Dell 8100 Dimension Video Card Upgrade

[nmitch1]

I am fairly new to these forums but am definitely impressed by the knowledge and support here. I have a 3 yr old Dell 8100 Dimension Desktop which came with an Nvidia 64mb Geforce 3 Video Card.

Since I do some casual video editing as well as casual gaming (1942, hopefully BF2, etc), I am thinking it is time to upgrade my video card. My budget is around $100 give or take a little. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for the best card I could get for my money that will work with my Dell 8100? All suggestions are GREATLY appreciated.

Here is the link to the specs for my systems -
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dsleest/specs.htm

The MoBo has an AGP 4x slot.

thanks
nm

 

[CheesePoofs]

You're not going to be able to get much for an agp card at that price. I'm not sure what 9600's cost these days, but they might be around 100, and they are decent cards.

 

[keeleysam]

refurb 6600gt

 

[nmitch1]

Well, yeah, I was reading up a little more about price after I made that post and I guess i could probably swing around $150. The card doesn't have to be new either. I could always do eBay. I just don't really know any good models to even try to look into (Nvidia vs ATI, etc). Thanks for the heads up about the 9600s. I will take a look into those. I would love to find a 256mb but if not, I could certainly settle on 128mb. Any other thoughts.......anyone?

 

[tbradsha]

Look around on this forum and in the hot deals forum. There's plenty of suggestions.

At ~$150 I would suggest the nvidia geforce 6600 GT or the 6800. These are much, much better performers than the radeon 9600. There is currently a hot deal on a 6600 GT for about $115 in the hot deals forum involving several rebates. Just make sure it's an AGP and not PCI-Express card.

You can definitely maximize your video card buck by waiting just a few weeks while the prices stabilize after the release of the nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX at $600. There is a rumored release of an ATI card in late July which would push prices down further, but it could be delayed for many more months.

Keep your eyes peeled on the hot deals thread and you should be able to find a 6600 GT for < $150 really soon.