Best video card under $200 . . .

[shiningpathb4me]

Im shopping for a video card. For those of you that hv read a few of my previous posts, my wireless network gear, cpu, ram, hd, etc. were ordered this afternoon from newegg!!!!! (evil laugh) [which means this weekend ill be lucky to play, it could be days or weeks before I sort all of this out and actually get it working] Im building a new one, upgrading one, and buying another (that has onboard video)- then putting all three on a wireless network.

Now the video card. I'm spending more this week than I really should in a month (or more).  I've read alot of the advice around here and, well, cant afford $300-$500 video card.  This card is going into a base system that (i'm sure) doesn't have a 400w power supply. (its the new system I'm buying and the seller doesnt list the size of PS) Its a big chain and I dread calling/emailing them and spending hours just to talk to someone who really doesn't know the answer anyway.

So - if you had to settle for a less than hi-end video card that doesnt need a PS upgrade, what would you choose? There is a dizzying array of manufacturers and models to choose from and frankly, I have no idea which one to select.

If you have a recommended seller I'd like that too.

[TequilaChaser]

ATI X800Pro refurbished 3 year warranty for $149.00 + shipping


use the extra money to buy a power supply if needed........

just a thought

[Brooke]

I would (and did) pick an nVidia 6800GS card.  I think they still have the best performance for $200 and less.  Also, they will work with a 350W power supply.  Downside is that they are noisy (unless you play with fan speed as described below) and do require two power connectors.  I recommend XFX brand ($195) from Newegg.com, as I've had good luck with mine:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150118

Here's info on minimizing fan noise:

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

[shiningpathb4me]

Well - I was about to order the system I'll be putting this card into, and as you can imagine, started looking through my "favorites" list for the link. I was thinking and browsing/deciding and went back to newegg to see what it would cost to build a system from scratch. I basically looked at items that were lower cost but had certain desireable features i.e. PCI-E, SATA, Socket 939, onboard lan. Since I posted the original thread (2 hours) I've come up with what I believe to be a pretty cool system for the money, and I'm within my budget. Notably, they had a deal on a tower case w/ 420w power supply for $49.99. The details dont include how the power is distributed, but I *assume* its big enough to run any midrange video card.

If your interested, here are the specs for the key components:

ASPIRE X-Dreamer ATX mid tower w/ 420w    $  50
ASUS A8N-E Sckt 939 nForce4 Ultra ATX
amd mobo                                                           91
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
2000Mhz sckt 939 CPU - Retail                          111
G.Skill 1gb 184p DDR 400                                     73
Seagate Barracuda 80gb SATA - OEM                  51
NEC Display Solutions FE772-BK Black
17" CRT D-Sub                                                    140

The various accessories not listed  here            

Total system price before shipping =====    $582.29

with this solution I can afford any midrange video card

[shiningpathb4me]

hmm that is a nice price. In their details they claim twice the performance of a 9800 (whatever that is - but it's one I see many AHII players touting)

What happens if there is a problem w/ the refurbished item? In my searches for the best price I've tried to steer away from anything that wasn't new - just because of Neweggs disclaimers, and because some were offered by companies I have no experience with.

[shiningpathb4me]

the 6800 Brooke mentioned. Another reason I like Newegg. I typically lean towards the item that has many reviews (popular item) and scores very high. Given a choice between items, I look at the reviews to decide.

[38ruk]

Right now in the 200 dollar range , the 7600GT is the best bang for the buck , it costs the same as a 6800GS , and in every benchmark ive seen it beats it hands down . If you type in 7600GT VS 6800GS into google you will find most everyone will agree , it's an easy decision in my opinion . 38

BENCHMARKS 7600GT VS 6800GS
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717&p=13

[Brenjen]

I agree with 38ruk; 7600GT gets my vote as well. ( I would say the 7800GT I'm selling allthough it's slightly over $200 but, someone already has dibs on it. ) Oh just an added note; you can't go wrong with Newegg; blazing fast shipping & prompt service. I've never had to RMA anything to them, but from what I've read it's hassle free as well. That's my opinion.

[shiningpathb4me]

reviews and such (sucker for anything somebody w/ credibility mentions in a review) and discovered something called a Radeon X800GTO 256MB DDR3
The Powercolor flavor is $139 and rated well in a review,

I cant find that exact one or the 7600GT in Toms interactive vga chart.

I think its about the same performance as a 6800GS, but it took some interpolation and guessing to come to that conclusion. It is $40 less that the 7600GT's. Any thoughts on that one?

[StarOfAfrica2]

Something you should consider when making your purchase ................

How many games do you play?  Is this an Aces High computer, or is it going to play lots of modern games?  The x800 GPU is more than enough to run Aces High.  So are any of the Nvidia 6xxx series cards.  You dont need the latest and greatest to run this game.  There are people running it on old Ti series Geforce cards for cryin out loud.  All these recommendations are fine, but what you NEED is a fast CPU and RAM - lots of it; on the video card, and on the motherboard.  The minimum you should be looking at now on a video card is 256MB of memory, and 2GB of system memory.  I'd honestly recommend buying one of the midrange cards with more memory over buying a hot card with less.  Video card makes little to no difference in AH quality, beyond a certain point.  Once you have a card that can physically render everything properly, the rest is just something to brag about.  "Mine is bigger than yours" stuff.  CPU speed and amount of memory are the biggest impactors in Aces High.  Spend your money there and cut your corners elsewhere.

[Brenjen]

Video card makes little to no difference in AH quality, beyond a certain point. Once you have a card that can physically render everything properly, the rest is just something to brag about. "Mine is bigger than yours" stuff.

 Well that's one opinion, I have the 7900GTX I have had a single 7800GT & two in SLI & I have had a 6800LE & you can tell a difference in the performance of each set-up. CPU & memory is very important I agree, but how much game quality do you want? I play with the 6800LE machine but it's not on par with the 7900GTX machine as far as frame rates & quality settings. The 6800LE machine has 1gig of memory & a Intel P-4 2.8gig CPU & delivers frame rates in the low 30's at best with low detail. The 78 & 7900 series have similar cpu (athlon64) & memory set-ups & deliver 100fps with high detail & 75 fps solid with very high detail.

 It is a balancing act, just getting a "super-charged" video card will not do much for a performance boost if you don't have quality CPU & memory & power supply etc. I built my system for good performance for the long haul. In other words I don't plan on upgrading again for 3-5 years at least...it's not about bragging rights at all.

[Brooke]

Originally posted by 38ruk
Right now in the 200 dollar range , the 7600GT is the best bang for the buck , it costs the same as a 6800GS , and in every benchmark ive seen it beats it hands down . If you type in 7600GT VS 6800GS into google you will find most everyone will agree , it's an easy decision in my opinion . 38

BENCHMARKS 7600GT VS 6800GS
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717&p=13

Thanks for the info, 38ruk.  One thing to note:  the 6800GS's available these days are pretty heavily overclocked from the manufacturer.  The 7600GT's are less so.  The comparisons in the reviews are for standard clocking (I think -- could be wrong there).  I have no idea how much the overclocking differences change these comparisons, though.  I guess, if I were buying today, I'd get the 7600GT as you recommend, but I'd probably try look into the differences of clocking.

[38ruk]

Brooke , i really dont have any experience with overclocking either of the cards in question, but from what ive read on them the 6800GS is a fair overclocker. I personally dont like the 128bit memory bus on the 7600GT , but its high memory frequency does make up for it. Looking around the net it seems that the 6800gs with an a decent overclock will surpass a stock 7600GT , but i was basically reffering to stock vs stock. While a small percentage of us overclock our stuff , i'd say most people dont want to be bothered .   38

[Brooke]

I wouldn't overclock on my own.  However, many cards seem to come overclocked straight from the manufacturer these days, which is OK by me -- if there's a problem, they have to cover it.  Also, they will probably have tested it appropriately for the overclocking lest all the profit margin get taken up by returns.

I think, for Aces High, Battlefield 1942, and WWIIOL (the games I play), either a 6800GS or a 7600GT would be more than enough.

[TequilaChaser]

Originally posted by shiningpathb4me
reviews and such (sucker for anything somebody w/ credibility mentions in a review) and discovered something called a Radeon X800GTO 256MB DDR3
The Powercolor flavor is $139 and rated well in a review,

I cant find that exact one or the 7600GT in Toms interactive vga chart.

I think its about the same performance as a 6800GS, but it took some interpolation and guessing to come to that conclusion. It is $40 less that the 7600GT's. Any thoughts on that one?

shiningpath, this vidcard should perform for you just fine, the reason I posted the refurbished Ati X800Pro was because it was from the Offical Ati website store and Ati backs it with a 3 year warranty, you can opt to join the tradeup program and get cash back on it toward a better card in the future as well.

I am non bias wether someone uses Nvidia or Ati,  the X800GTO should be slightly better than this X800Pro although it is an ati Partner/affiliate branded card, where as the X800Pro is a straight up Radeon Ati card

wonder why noone ever mentions the X1900XT or XTX from Ati, the reviews I have read show it outpreforming the 7800 & 7900GT's, with that said I have used both manufacture type cards and have had luck with both brands ( ati & Nvidia )


TC