good budget card?

[imported_pez]

my computers specs are
P4 2.4HT ghz
512 MB corsair ddr ram
radeon 9200 (currently)

im looking for an upgrade in a card...i get ok fps..like 20 but on newer games its very laggy

so im looking for a card that has DirectX 9 and can produce good fps budget around 100-150

i also plan on getting a new LCD monitor, 19" 16 or 12 ms so i would like DVI output for the card

any suggestions?

i thought about trading it in to ATI for $50 and gettin the radeon 9600.

 

[halfadder]

I highly recommend the Radeon 9600 Pro or 9600 XT. You can get a nice one for about $110. Best bang for the hundred-buck IMHO. Far faster than the 9250. And you can afford to buy a better/faster card again in 18 months.

Note that I personally don't recommend anything slower than 9600 Pro. Avoid the SE and anything else with only a 64-bit memory interface.

If you want a "new" card, there's the 9550, but it's just a really slow 9600.

 

[Ace51]

how's the 2D performance for this card? i'm gonna need a budget DVI card to go with my 2001FP running 1600x1200. thanks.

 

[halfadder]

I have not run or seen any 2D benchmarks for the 9600 Pro, but then I haven't really looked for them either. I can't complain, it's very fast in both Photoshop and AutoCAD. I find it to be a very nice "high end" card for anyone who's not a heavy gamer. Even the very latest games run great on the 128 MB version of the 9600 Pro.

Note that there are other versions of the 9600... such as the 9600 SE and 9550, both of which are clocked slower and have only a 64-bit memory interface. These cards are far slower than the 9600 Pro.

There's also the 9600 XT, which is faster than the 9600 Pro. But if you need something that's faster than the Pro, then you probably want a much higher end card, like a 6600 or 6800.