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Doin' an Overhaul: Best Video Card for $200?

J

JessRobinson

Member
Hi All,

It's about time to upgrade my rig and I'd like to get some advice on the best video card to get for $200 or less (I'm on a budget). My current rig:

Pentium 4 2.0
512 MB PC2100 RAM
Ti 4200

Thinking of going to:

Pentium 4 2.8
1 GB RAM PC2700 RAM
Video Card for $200 or less

Any input is much appreciated.

Jess
 
Well, if $200 is the absolute maximum, then the 6600/6800 cards will be out of your range.

You could pick up a nice 9800Pro that could potentially hit 9800XT speeds for less than $200 from Newegg or from a few other online deals (search the Hot Deals forum). You could also pick up a used 9800P from the For Sale/For Trade forum here for around $150 shipped.
 
For under $200 your looking at a ATi 9800 or a 9600XT.

If you up your budget about $20, for around $220 you may be able to find a Nvida 6600GT.

I would reccomend spending the few extra bucks and get the 6600GT. Newer technology.

Good luck.

Chris
 
Spend just a little more and get a 6600GT. They run around $220-$240 starting price. But to answer your question, 9800p's can be found for $200 (compusa had this for exactly that yesterday and it may still be on for today)
 
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro is hands down the best card under $200
$200-$300 I'd get a 6800 stay away from the 6600

Just curious, are you planning to upgrade a Dell?
Looking at the specs you look like a Dell owner. In that case you might have to beef your PSU as well.
 
Originally posted by: bradyapba
For under $200 your looking at a ATi 9800 or a 9600XT.

If you up your budget about $20, for around $220 you may be able to find a Nvida 6600GT.

I would reccomend spending the few extra bucks and get the 6600GT. Newer technology.

Good luck.

Chris
Click to expand...

 
I agree with Mr. Lee... if you have about $270 to spend, the 6800 is the way to go....no if ands or buts....

But wait, there is a BUT.. 🙂

he said under $200.... $270 is and extra 35%. I didn't want to go quite that high... figuring that was out of his budget.


There is nothing wrong with the 6600gt's. They have been found to be very overclockable, and can come somewhat close to the performances of a stock 6800. So if ever dollar is an issue, 6600GT maybe be the way to go.

I just got my 6800 for $199 at compusa a few weeks ago on Black friday. BUT, if i didn't get that card, I would of had to go with a 6600GT. I did not have $270 to spend on a VC. I just didn't have it.


So to sum up.

<200 = 9800 Pro.
200-240 = 6600GT
270-300 = 6800 Vanilla.


So... it all depends on what you can spend. 9800pro is a good solid card. the 6600gt is slightly better, and the 6800 is even better still.

Good luck on your purchase.

Chris
 
Spend $20 more on a 6600gt AGP. The radeon 9800pro is a great card, but against the 6600gt it is just plain overpriced, as the gt will wipe the floor with it.
 
To All:

Thanks for the input. One question - are we talking 128MB or 256MB cards here?

Edward Lee - I'm not upgrading a Dell, just a homebrew my friend cooked up for me about one year ago.

Jess
 
These are 128 MB Cards.
Also, just to let you know the prices of the 9800 Pro are slightly inflated for Christmas and should drop to market levels of about $180-$190 soon after Christmas. If not you might want to go with a 6600 for $220-240. But I don't like that it's only 128 Bit and for about $20-$30 more you could get a 256 Bit 6800 with better performance. The 6800 for $200 at CompUSA is the best overall deal around. But I'm pretty sure that deal is gone by now.
 
they would all be 128 megs of ram.

In your price range you could get the 9800 non pro with 256 megs of ram, but i would stick with the PRO with 128 if thats the price your sticking too.

Chris

Edit: Mr. Lee is giving the same advice I would. If you can swing it a 6800 is best deal buy sepnding a few more bucks no doubt. The compusa deal is still going on, but good luck finding a card the 8 stores within 200 miles of me do not have any.

about the cheapest 6800 i can find is the XFX at newegg for $270

XFX 6800

but i did also find this 6800, i just have never used securemart before, a jaton for $259

jaton 6800

The Cheapest 6600GT I found was at mwave fro $215

XFX 6600gt agp



There are plenty of 9800 Pro to go around for $200 ish.
 
Time will tell if the 6600GT's 128bit memory is a problem or not. But all the benches I've seen had it beating the 9800pro by a lot and ATI's newer offerings it holds up very well against. To me, the only numbers that matter are the benches.

Oh, and there isn't any reason to get more than 128mb of ram yet anyway, unless you're planning on running at very high resolutions.
 
What do you think of a Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB with 256bit memory interface, an R360 core, an ATI Silencer 3, flashed to XT specs. Is that a significant upgrade from a regular Radeon Pro 128?
 
Originally posted by: JessRobinson
What do you think of a Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB with 256bit memory interface, an R360 core, an ATI Silencer 3, flashed to XT specs. Is that a significant upgrade from a regular Radeon Pro 128?
Click to expand...

I would say no. While the XT core/memory speeds and extra 128mb of video RAM will help, it's not going to be a huge increase in performance compared to the default speeds of a 9800 Pro (256bit of course).
 
Originally posted by: JessRobinson
To All:

Thanks for the input. One question - are we talking 128MB or 256MB cards here?

Edward Lee - I'm not upgrading a Dell, just a homebrew my friend cooked up for me about one year ago.

Jess
Click to expand...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Also are we talking about 128bit or 256bit cards. I read the 265bit increase bandwidth by far.

Another thing theres brands ontop of brands from Pine to Visiontek and every brand is usually diffrent specs.

If anyone has researched this please post your ideas on what would be best I am also looking to spend around $200 for a video card.

Most of the sites I find always hide something about the card eather bandwidth bits or polygons /ps ect...

Most of the review sites don't tell what brand they just label it "Ati 9800 Pro" or "geforce 6600 GT".


I'm currently on a Asylum 5600 256MB and it is pretty laggy on Battlefield Vietnam. I would like to get a card that will most likely support the game on its high texture settings and also handle Battlefield 2 when it drops.

Thanks for the help.


 
For the most part the brands that make the cards use the exact same specs for the card they are making. So the cards should be identical with the exception of the quality of memory they use.
The only other differnce is the service department and the bundled software you get with each card.
I still recommend the ATI 9800 Pro 256Bit 128 MB Card as the best card Under $200.00
The next step up would be the GeForce 6800 256Bit 128 MB for about $268 at Newegg.com

The 6600 is only 128Bit (Less color) In between the 9800 Pro and 6800 NU in performance. For the money you're better off chosing between the 2 (In my opinion $100 should be the cut off between performance levels)
 
Jess,

I guess it depends on where your getting that card from and the price? How much are you paying for it? obviously since its been softmodded, its used. So i need a little more info on it, before I could make a decision. If money is still top proirty, I would still be looking at that 6600GT for $215.


Trecenters,

Most review sites say that becuase they are reviewing "reference boards" which are not from a manufacturer, but from ATI or Nvida.

As for 128 bit vs 256 bit. All depends. Some of the 9800 Pros are 256 bit some 128 bit. But its old technology. I would prefer the 6600GT with the DDR3, even though its only 128 bit. It still beats out the 9800's every time. All 6600gt's are 128 bit. All 6800's vanilla are 256 bit.


As for whats the best card for you, simply re-read this thread. Same applies to you. If your going stick to $200 its a 9800pro. If you can spend a little more $220 get a 6600GT. If you can afford $260 get the 6800. The 6800 wins hands down. But it will cost you and extra $60 over a 9800pro.

Those are your choices.

Chris
 
Originally posted by: Edward Lee
I still recommend the ATI 9800 Pro 256Bit 128 MB Card as the best card Under $200.00
The next step up would be the GeForce 6800 256Bit 128 MB for about $268 at Newegg.com

---------------------------------------------

Isn't the ATI 55mhz faster in the core clock or does that matter?

Of course I believe the memory clock in the ATI is slower so I guess thats the reason its $68 cheaper and slower but how much slower?

%25 maybe?
Click to expand...
 
I think Mr. Lee has hit it right on the head. $100 difference in performance level, is about what I look at too. The 9800Pro is the best card at $200. The 6800 is MUCH better at $260. But if I HAD the little extra for the $215, I would still buy the 6600gt over the 9800Pro. Every review i have seen (at least 5 or 6), rates the 6600gt as a sizable performance leap over the 9800Pro. Though its only 128 bit, the much faster processor and memory, give is a solid boost over the 9800pro. If it was me, and I had to decide over the 9800pro or 6600gt, i would take the 6600gt.
BUT, like Mr. Lee, I would go with the 6800 hands down!

But thats just us 🙂


Chris
 
Originally posted by: TrECeNTeRs
Originally posted by: Edward Lee
I still recommend the ATI 9800 Pro 256Bit 128 MB Card as the best card Under $200.00
The next step up would be the GeForce 6800 256Bit 128 MB for about $268 at Newegg.com

---------------------------------------------

Isn't the ATI 55mhz faster in the core clock or does that matter?

Of course I believe the memory clock in the ATI is slower so I guess thats the reason its $68 cheaper and slower but how much slower?

%25 maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Please go do some research and look at some benchmarks.

The 9800Pro has 8 pipelines. The 6800NU has 12. They have totally different architectures, so you can't just compare the clockspeeds head-to-head.

Edit: fixed mangled quotations.
 
The architecture has to be the same in order to compare clock speed. It's like comparing a P4 3.0 GHz to a AMD 64 3000 running at 2.0 GHz
The 6800 is a way better card.
 
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