry about it too much...

eagl · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2006, 05:40:16 AM »

Eagler,

Look at the 7800GS. Nvidia (bastages) crippled it relative to the 7800GT to ensure the retirement of the AGP platform, but it still performs much better than the 6xxx series. It's the fastest AGP card you can get right now and IMHO it's fast enough to justify putting off that mobo upgrade for another year at least.

straffo · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2006, 06:22:16 AM »

I got an Asrock dual * so I can put AGP or Pci-e I think I'll grab a 7600GT.

* and it was a present

38ruk · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2006, 08:17:26 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by eagl
Eagler,

Look at the 7800GS. Nvidia (bastages) crippled it relative to the 7800GT to ensure the retirement of the AGP platform, but it still performs much better than the 6xxx series. It's the fastest AGP card you can get right now and IMHO it's fast enough to justify putting off that mobo upgrade for another year at least.

Gainward is releasing or has released a 20 pipe 7800GS with 512mb ram. Basically a 7800gt in agp , It's pricey , but the king of agp .
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30502

Eagler · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2006, 09:57:08 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by eagl
Eagler,

Look at the 7800GS. Nvidia (bastages) crippled it relative to the 7800GT to ensure the retirement of the AGP platform, but it still performs much better than the 6xxx series. It's the fastest AGP card you can get right now and IMHO it's fast enough to justify putting off that mobo upgrade for another year at least.

does this one look like a good brand? - haven't bought nividea in a while. does the desktop look as good as ati does now? It didn't at certain resolutions on the older nivida cards
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/eVGA-e-GeForce-7800-GS-Video-Card-256-A8-N506-/sem/rpsm/oid/144489/catOid/-13043/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

is this faster than anything ATI has out in AGP now?

38ruk
that looks like a heck of a card but for under that price I could get a new mb and pci v-card

eagl · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:41:29 AM »

Check newegg. They have essentially the same card for $284 ($269 after mail-in rebate), and at newegg you get to see specs such as GPU and memory speed that you may not get to see at circuit city.

Newegg has the exact same card as circuit city for the exact same price, but as far as I can tell the only diff is the artwork on the heatsink cover plate. Both GPU and memory speed are the same, other specs look the same too. Only the price and artwork are different. Might have different bundled software but I usually chuck that out anyhow unless it includes a nice, un-crippled DVD player.

Other than the better deal at newegg, I don't see anything wrong with the circuit city card. As for using the money for a better cpu or mobo, I don't think you'd gain much for $300 and if you got a new mobo, you'd still need a new vid card and a $300 mobo/vid card combo won't be as fast as what you have plus a 7800GS.

As for "fastest" AGP card, there is very little diff right now between ATI and Nvidia when talking bang for the buck. ATI has an advanced texture rendering setting that looks awesome compared to nvidia, but it kills framerate. Nvidia has arguably better antialiasing. Both deliver comparable framerates. At the very high end, I think ATI has the non-SLI framerate edge but I think they're still about equal at the $300 price point and in their AGP offerings.

I don't think you'll notice much diff in pure framerate in AH. Assuming your CPU is reasonably fast, you'll be able to nearly max every setting and turn on the advanced FSAA settings and still get playable framerates in AH. If your cpu isn't fast enough to max the in-game AH settings, turn them down a bit and turn up the resolution and turn on the new FSAA settings. They ought to make AH look really smooth.

Eagler · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:49:15 AM »

cool -
yes, leaning towards circuit City as I have $100 gift card from Xmas to burn so it makes it $199 vcard
according to its reviews & model number it's a "CO" model which I have found out to be the middle of the pack as far as the 7800 GS go..

also found a site that compares it to my ati 9800 pro - it looks like it will blow it away:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce_7800_gs_co_superclock_review/page5.asp

thanks again

eagl · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:29:01 AM »

Use that gift card soon, as many stores have a fine-print statement that lets them take a few bucks a month off the value of the card if you don't use it right away. It's theft plain and simple, but most customers are stupid and let the store get away with it. I won't use store gift cards and buy online mostly, simply because I've run into irritating store policies like that in almost every electronics/computer chain. It's not a boycott... They're simply my last choice because I'm treated better elsewhere. Newegg hasn't tried to cheat me out of a dime, but best buy and AAFES got over $80 from my wife by bleeding unused gift cards down over time and blaming us for not using the cards. They got $80 bucks free from us, but AAFES alone has lost over $5000 in sales because of it. I guess they fleece enough suckers to make up for it because it's still their policy to devalue gift cards.

So use that card fast before they steal your money