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another cheap bastard?

X

Xatos

Junior Member
The time has come to upgrade my video card and now I'm faced with the challenge of sorting through the mass of bias and strange numbers.

I need a PCI-E x16 card for ~$100... Since I have spent a minimal amount of money on my current computer I'm trying to keep it that way till I can do a new build.

Thanks for you help...
 
Look for 256MB GeForce 8800GT's and 256MB Radeon 3850's. They are above $100, so either save a bit longer or wait until prices drop closer to $100.

The bottom line is that these two cards are the cheapest cards around that are decent for gaming. The chances are that you won't get any real upgrade from buying an older but cheaper card. Hard to say since you didn't say what card you have now.
 
Buy a used:

x1900xt
7900gt
7800gtx

from the For Sale/For Trade forum here. Each of these cards should be hovering around $100. I just sold an x1900xt for $105.
 
Originally posted by: The Keeper
Look for 256MB GeForce 8800GT's and 256MB Radeon 3850's. They are above $100, so either save a bit longer or wait until prices drop closer to $100.

The bottom line is that these two cards are the cheapest cards around that are decent for gaming. The chances are that you won't get any real upgrade from buying an older but cheaper card. Hard to say since you didn't say what card you have now.
Click to expand...

Maybe in a year, but not now.

However, I would agree with the suggestion to maybe scrounge another $100 somewhere, that'll broaden your choices A LOT, and will allow you to buy an HD3850 (~$170) or an 8800GT 256 (~$180-199 [hopefully]). That'll be exponentially better than some $100 8600GT or something. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: The Keeper
The bottom line is that these two cards are the cheapest cards around that are decent for gaming.
Click to expand...

I think "decent for gaming" is a loaded statement that depends on a lot of factors. For some people, gaming might mean the latest Popcap game. For others, gaming begins and ends with CS 1.6. Of course many people are consumed by WoW. With an average monitor (say 17" or 19" of some kind) I'd say that many would be hard pressed to notice a difference between an 8600GT and 8800GT. Of course some people really want to play the latest, greatest and most demanding games on their uber 24" monitors (hey I own one too) and for those there will definately be a difference. However, it isn't fair to someone who is on a budget to insinuate that they aren't deserving to be a gamer if they don't cough up the dough. That's just being elitism. 😉
 
Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
Buy a used:

x1900xt
7900gt
7800gtx

from the For Sale/For Trade forum here. Each of these cards should be hovering around $100. I just sold an x1900xt for $105.
Click to expand...
x1900xt is by far the best of that bunch, but make sure that you have a good psu to handle it. these should handle most gaming uses that you have short of a 24" monitor and/or crysis.
 
Thanks for the advice so far,
I have a 17" monitor and as far as my video card is concerned... basically anything will be better then the current one. Barring the old "wait indefinitely" plan should I consider waiting for any major releases that would change the market?
 
Originally posted by: Xatos
Thanks for the advice so far,
I have a 17" monitor and as far as my video card is concerned... basically anything will be better then the current one. Barring the old "wait indefinitely" plan should I consider waiting for any major releases that would change the market?
Click to expand...

Well, the price range for your video card purchase doesn't change too much, even with newer video card releases.

I'd go with a last generation high-end video card for that $100 unless you absolutely need dx10.
 
So what I'm hearing here is that I should stop being a baby, cough up the extra $100, and get a 3850?
 
3850 is a great card for $180 if you can push your budget that much, sure. however, what is your cpu? you have a 17" monitor, is that an lcd or crt? what games do you play? you might be able to max them all out with an x1900gt, or you might not see much performance improvement over the others with the 3850 if your cpu is too weak.
 
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