Antoher which card to get ? - Under $200

[CiSmAXz]

I need to get a good gaming card for under $200. I would like to keep it closer to the $150 or less mark if possible. This machine will be used mostly for playing games. If you dont mind list you top 5 choices. Also what is the difference between the GF3 TI200 & GF3 TI500? I was thinking about this one: MSI G3Ti200 PRO-DT (MS-8851 8851-040) GF3 TI200 64MB DDR any comments on it?

MSI K7T266 Pro2-RU
XP 1600
SB Live
256 MB DDR 2100
40 GB WD HD
Plextor 12/10/32A CDRW
Asus 50X CDROM

 

[Turkey22]

Is this a totally new system or do you have an old vid card in it? I would reccomend waiting for some of the newer cards to come out and then when the prices go down get a G3ti500, but depending on the games you play you could go out and get a G2 gts/pro now and save for a nice one later, or even get one of the G4's (nv17) that are really cheap. They are just below the G3 but above the G2's.

 

[CiSmAXz]

It is an exsisting system with a voodoo 3 in it now. I dont really want to have to buy 2 cards and I dont really want to wait too much longer.

 

[hoomza444]

the MSI is a good card. the main difference between the ti200 and ti500 is SPEED. the core amd memory speed are supposed to be faster. i.e., faster ram and faster core. But a lot of people are just buying the ti200s and overclocking them to ti500s. i woudl think you could overclock the ti500s more, but i would recommend sticking with the ti200, as a ti200 @ti500 speeds is plenty fast, and only half the price

you know, turkey does make a good point. i am not gonna say you should go out and buy 2 cards, but you may want to wait a few more weeks until the rest of the gefroce4 line is released. by that time, the prices on the gf3 shoudl drop a little. i think that you can already find the MSI card for $150 + around $15 for shipping. if you want the card soon, and want a good geforce3 but arne't SET on buying the MSI, you may want to head over to teh HOT deals forum.

in the hot deals forum, they have deal on the gf4 mx series card (lower than gf3) for aroudn $120, and deals on the visiontek GF3 ti200 for $150 with a potential of getting it at $100 if you have an amex blue.

in my eyes, i'd jump on this visiontek cuz $100 for a GF3 ti200 cheap. and you can o/c to to ti500 speed. plus you save money good luck

 

[Spikesoldier]

All in Wonder Radeon 7500.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

The difference in speed between the Ti 200 and the Ti 500 is that the default settings a higher on boards based off of the Ti 500. The higher speeds allow the Ti 500 to out perform the Ti 200, but not by a huge margin. Most boards based off of the Ti 500 cannot overclock as well as the Ti 200s because the hardware running Ti 200 boards is far from be pushed to its full potential when running at its default settings.

The common opinion is that Ti 200 boards are the best price/performance video cards currently available with the Radeon 8500 in a close second. Since you say your limit is $200, then a GeForce 3 Ti 500 is pretty much out of the question.

I would suggest a Ti 200 from Gainward, they produce high quality video cards and offer very easy overclocking with their software.

You won't need to wait for the GeForce 4 and the GeForce 4 MX to arrive, they will just replace what is already available. The NV25 GeForce 4 will cost twice your limit and I am guessing that he fastest GeForce 4 MX should offer the performance of a GeForce 3 but should cost a good $200. A good quality Ti 200 board will cost you around $150 and you can pick one up today, no waiting. It is true that prices could go down for the GF3 boards, but I doubt that the price drops will make the Ti 500 dip below $200 anytime soon.