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Best Video Card under $130

theLION

theLION

Senior member
I want to upgrade my old Athlon XP computer and i want to get a new video card, but i dont want to spend so much since i'm already spending alot on my new computer. So any suggestions? THANX
 
What are your plans?
Do you game any, alot and what type of games? Any video editing? Is this mainly a word processing/surfing computer?
 
Don't know what kinds games your cousin will play...but there is talk about a ATI 9600XT for $85 in the hot deals section...... but you have to trade in an old card though.

Linky from the ATI site.
 
AXP isn't that old man. It is still mid range and some are upper mid ranger.

We need to know what kind of games. However i would HIGHLY reccommend a used 9700 or 9800Pro.

-Kevin
 
9600xt is not that much slower then the 9700, but when you bring aa/af in the picture, the 9700 starts to take off.
 
Originally posted by: BouZouki
9600xt is not that much slower then the 9700, but when you bring aa/af in the picture, the 9700 starts to take off.
Click to expand...

Um yeah it is.

You are talking about a higher clocked card.

Also you are talking about 4x1 Pipeline architecture as compared to the 9700Pro which has a 8x1.

Addittionally you are talking about a 128bit memory bus as compared to the 9700Pro's 256bit.

It is most certainly a lot slower, ESPECIALLY with AA and AF.

I would reccomend a 6600GT but even used (if you can find em) are about $50 more that 130. They are well worth it as they will massacre any last gen card, but only if you are willing to spend the (easily justifiable IMO) price.

-Kevin
 
The 9800SE performs just above a 9600 Pro. The 9600 XT is faster. EDIT: The 256-bit model can be modded to run at vanilla 9800 speeds, but the one linked to can't. A 9700 Pro is still faster.

Try to find a used 9700 Pro. That's your best bet- they can be found on EBay for $100-$150.
 
Originally posted by: coejus
The 9800SE performs just above a 9600 Pro. The 9600 XT is faster.

Try to find a used 9700 Pro. That's your best bet- they can be found on EBay for $100-$150.
Click to expand...

Damn, I didn't know that. Thanks for educating me. I can say I have a 9700 pro and can play all the newest games, but at medium resolutions it is sometimes choppy. That's an excellent card if he doesn't plan on playing Doom 3, HL2, UT, etc.
 
I don't know about Doom 3, but the Source engine scales very well. I played HL2 at 1280x1024 with high texture settings and no AA/AF and got between 20-80 FPS with my 9600 XT.
 
Originally posted by: theLION
I want to upgrade my old Athlon XP computer and i want to get a new video card, but i dont want to spend so much since i'm already spending alot on my new computer. So any suggestions? THANX
Click to expand...

Don't get anything SE or LE. It means they use a 128bit bus instead of a 256bit bus. It also means sometimes there are 4 pipes instead of 8.

PSA.

😛
 
so how would a 9700 compare to a geforce 4 ti 4200 128mb? I've been kicking around the idea of upgrading my video card as I cheaped out when I built the system, with the understanding that the 4200 isn't that much worse than a 9600 or 9700, but I didn't ever really get into gaming because I found that the 4200 wasn't really able to keep up comfortably on newer games at high resolutions/detail. Would stepping up to a 9700 really show that much differance or would I have to jump to a video card toward the 250 range to see a big differance?
 
I have a 9700 Pro in one of my rigs and it is a decent gaming card. It handles Doom3 at 1024x768 medium detail always above 30 FPS. During more complex parts and when many AI units are present, the game can be a bit jerky, but nothing big.
 
Originally posted by: kornphlake
so how would a 9700 compare to a geforce 4 ti 4200 128mb? I've been kicking around the idea of upgrading my video card as I cheaped out when I built the system, with the understanding that the 4200 isn't that much worse than a 9600 or 9700, but I didn't ever really get into gaming because I found that the 4200 wasn't really able to keep up comfortably on newer games at high resolutions/detail. Would stepping up to a 9700 really show that much differance or would I have to jump to a video card toward the 250 range to see a big differance?
Click to expand...

You'd see a large difference. The Ti4200 is only a DirectX 8 card, as well, so you'll get more of the eye candy in newer games.
 
Where can you find a 5700 Ultra for under $130?

It is outperformed by the 9600 XT in shader-limited situations, by the way.
 
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Originally posted by: BouZouki
9600xt is not that much slower then the 9700, but when you bring aa/af in the picture, the 9700 starts to take off.
Click to expand...

Um yeah it is.

You are talking about a higher clocked card.

Also you are talking about 4x1 Pipeline architecture as compared to the 9700Pro which has a 8x1.

Addittionally you are talking about a 128bit memory bus as compared to the 9700Pro's 256bit.

It is most certainly a lot slower, ESPECIALLY with AA and AF.

I would reccomend a 6600GT but even used (if you can find em) are about $50 more that 130. They are well worth it as they will massacre any last gen card, but only if you are willing to spend the (easily justifiable IMO) price.

-Kevin
Click to expand...



I have tested both cards in 3dmark, like I said, the 9700 pro is slightly faster nothing hugh, but the 9700pro is much better with aa/af.
 
Originally posted by: Ike0069
$132 shipped
Click to expand...

NO NO that is a good find. That is the C3 revision which has the highest softmod rate of any of the 9800 series. I would definately get it and just softmod it.

Bou i realize what you said. The 9700Pro isn't just slightly faster it is A LOT faster. And with AA and AF it is way way ahead of the 9600's.

-Kevin
 
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