Cheap Radeons

[Banana]

First of all, let me confess that I've always used NVidia cards in the past . . .

Would someone please help me out? I need a cheap-ass video card for a new rig that I'm building for my significant other to use (don't wanna fight over my gaming rig anymore). The new setup would be used mostly for web surfing and NO gaming. Which Radeon to get? Preferably under $70 if that's not unrealistic. No frills--no TV Out--no DVI--no VIVO, etc needed.

I'm confused by all the different Radeons out there--would someone be kind enough to list them in order of performance? I seem to recall from last year that the Radeon LE is good because it can be overclocked. THANKS!

Robin

 

[Furor]

You could probably pick up a Radeon 7000 or 7500 for pretty cheap.

Basically, the higher the number the better performance, EXCEPT for the 8500 and 9000 series..the 8500 will be better than the 9000's

So, 7000 will be the slowest, then 7200, 7500, 9000, 8500, 9700

 

[Peter]

For a productivity box, consider an all-in-one board that has the VGA integrated into the chipset. There are boards around that have everything, VGA, sound, modem, LAN, some even a CPU and fan/heatsink, all well below $100.

Otherwise, Radeon 7500 and fanless 7500LE have significantly dropped in price now that 9000/pro are here. Expect them to vanish in a few days, so buy them now ... that said, fanless 9000 cards are already in the same price range as the 7500LEs used to be two weeks ago ...

regards, Peter

 

[gwlam12]

http://www17.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020418/vgacharts-01.html

 

[spanky]

i would suggest a radeon ve, radeon 7000, or even a matrox g400.

 

[Banana]

Thanks to all for the information. Someone just PM'd me an offer for a VE for $35--I'm considering the offer--very tempting!

Also, I stumbled on this useful chart:
AT Chart for some Radeon cards

 

[Peter]

That chart just shows ATi's cards. If you include the 3rd party cards, there are lots more variations, including dual head 7000 and 7500LE, 7500LE combined with SDRAM or 64-bit wide DDR RAM, low profile cards, PCI cards, anything. Pick whatever suits the purpose.

regards, Peter

 

[Socio]

Look a CompUSA I saw a GeForce 4 for only $79.00 , granted it was the lowest of the Geforce 4's and a brand I never heard of before but still.

 

[eplebnista]

Sapphire Radeon 9000 OEM for $71 & Free Shipping @ Newegg

 

[spanky]

for no gaming and only web surfing... i would think the $70+ gf4 & radeon 9000 would be overkill. the $35 radeon ve sound perfect

 

[Face2Face]

I got my radeon 8500(275/275) from newegg for $109, not bad it blows my friends geforce4200 128mb away!!! (with my setup)