cheapest vid card to go with Asus P4PE ?

[wizards23]

i just put together a new rig asus p4pe, p4 2.4, corsair xms 512mb.
i dont want to buy an expensive vid card now, i would rather wait when the new nvidia card comes out. i still am having a hard time chosing what card to get now.

it needs to be able to play most of the games out now (warcraft 3)

i dont want to spend too much

i was contemplating getting a leadtek 64mb 4200 but thought otherwise since that card is $140. i would rather put that money towards the future cards.

btw i am using a creative riva tnt right now in my old rig. theres no way i can use that with the P4PE right? agp voltage problems i would assume.

THX!!! all comments welcome !

 

[Serp86]

GF4 MX or Radeon 9000 pro.

I'm not from us but think that they are under $100 now. Try pricewatch.com

Why wait for "the new nvidia card"? When it comes out it will be priced at $400-500 while the radeon 9700 will be a lot cheaper. Sure it is faster - but by how much? (previews are saying 30-50%) Is it wort so much money? I don't think so.

I suggest getting a radeon 9700pro or at least a 9700 non pro. I have the 9700 pro and it offers top notch performance in UT2003 even on my P3 1ghz - and that means it is pretty good. On your P4 2.4 it will kick serious butt.

Regards
Jonathan

 

[wizards23]

ok i changed my mind. after hearing numerous people say that now is a bad time to buy vid cards, i will have to wait. im not going to overpay right now for a 9700 either when a couple months from now it will be $150 less.

BUT!!! I HAVE NO VID CARD!! that means i cant run squat, i can stare at my shiny new Cooler Master ATC111 case and thats all!!!! so whats the absolute, worst garbage card on the market that will work in the agp slot of the P4Pe??

i have a Riva Tnt by Creative Labs, can it work on it? or will it fuXor it up maybe due to voltage issues?? i have no clue that is why im asking here.

 

[JackBurton]

No, that TNT ain't gonna work on that board! Get a Radeon 8500LE at newegg for $86! AWESOME card for the money and it should DEFINITELY hold you over 'til GeForce FX or Radeon 9700 Pro (when the price drops).

Ok, it is out of stock now, but should be back in stock in a few days.

 

[wizards23]

thx for the suggestions. one thing, would a geforce 3 ti500 outperfom the radeon 8500LE? i heard they are 100 bux at frys.

 

[JackBurton]

The 64MB Radeon 8500LE (250/275) will be just a tad slower that a GF3 TI500, but once you reflash the 8500LE to 275/275 they run neck and neck. Like I said, the card is an AWESOME buy at $86 FLAT (free shipping and no tax)!

 

[WarSong]

Another vote for the 8500LE. It out performs the GF3-ti200 in pretty much every test I've ever read about, expecially after installing the latest catalyst drivers and overclocking it. Great value.

 

[memories2002]

go with the 8500LE. or if not [i see no reason not to] , the radeon9000.
keep in mind, the 8500 is better than the 9000.

 

[Cybordolphin]

I think Anand has the Radeon 9000 shown at 79.94. Not sure from which vendor though.... you would have to look.

I think I found it for that price at ENPC.com

 

[wizards23]

is there any issues with this particular card from newegg? i heard somewhere that oem versions of ati boards arent on par with the retail versions. slower memory, clock, etc. and how easy is it to overclock? i have never done that sort of thing to a vid card before.

 

[WarSong]

Originally posted by: wizards23
is there any issues with this particular card from newegg? i heard somewhere that oem versions of ati boards arent on par with the retail versions. slower memory, clock, etc. and how easy is it to overclock? i have never done that sort of thing to a vid card before.

i think you are confusing "Powered by ATI" vs. "Built by ATI" for OEM vs. Retail. The PBA are the ones you were probably warned about. The "bulk" pack BBA ones newegg has, are actually clocked faster and have faster memory than the retail BBA 8500LEs you can buy at normal stores. Neweggs are clocked at 250/275 with 3.3ns memory vs. retail box 250/250 with 3.6ns memory. This means that Newegg's theoretically can overclock higher than the retail box one. Of course the bulk pack has 64mb and the retail box has 128mb, but IMHO, at this level of card, the faster memory is more important than the 128MB. Read the reviews on Newegg's site, many people were able to clock this card to 300/300 and beyond which smokes a stock retail 8500 (non-LE) which is 275/275. How easy is it to overclock? Just get Rage3D Tweak and slide the bar in the overclocker tab.