Can someone recommend a good video card for under 300 bucks

[Arkitech]

I'm really not much of a video card expert but I have a few extra bucks this month that I've been wanting to spend. (I already bought a 2405 earlier this week) So basically I just want a good card that I can play the latest games with and one that I can use for HTPC viewing too. Any suggestions?

 

[Rike]

ATI x800XL about $300
nVidia 6600GT about $200

 

[Alex]

take your pic:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.a...rice=300&mfrcode=0&DEPA=1&Order=priceD

(hope the link words im using quick reply...)

basically you can get anything but the very very high end...
the nvidia 6600GT are awesome value cards and can handle pretty much anything you throw at it these days... but you could also go nuts and get a 6800 or ATI Radeon X800 from ATI, both are pretty much top of the line...

 

[ShadowBlade]

nVidia 6600GT, and radeon 9800's should both be less than $200, even (9800 may not be, too lazy to check) for cloer to $300 (again no guarentee) the radeon x800's are good

 

[Rike]

I'd stay away from the vanilla 6800s. They beat the 6600GT by only 1-3% and the X800XL will beat it in a walk for the same price. If you're looking for AGP, sometimes you can find an AGP 6800GT for close to $300. If you find one, grab it.

 

[Brian48]

Whatever you pick, your budget allows for a very decent card. You might even get lucky and find a place where they have the 6800GT on sale for that price range (I picked up mine for $329).

Let's put it this way, I finished FarCry, HL2, and Doom3 on a lowly 128mb R8500 just to see if I can do it. If they played OK with the R8500, they'll play just fine with anything faster.

 

[Arkitech]

hmm seems like the 6600gt is the way to go, has anyone paired it up with a 2405? I was browsing through the forums at arstehnica.com and there were a few people who experienced problems getting the 1920x1200 resolution using the 6600's. Not sure if its a video card, panel or driver issue.

 

[shoRunner]

x800xl msrp:$299. as good as the 6800gt in everything but doom and better in hl2

 

[gsellis]

Can someone recommend a good video card for under 300 bucks

Yes, but can you pay me in cash?

Sorry, could not resist. 😛

 

[BrokenVisage]

No contest, get a X800XL if $300 is your budget.

 

[piasabird]

AGP PORT OR PCI Express??

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: piasabird
AGP PORT OR PCI Express??

agp

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: piasabird
AGP PORT OR PCI Express??

agp

That kills the X800XL idea. I don't think that's available in AGP, PCIe only for now. It sound like you're looking at 6600GT or an sweet deal on a 6800GT.

 

[RockGuitarDude]

I run HL2 on full settings at 1280x1024 with a GeForce MX440 (no anti-aliasing)

 

[Ben88]

You'll need a minimum of a 6800gt AGP to run at native resolution on that 24 inch monitor.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: RockGuitarDude
I run HL2 on full settings at 1280x1024 with a GeForce MX440 (no anti-aliasing)

But you run in DX 8 and at low frame rate.