Good low/mid range card for 22" LCD (1680x1050)

[zero2dash]

I'm looking for advice on what card to get.
Looking mainly for budget, low cost...but decent performer that runs at 1680x1050 (my HP w2207's native res).

I'll be upgrading from a P4 3.0C, 1gig Corsair DDR400, Radeon 9500 to an E2160, 2gigs DDR2 800, Corsair VX550 (plenty of power for a single vid card). I will still be running XP; not a Vista fan (yet).

Don't game too much anymore on the PC...used to play FPS all the time, now I'm more of a console gamer (360 primarily) so I don't necessarily need 8800 card power if it's not necessary. My wife plays The Sims 2 a lot...if I had a more capable PC I would probably game a little more on it (but still spend the majority of my time on the 360).

I've looked at 1950 Pro but a little worried about heat.
8600 GT, 8600 GTS, HD 2600 Pro...basically in the $100-$150 range; not sure what to go with.

From what I've heard it sounds like at 1680x1050 I should go with a card with a 256-bit memory bus and the more ram the better (512 over 256?).

I have no problems turning down graphic quality and playing without AA or AF just as long as I get 30fps or better (in an FPS like Half-Life 2 especially). I doubt I'd play anything as high end as Bioshock (I'll get it for the 360) or Crysis.

I've had nothing but positive experiences with ATi and nVidia cards in the past - I don't have a preference of one over the other.

No preference on DX10...if it's there, great, if not - don't care.

TIA

 

[Ares202]

x1950gt or an x1950 pro

you dont need DX10 on lower end cards as they have too low framerates on the new DX

 

[jeffw2767602]

a more cost efficient option may be to wait for the 8800gt. it looks like it will be a little over your price range but it should last longer.

 

[bryanW1995]

yes, I would wait a couple of weeks. I saw a link to FUDzilla today showing 179 msrp for 8800gt. That card should absolutely destroy any card currently available in the sub-$200 market.

here's the thread with the link: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2105937&enterthread=y

you would have the advantage of being able to play most games at max settings and even demanding ones like oblivion or crysis at decent settings, but not have to deal with the heat problems of the ati cards. BTW, I love my x1950xt and that is what I would normally recommend to somebody looking for a $150 vid card, but it does generate a lot of heat and it is extremely hard to find new these days.