Have 8500LE 64MB, looking to Upgrade

[TechBoyJK]

I have an AMD 1700+ with 512 ddr ram, sb audigy2, dvd burner, etc. with an ATI Radeon 8500LE. I am looking to get a new video card, mainly to support UNReal2 and 2k3 as well as future games, like DOOM3. I want to spend about $200. Any suggestions?

 

[SickBeast]

I would suggest the R9600 when it comes out in a couple of weeks. Overclocked it keeps pace with a 9700! :Q

It should be less than $200 as well.

 

[titanmiller]

The 9500 pro would probably be your best bet, or maybe the 4800.

 

[CurtCold]

Originally posted by: titanmiller
The 9500 pro would probably be your best bet, or maybe the 4800.

Or even the 9700np, as prices may drop some when 9600, and 9800's really start hitting the shelves. I would say just go for the 9700np, and be happy

 

[thedan]

My 8500 and athlon1ghz/256mbddr runs UT2003 lovely. Not U2 however.

 

[Chadder007]

Have you thought about trying to mod it into a Radeon 9000 ?

Edit: er 9100...sorry.

 

[Pete]

I'd suggest a 9700NP for ~$215, or a 9500P for ~$180. The former has twice the memory bandwidth of the latter, which will make it much faster at high resolutions with AA&/AF. Get the 9700NP if you can go $15 over-budget, it will be faster and last longer for a small price premium.

(OTOH, I think the 9600 series may have some optimizations for double-sided stencils that the 9700 doesn't have; I'm not sure if those optimizations will make the 9600P competitive and possibly faster than a 9700. You really won't know until iD releases a D3 benchmark; I'm not sure the D3 alpha will be valid to see those optimizations, but I haven't seen 9600P benches on it yet, so I can't say for sure. Regardless, the 9700 should be faster on all other games, due to its far greater fillrate and memory bandwidth.)