Best PCI-Express X16 card for around $100

[1sk8er]

I am putting together a decent system when I get my taxes this year and am needing some help here. I will name some of the things I have or plan on getting and am hoping some of you all can give me some advice on what video card to go with. Here is a list of what I already have or plan on getting:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 San Diego 3700+ socket 939
MOBO: Haven't decided yet (will not be SLI though as I don't game a lot)
CASE: Asys Z-50 RobotYLW Link to Newegg - I haven't bought the case yet but just liked the looks of that one plus the LED that tells the temp.
VIDEO CARD: Leadtek PX6600LE 256 MB PCI-Express X16 - Liked this card as it looked like a decent card for under a $100 (I am not a gamer so an awesome video card setup is not really of that importance to me)
MEMORY: OCZ Premier Dual Channel 1 GB (2x512) PC3200 184 pin DDR (2 sets for 2 gig total)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 160 gig SATA II drive 7200 RPM (2 of these running in RAID 0)
DVD+-RW: Asus 16x dual layer DRW-1608P2S (already have and love it)
DVD-ROM: Asus E616A (already have)

If there is anything else you all think I should look another route or anything I am open to suggestions. Thanks for your time in advance!!

 

[Erasertone]

hmmm.... looks good. If you really want that case.... replace the generic PSU w/ something like thermaltake or antec PSU as most generic PSU can cause some problems.

 

[Acanthus]

My only change to that setup would be 2x1GB memory modules instead of 4x512. Certain motherboards have issues running tight timings and/or full speed with 4 double sided dimms.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Erasertone
hmmm.... looks good. If you really want that case.... replace the generic PSU w/ something like thermaltake or antec PSU as most generic PSU can cause some problems.

I couldnt agree more, i cant possibly stress enough how bad generic power supplies are.

In my experience ive seen 50% if not more fail within one year, and often enough take a few parts with them.

 

[1sk8er]

Yeah I got to doing some searching on here and have read from others that 2x1GB would be better. I will decide what brand of memory when I decide what dang mobo I'm going to get. I know some mobos are picky when it comes to what RAM it will take.

 

[GhostDoggy]

Are there any decent PCI express video cards for around $100? How many will play today's FPS games?

 

[DeathReborn]

Originally posted by: GhostDoggy
Are there any decent PCI express video cards for around $100? How many will play today's FPS games?

There are a couple of Refurb X800GTO cards on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102620R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127176R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131420R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102644R

 

[Keysplayr]

What are the chances that those refurbs you listed were failed unlocked returns? I mean those prices are outstanding and it wouldn't really matter if they unlocked or not for that price. What nvidia card would this compare to in performance if it could not unlock? I ask this only because I am familiar with nv cards more than ATi cards.

 

[DeathReborn]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
What are the chances that those refurbs you listed were failed unlocked returns? I mean those prices are outstanding and it wouldn't really matter if they unlocked or not for that price. What nvidia card would this compare to in performance if it could not unlock? I ask this only because I am familiar with nv cards more than ATi cards.

I'd guess at a 6800nu or le. All I did was do a search on the egg for $85-110, 256bit Memory Interface & PCI-e 16x. The cards not coming in with 256bit were 7300GS, X700 & 6600 (both DDR & DDR2, not GT) and a X1300 or 2.

 

[Keysplayr]

Thanks bud. I think I might just pick one of these up for myself. Great prices. I think the OP would do well with one of these. Just make sure there are warranties on them. I am not usually one to pursue refurbs.

 

[Sonikku]

Hold on, what is this about dual 1 gig sticks vs 4 half gig sticks? As far as I can tell, the latency has been better on the half gig sticks then the single gig sticks. In addition, from everything else I've heard the Socket 939 cpu's have the controller built right into the chip and such systems can handle 4x512mb with no drecrease in performace. As I've been acting under this assumption, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[imhungry]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
What are the chances that those refurbs you listed were failed unlocked returns? I mean those prices are outstanding and it wouldn't really matter if they unlocked or not for that price. What nvidia card would this compare to in performance if it could not unlock? I ask this only because I am familiar with nv cards more than ATi cards.

Remember that these x800GTOs have a pretty much 0% chance of unlocking anyway...

maybe 1% if you look around the world.

Only the Connect3d x800GTO and the Sapphire x800GTO2 cards unlock, but I think the x800GTO cards are good to great overclockers anyway.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Sonikku
Hold on, what is this about dual 1 gig sticks vs 4 half gig sticks? As far as I can tell, the latency has been better on the half gig sticks then the single gig sticks. In addition, from everything else I've heard the Socket 939 cpu's have the controller built right into the chip and such systems can handle 4x512mb with no drecrease in performace. As I've been acting under this assumption, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Some NForce 4? mobos have some issue when 4 dimms are used. I believe if you install 4x512 DDR400 sticks for example, the mobo will reduce the overall speed to DDR333.
This does not happen when using only 2x1GB dimms in 2 slots. I don't have the exact details or even the correct terminology, so you should check out the CPU/overclockers forum for the accurate answer for this.

 

[1sk8er]

Originally posted by: GhostDoggy
Are there any decent PCI express video cards for around $100? How many will play today's FPS games?

As I stated in my description:

(I am not a gamer so an awesome video card setup is not really of that importance to me)

 

[DeathReborn]

Originally posted by: 1sk8er

Originally posted by: GhostDoggy
Are there any decent PCI express video cards for around $100? How many will play today's FPS games?

As I stated in my description:

(I am not a gamer so an awesome video card setup is not really of that importance to me)

I'm wondering if that 3700+ is gonna be overkill or not but those X800GTO's will run pretty much everything around today and probably a fair few games for the next year too. Yea it won't have all the eyecandy features available to you but you'll be able to play Quake 4 etc nicely with it.

Realistically go no lower than a 6600GT or X700 Pro. The X1300 might be worth considering along with the 7300GS.

 

[1sk8er]

What about the eVGA Geforce 7300GS 256-P2-N436-LX Video Card - Retail? It's $99 at Newegg. The main purpose of this system would have something to do with the optical drives. *wink*

 

[1sk8er]

I'm wondering if that 3700+ is gonna be overkill or not

What CPU would you recommend I go with? I saw some great reviews for the 3200+, it is $70 less but has 512 k L2 whereas the 3700+ has 1 MB L2.

 

[DeathReborn]

3200+ would do fine, even with half the cache they perform very well at that kinda thing *wink**wink*.

7300GS should manage most games out there barring FEAR, which the X800GTO is a bit more capable of but the X800GTO's are refurbs.

 

[1sk8er]

Cool. Thanks so much for your input, DeathReborn.

 

[daveybrat]

Some NForce 4? mobos have some issue when 4 dimms are used. I believe if you install 4x512 DDR400 sticks for example, the mobo will reduce the overall speed to DDR333.

Keys, you are exactly correct. You have to use 2 1GB sticks of ram for Nforce4 boards or your ram will run at 333MHz instead of 400MHz.

 

[Avalon]

A 256MB 6600LE? That's a waste of cash. You should be able to find a 6600GT or X800GTO (non-moddable type, of course) for ~$100.

Some NForce 4? mobos have some issue when 4 dimms are used. I believe if you install 4x512 DDR400 sticks for example, the mobo will reduce the overall speed to DDR333.

This was only true for Winchesters.

 

[Cabages]

You could look around For sale/trade and find a $100 6600GT, thats what I did.

 

[1sk8er]

You should be able to find a 6600GT or X800GTO (non-moddable type, of course) for ~$100.

The cheapest 6600GT 256 meg version I could find was $169.69 shipped from newegg. I'll stick with the 7300GS for $99 I think.

The cheapest X800GTO I could find was $159.99 shipped from newegg.

Again I'm not a gamer so a card above $100 would make no sense for me to purchase at this point.

 

[Cabages]

7300 GS does have 256 MB, but in a GDDR2 variety, not GDDR3.

With memory clocks at 533, I wouldnt suggest this for a GAMER, but seeing as your not, 256 MB would probably do you more good.

 

[shooterm]

Originally posted by: 1sk8er

You should be able to find a 6600GT or X800GTO (non-moddable type, of course) for ~$100.

The cheapest 6600GT 256 meg version I could find was $169.69 shipped from newegg. I'll stick with the 7300GS for $99 I think.

The cheapest X800GTO I could find was $159.99 shipped from newegg.

Again I'm not a gamer so a card above $100 would make no sense for me to purchase at this point.

Not a gamer? Then get a Radeon x1300 non pro passive cooled. That way you get avivo even though it is still beta. Best DVD viewing in the market and super fast transcoding, ecoding and decoding.

I did read somewhere that the 7300 was meant to be under x1300 in gaming performance.