Best video card for gaming around 100$?

[lepper boy]

That is the question... building a new system and I love my games..... it's an ASUS a7v266 with a xp1700+ 256meg DDR... just don't know what video card I want... any and all ideas welcome... looking for the best bang for the buck....

dave

 

[Soran]

Check out this review of budget cards. I think it sums up all the major players quite nicely.

One of the Geforce2 TI cards is probably your best bet for under $100. If your willing to go a little higher, you can get a Geforce4 MX card for $120 or the Geforce3 Ti200 for $140. Personally I think there's too much congestion in the card market. I recently went through the hastle of trying to find the "right" card for me. You've probably realized that there's a lot to choose from. I opted to save my money and go with a Geforce2 GTS-V for $50, until its more clear which cards will survive the current card-wars. The GTS-V is no slouch and will give you speeds just below the Geforce2 TI cards. With a little tweaking it will perform on par with them. You'll notice its one of the cards in the review so you can see for yourself.

http://www.hardwarepub.com/reviews/budgetativsnvidia/index.shtml

 

[spanky]

what OS r u using? i am using win98 and have v5 5500 works for me! when the gf4 ti4200 comes out, hopefully that will drop prices on the gf3 ti200... then i can get one of those for dirt cheap. maybe ati will drop prices too... then i might get the 8500. i can feel my wallet bleeding already...

 

[ICXRa]

This is the one I got. Check it out.

 

[cmdrdredd]

you're building a top of the line system and want a bargain bin video card for gaming? hahaha


spend $150 on a Ti200 GF3 or about $130 on a GF4MX (not as fast as Ti200 GF3)

 

[rogue1979]

I am still using a Geforce 2 Ti 500, it is plenty fast at 290/521. When any of my games don't play fast enough I'll upgrade. Plus I used the resistor mod to turn it into a Quadro, if I upgrade to Geforce 3 or 4 professional video apps will actually run slower. I got someone that had an overclocked Geforce 3 Ti 200 to run 3DMark 2001, with the three tests disabled that my Geforce 2 chipset is not allowed to complete. His score was 12% higher at the default benchmark. Wow, what a amazing increase, I'm can't live without a Geforce 3! Not to mention if I really am really desperate for speed I get the exact same performance as any Geforce 3 at the same clock speed using 16-bit color, though it is not likely any Geforce 3 can reach a 290MHz core speed.

So while buying a new Geforce 3 Ti 200 is a great deal at $140 with better performance, someone opting to buy a real cheap Geforce 2 Ti is getting a better bang for the buck, and still able to handle any games out there with ease. And there is the option of modding to a Quadro 2 Pro and getting better results in professional graphics apps for people that actually use their computer for work. Anyway, if you do a little reading, the Geforce 4 MX 440 (besides 3DMark 2001) is slower in all gaming benchmarks and costs more, good suggestion! The Geforce 4 MX 460 is faster but costs $20 more than the Geforce 3 Ti 200. Thanks for crapping lepper boy's thread with some valuable input.

 

[scoobydooby]

Granted the geforce2 is definately not a bad card, it just seems that since it's 2 generations behind that it would be wise to get a geforce4 or 3 since you have a top of the line system. For a gaming machine, the graphics card is the most important component of the system. In other words I think a geforce4 paired with a 1.4 ghz cpu would be better than a geforce2 with a 2 ghz cpu. If I were you I would stretch the budget a little and go for a geforce4 4200. Because if I got a geforce2 now I would be wanting to upgrade to a geforce5 in 6 months but not with a geforce4... Just my opinion.
Scoob

 

[Mike99C5]

Get the Gainward GF3 Ti200 GS450! Overclocking ability is phenomenal. Prices should be coming down as well since the GF4 is coming out.

 

[Rand]

Under $100?
Radeon 7500 OEM or a GeForce 2 Ti.
Their very close in gaming, most games give the GF2 Ti the slight edge, while there are some that prefer the R7500.
The R7500 is a more well rounded card with a broader feature set though, so personally I'd tend to say it's the best bet for under $100.

 

[sash1]

The the GF4MX and brag to everyone that you have a GF4!

 

[rogue1979]

I agree with Rand, Radeon 7500 is also a very good alternative.

 

[Soran]

Keep in mind that the market for video cards is on a 6month cycle. So by September-October we should be seeing Geforce5 cards or whatever they happen to be called, and the new Radeon cards are coming in March. Bottom line, any card you buy today will be pushed further down the performance ladder next month and then again 6 months later. Which is why I think the best way to narrow down a card, is to determine how much you want to spend FIRST, then choose the best card in that range. At this moment, under $100, the Radeon 7500oem cards seem to have the most features for the cost. DX8 support,Dual Monitor with DVI, better 2d quality than Geforce2 ti cards and better DVD playback quality. However, the Geforce2 ti will have better gaming performance, and Radeon OEM cards have a reputation for bad driver support. I hope this information helps

 

[scoobydooby]

<< The the GF4MX and brag to everyone that you have a GF4! >>


Definately don't listen to him. I'd stay away from anything that has MX in the name...
Scoob

 

[sash1]

<<

<< The the GF4MX and brag to everyone that you have a GF4! >>


Definately don't listen to him. I'd stay away from anything that has MX in the name...
Scoob >>


...Wow, someone sure doesn't have a sense of humor...

I'd go with the GF2 Titanium, personally. My buddy Tim got one and its very nice.

~Aunix

 

[GeForceG]

If I were you, I would wait. Prices are dropping as you wait.
Right now for $100 you can barly get a NVidia GeForce 2 Pro 32MB or Radeon 7200 or maybe a Radeon 7500.
Wait for like 1 month and you'll be able to get the NVidia GeForce 3 Ti-200 for around $120 or even $100.

Have fun!

 

[lepper boy]

I'm going to be running win 98se atleast for anothe ryr..... and I had to thoughts...
Since there isa 6 months cycle I was thinking go cheap and upgrade later.... but then again......

So, MAX I want to spend is 150.... shipped... so any ideas out there??

 

[lepper boy]

Aopen, GF2Ti-V64.


what do the rest of you think about this??

that ICSRa posted??

is this a good card.. here's a little history.......
I wasn't planning on upgradeing or building another system until I got the mobo, cpu and memory offer from AMD (it cost me 200) total shipped to me... So I opted to build me a new nice system.... I wasn't really prepared finacially to do it. but hey, i'm doing it. and I want a decent card that will last atleast a yr or 2 and play the games I have and the games thtat will be comign out in the next couple yrs..... Upgrading in the future is a definate option... but at the mo ments funds are a little stiff..... (OKAY OKAY, It's my dang wife... )

 

[Rand]

<< If I were you, I would wait. Prices are dropping as you wait.
Right now for $100 you can barly get a NVidia GeForce 2 Pro 32MB or Radeon 7200 or maybe a Radeon 7500.
Wait for like 1 month and you'll be able to get the NVidia GeForce 3 Ti-200 for around $120 or even $100.

Have fun! >>



I think prices are a lot lower then you seem to realize.
The Radeon 7200 is under $60 at many places, hardly "barely" under $100... and you can get 64MB GF2 Ti's for well under $100.
Radeon 7500 can be had at $84.




<< Aopen, GF2Ti-V64. >>



Not bad, it's a solid card and it'll perform very well overall.
What price are you looking at getting it for though?

 

[lepper boy]

I have found it for $84 plus shipping.... and it seems like a really nice card... Think it will handle the games to come for the next year or so?? currently I have a voodoo3 3000agp.. and I am starting to notice that in some games (the newer ones) it is slowing down.....
dave

 

[Rand]

<< I have found it for $84 plus shipping.... and it seems like a really nice card... Think it will handle the games to come for the next year or so?? >>



That depends on your requirements, some people out there consider a GF3 Ti200 as barely adequate for playing modern games
For the vast majority of people though, a GF2 Ti should be more then adequate for anything you'll see within the next year or so... even longer if your willing to drop the resolution/color depth or details slightly.

If your willing to pay a few $ extra though you might want to consider PowerColor's Radeon 7500 card, FTI Computers has it retail boxed for $89.
As an alternative, if your willing to overclock then I would seriously suggest looking into Gainward's GeForce2 Ti/450 available at NewEgg for $87 in retail box.
It's probably one of the best GeForce2 Ti cards available.

For the few extra dollars it seems either one would be preferable over the AOpen model you listed.

 

[lepper boy]

um..... what about the GeForce 2 ti450 gold? is the only difference between that and the GeForce2 Ti/450 the tv out??
dave

 

[lepper boy]

any other thoughts?

 

[LongCoolMother]

im looking for a vid card as well, the only prob i see with geforce 2 cards is the lacking of what? directx 8.1? yea, im thinking of a Radeon 8500 from OEM or Hercules for $165...

 

[hasu]

I'm also in the same boat ...

After reading reviews, I am leaning towards Radeon (This is for my main workstation. I want good 2D performance as well)

ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP OEM, has VGA, DVI and TV out (Price $96).
Looks like TVOut is S-Video.

Can we get Composit signal from this ?

Also they have a very similar item for $130 (+4 shipping). I couldn't figure out the difference ..

 

[MangoX]

I'm also looking for a new video card. Currently running a Voodoo 3 2000 AGP. Its really slow
Was thinking a GeForce 3 TI 200. They're selling for around $330 Canadian dollars. (I live in canada)
GF3 TI 500 is well over $500 here. Was thinking about a Radeom 8500, but then again I still don't trust
ATI for their drivers, even tho they seem to be updating more frequently.
Other spec for my system is:
Duron 800 @ 896, MSI K7T Turbo Limited Edition MB, 256mb CAS2 PC133 ram
also, will I be CPU bottlenecked if I do get the GF3 ?