Best cheap PCI-E video card?

[Guywiththegun]

Well on a whim I decided to upgrade an old motherboard with only AGP. What's the best PCI-E video card (NVIDIA . . done with ATI after the nightmare one of their cards put me through) for about a 60-80 dollar range?

 

[Lithan]

Nothing.
Spend $20 more on an 8800gs or $40 more on a 9600gt
Cards cheaper than that aren't even 1/3 as fast as those cards.

At your price range the best you can do is probably an 8600gt, and it's really slow next to those.

 

[s44]

Best for what? At that price range, ATI is better. You could get a $50AR 8600GT, but it sort of sucks.

$100 8800GS kills both, not to mention the 9600GTs for a bit more.

 

[Lithan]

Be warned though, I'm told the XFX cards dont have fan control, so it runs @ 100% all the time... which is loud.

 

[IL2SturmovikPilot]

$60-80? 8600GT or HD 2600XT would be your best bet.

 

[Syntax Error]

Expand your budget a little more, surely you can come up with $20-40 more with some patience and frugal saving; it'll broaden your choices and your performances increases will go up by leaps and bounds.

 

[magreen]

Yeah, there's something weird with pricing at the present time. You can find an 8800gs or even a 9600gt for $105 if you look hard. But the cards one tier below those performance-wise, e.g. the x1950pro or 7800gt have not fallen in price into the sub-$100 range. So you get really bad bang-for-your-buck under $100 right now, compared to $100+. Anyone know when this situation is going to fix itself?

 

[geno]

For that price range, I think it's hard to beat am 8600GT, however, as an 8600GT owner, I think it's best to stretch the budget for even a low price / low memory 8800 card. I got the 8600GT (512MB) for $100 a month ago when I was "forced" into rebuilding / updating my rig, but I'm wishing I was building it now to take advantage of some of the great prices on 8800 series cards.

 

[Guywiththegun]

Wow, interesting. I guess I'll shell out the extra 30 bucks and grab an 8800gs. I do need to learn to stop penny-pinching. Usually it ends up with me spending more than I would have anyway

Thanks to everyone.