Best Video Card <= $250 and available < 1 month

[PLaYaHaTeD]

I'm building a system and i want new video card to go with it. It's the only part that i havent figured out yet! I have less than 1 month to figure out my system, and so far it is:

Antec Sonata Case
P4 3.0c 800 Mhz FSB
Intel 865PERLK Motherboard
1 GIG KINGSTON HyperX Series DDR400 2-2-2-5
Western Digital Raptor 36.7 10000 rpm
Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers
Lite On Black 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive
Sony CPD G420S (already have this)

? Video Card ?

My only requirement is that i can play Doom 3 and HL2 at reasonable levels when they come out. Judging by the New 5600U scores in doom 3, this card and anything below it's performance are considered as not good enough for next generation games.

Any help as to what is coming out, what will have a price drop into my range, and what is currently my best option.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

with that system, why get anything less than the 9800


its gonna take that to play doom3 too.


JBLaze

 

[DaveSimmons]

You would be much better off getting a 2.8C and 9700 Pro / 9800 Pro for gaming than getting the 3.0C and a slower video card like a 9600 Pro or fx5600. The faster video will make much, much more of a difference than the extra 200 MHz of P4 speed.

 

[pelikan]

That's gonna be a nice system. You may be able to find a 9700 pro for $250. in a month. Right now you can get one for $275. shipped from a reliable vendor.

 

[KillaBong]

Definately skimp on the processor or something and buy a card about 9800pro level. Anything else would just be a bottleneck with that computer. I'm pretty jealous you get that computer too, I never spend more than about $600-700 on a new computer.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Intel 865PERLK Motherboard

this is also going to be slower than an Abit or Asus i865 board, since both of them have figured out how to enable PAT and run at i875 speed (which intel itself obviously will never do). Look at the Abit IS7 review at HardOCP.com (and the roundup here at Anandtech). If you must buy intel you should buy i875.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

I'm getting a deal from intel on the 865PERL and 3.0C p4 for $390.00. It's a bundle deal, so i dont necessarily have to skimp on the processor .

And, because it is a deal with these specific parts, i can't get a motherboard like abit or asus 865 that has better performance.

But hey, it will be stable as hell!

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Antec Sonata Case - 100
P4 3.0c 800 Mhz FSB -390 w/ mboard
Intel 865PERLK Motherboard
1 GIG KINGSTON HyperX Series DDR400 2-2-2-5 - 200
Western Digital Raptor 36.7 10000 rpm - 140
Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers - 65
Lite On Black 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive - 50
Sony CPD G420S (already have this)


< $950 for the system (not including monitor) so its not that far off from a 700 dollar system


Oh wait, i forgot about the video card. Well that makes it more. Sh*t...

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

I was hoping to get a 9800 non pro like the ones dell is selling with their systems. Hopefully by the time i get my system they will be around my target $250 bucks.

You guys think this is a long shot?

 

[touchmyichi]

Get a 9700 pro, the extra money for a 9800 is not worth it. Its a great card and will serve you well in those games.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: touchmyichi
Get a 9700 pro, the extra money for a 9800 is not worth it. Its a great card and will serve you well in those games.

I dunno, i think the 9800 non pro would be a good choice if it came down in price a little. Most likely i will be able to overclock it to pro levels if performance is a problem down the road. I was going to wait until the 5900 Value comes out, but why wait until august if I can get an ati card that performs on par for a good price.

Lately i've been thinking that nvidia is too overpriced. The performance is just not there for the money. And since when do video cards debut for $550 dollars? Well that's my rant :wine:

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
You would be much better off getting a 2.8C and 9700 Pro / 9800 Pro for gaming than getting the 3.0C and a slower video card like a 9600 Pro or fx5600. The faster video will make much, much more of a difference than the extra 200 MHz of P4 speed.

i completely agree

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

read my explanation, im getting a deal on 3.0c p4 and 865PERLK motherboard for $390. Those parts are pretty much set in stone. My target card is a 9800 non pro it seems, however my only options are to buy a dell or get ripped off at best buy.....

I need more options

 

[Whitersx29]

a 9800 non pro wont be selling for 250 within a month

 

[Pete]

You're looking at a 9700/P for under $250 in a month, both great cards. But remember the 9800/P is supposed to include some optimizations for Doom 3 stencil shadows, which may be important to you. I can't predict how the cards will fare in D3 until I see real benchmarks on a public demo (not these "nVidia exlusive" ones we saw released a month ago), but I'd hope for id's (customers') sake that a 9700/P will be fast enough to offer comfortably playable framerates at High Quality settings.

Why are you putting a relatively loud Raptor into a quiet case like the Sonata? If you're after quiet, why not get a Seagate Barracuda IV/V or a Maxtor DM Plus 9 (both with fluid bearings)?

 

[pelikan]

There are some 9800 non pros in the FS/T forum.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Yeah in forsale/trade i offered some guy $215 for his 9800 np and him + 15 of his friends got really pissed at me. Guess i wont do that again

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: Pete
You're looking at a 9700/P for under $250 in a month, both great cards. But remember the 9800/P is supposed to include some optimizations for Doom 3 stencil shadows, which may be important to you. I can't predict how the cards will fare in D3 until I see real benchmarks on a public demo (not these "nVidia exlusive" ones we saw released a month ago), but I'd hope for id's (customers') sake that a 9700/P will be fast enough to offer comfortably playable framerates at High Quality settings.

Why are you putting a relatively loud Raptor into a quiet case like the Sonata? If you're after quiet, why not get a Seagate Barracuda IV/V or a Maxtor DM Plus 9 (both with fluid bearings)?

I was definitely considering some of the new SATA drives that are 7200 rpm, but i also think that with the hard drive being the slowest component in the system, the faster the better. Especially if i have an option that is cheap and not dealing with SCSI.

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

Originally posted by: Whitersx29
a 9800 non pro wont be selling for 250 within a month

(In my experience, anything you can find in best buy (unless they have some crazy rebaate) you can find online for 20% less, give or take. So 250 for a 9800 np doesnt sound so far fetched. I just have to find it!