Best Card for <$200 (upgrading read within please)

[Homerboy]

Im looking to upgrade from my GF3 Ti200 64MB, but I need to keep it under $200 (in fact the cheaper the better as I really dont have even the $200 to upgrade with )

I'm thinking ATI 9600XT from newegg.com, but I want to make sure I get the best deal for the $. NV or ATI doesnt matter to me. Im willing to OC it too IF its stable with stock cooling.

On a related note, Ill be putting this in a rig with a AMD 1600+ and 512 PC2100 DDR. WOuld I maybe be better off upgrading the CPU/RAM to a Barton 2500+ and new RAM? Versus the new GFX card?

Im WAY outta the loop... 2 kids (and no $) will do that to ya.

Thanks all.

 

[Genx87]

5900 NU hands down is the best deal in this price range.

 

[Richdog]

9800np if you can find one around that price, oer maybe a used 9700PRO. Otherwise, a 5900nu. Just make sure it's a card with a 256-bit memory interface and 8-pipelines.:beer:

 

[Homerboy]

NU = non-ultra I assume?

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
NU = non-ultra I assume?

Yep
There is also an 5900SE/XT that has 2.8ns memory instead of the 2.2ns memory on the 5900nu and they are usually the ones that are under $200.
http://www.firingsquad.com/ has a review of one and puts it up against a regular NU and a 9600XT. It does pretty well and comes with a full version of Call of Duty so if you want that game it maybe a good card to go with.

 

[Alkaline5]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
There is also an 5900SE/XT that has 2.8ns memory instead of the 2.2ns memory on the 5900nu and they are usually the ones that are under $200.

Another vote of confidence for the 5900XT.

 

[Homerboy]

This One?
or
This One?

 

[Fern]

You need to upgrade the vid card for sure. That's already the lowest accepticle card on new games. Dues Ex IW won't even run on anything less than it. So it's well due to be replaced.

Although in the past I've used nVidia cards, I'm still wary of their DX9 performance at this time. Hence, I suggest a 9600Pro. Not far off a 9600XT and is cheaper.

 

[Homerboy]

The NV versus ATI is a coin flip for me really. I've always been an NV fan, and always loved them with never a complaint. Im not weary of ATI, its just the "aint broke dont fix it" feeling I guess.

Funny you should mention Dues Ex II, this is what was the the intial impetus for the purchase as I installed it and get about 10FPS even at lowest settings.

 

[Alkaline5]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
This One?
or
This One?

Either one of those. They're basically the same aside from the cooling (the eVGA is a single-slot card if that matters).

As for the DX9 performance that Fern brings up: it's anyone guess. All we really know is that NVIDIA will be superior for Doom 3 but ATI will be better at Half-Life 2. To what degree, exactly, is entirely unknown. As it stands right now the 5900s are absolutely the best price/ performance value IMHO.

 

[Homerboy]

Well I'd lean towards this one (the XFX) as its not the SE version and, according to the reviews OC's pretty easily. I dont really care about the CoD included with the eVGA.

As far as next-gen DX9 games are concerned, Im sure that the performance difference between HL2 on NV and Doom 3 on ATI will be pretty negligable. Sure one is "written" for the respective card, but id and/or Valve would hardly be dumb enough to cripple their flagship game for 50% of their intended audience. Its just marketing dollars between the companies and a sticker onthe box and MAYBE a 5% performance increase.

 

[modedepe]

The new xfx fx5900's are supposed to have 2.8ns ram, which makes them basically an SE. If you want that card just get it from buy.com. $210 - 60 rebate

 

[Homerboy]

So the ones peopel are reviewing at newegg.com are likely 2.2ms RAM?
/me looks for -$60 buy.com coupon and/or a PM telling me where to find it.

 

[Alkaline5]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
So the ones peopel are reviewing at newegg.com are likely 2.2ms RAM?
/me looks for -$60 buy.com coupon and/or a PM telling me where to find it.

Once you check out there should be a link that takes you to the rebate.

AFAIK, the only way to differentiate between the two versions of the XFX 5900 is to see what the default RAM clock is, but for only $150 (great price) at buy.com it's probably 2.8ns. From the reviews on newegg it looks like the 2.8ns RAM will get up to at least 800MHz, which isn't bad.

 

[Homerboy]

SHOULD be a link? Kinda sketchy to order from them then... if I dont get a rebate link, I shoulda used newegg then. Guess I could just quickly cancel it.

 

[modedepe]

See this thread.

Rebate