Help me advise my dad on which card to buy

[Injury]

My old man is asking for my advice on which of these six cards he should get...

He has it narrowed down to this list only:

01G-P2-N793-LR
512-P2-N756-TR
512-P2-N757-TR
01G-P2-N795-TR
512-P2-N773-AR
320-P2-N811-AR

The kicker about my dad is that he doesn't do anything that would require a beast of a machine. The only game he plays (ocassionally) is IL2. His concern is that he wants the most bang for his buck and he wants a card that last as long as the rest of his computer (which should take him at least another few years). He really just wants a good card to have a good card, but that's really none of my business.

Dunno what kind of other info you guys need... He recently went up to 4GB Ram, has a ~3GHz Athlon 64 (IIRC)

Based on his research, all of these cards are compatible with his system.

MY fear is that his smaller case might not fit some of the larger cards well, or that overheating may be an issue as it's tucked in a nook in his desk.
Any comments or help in deciding would be appreciated.

(Or if there is a better card in a similar price range that definately trumps all of these, I'm sure he'll change his mind about these)

 

[angry hampster]

All of these cards, save for the last one, are terrible buys. However, the last one is last-generation.

9600GT: $120 after mail in. Buy this card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261002

 

[BernardP]

How can one debate between a 8500GT and a 8800GTS...?

8600GT and 8600GTS are much slower than 9600GT or 8800GT.

Best bang-for-the buck is 9600GT or 8800GT, depending on relative pricing.

The Palit 9600GT for $120 as suggested above by angry hampster is a great buy, even if the MIR never comes :evil: .

 

[happy medium]

8800gs 129.99 +30$ rebate=99.00$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150275

best deal out there!

It's as fast or faster then the 8800gts 320mb for much less.

 

[Lithan2]

Yeah, I'd grab him the 8800gs. For what he does, the extra $20 aint worth it for anything better, and 8800gs is miles ahead of the 8600 and 8500's and about even with the 8800gts 320.

Be warned tho, loud fan as per reviews. If his rig's quiet otherwise, may wanna spring for the palit 9600gt. When you get one who's fan works, it's dead silent (after bootup).

 

[SergeC]

8800gs, definitely. Great advice.

 

[OmegaShadow]

Originally posted by: Lithan2
Yeah, I'd grab him the 8800gs. For what he does, the extra $20 aint worth it for anything better, and 8800gs is miles ahead of the 8600 and 8500's and about even with the 8800gts 320.

Be warned tho, loud fan as per reviews. If his rig's quiet otherwise, may wanna spring for the palit 9600gt. When you get one who's fan works, it's dead silent (after bootup).

i thought that it was only the xfx 8800gs that had a loud fan because it's always set at 100%. isn't the EVGA 8800gs quiet?

 

[Denithor]

Yes, get the EVGA 8800GS instead, it's got a fan speed control so it doesn't just run wide open constantly. The non-OC model was around $110 after MIR last time I looked, it's certainly worth the extra $10 for a quiet system.

 

[Lithan]

Originally posted by: OmegaShadow

Originally posted by: Lithan2
Yeah, I'd grab him the 8800gs. For what he does, the extra $20 aint worth it for anything better, and 8800gs is miles ahead of the 8600 and 8500's and about even with the 8800gts 320.

Be warned tho, loud fan as per reviews. If his rig's quiet otherwise, may wanna spring for the palit 9600gt. When you get one who's fan works, it's dead silent (after bootup).

i thought that it was only the xfx 8800gs that had a loud fan because it's always set at 100%. isn't the EVGA 8800gs quiet?

Yeah I was speaking specifically about the $100 after MIR model.


There's a couple options for $10-20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130332

 

[Injury]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it. I'll pass this info along to him and I'm sure he'll be plenty satisifed with any of the recommendations.