HL2 system with a budget

[ThePiston]

it is 1 gig of ram, 2x512 for $140

 

[IAteYourMother]

ummm... I've been playing hl2 with 9600XT, and it's not that great and lags a bit. I would definitely go with a 9800 pro or a 6600 GT. You can get the 9800 pro for like 180, and i'm sure even less come black friday

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
ummm... I've been playing hl2 with 9600XT, and it's not that great and lags a bit. I would definitely go with a 9800 pro or a 6600 GT. You can get the 9800 pro for like 180, and i'm sure even less come black friday

turn the rez down.

 

[Avalon]

I would have gotten the 35w 2400+ mobile as well, just to shave off an extra $10. It would probably have done just as well as the 2600+. Besides, are you going to keep the chip heavily overclocked anyway? If you can really get $170 for your 9600XT AIW on eBay, or more, I'd actually say go for that so you can get a 9800 pro. Even better might be to try and see if you could snag one of those PNY 6800 cards for $200 at CompUSSR on black friday. Just don't get trampled
You've got plenty of avenues to explore should you not be satisfied with the 9600.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Trey22

Originally posted by: xsilver
not to be a fanboy or anything -- but if you can wait, I believe the 6600gt will be better and will be similarly priced..... AGP version should be available late this month?

Available now!

I'm picking one up (6600GT AGP) to replace my 9800 Pro 128MB.

Just get 6800 for $250 from Outpost instead. You have a chance of unlocking extra pipes, it comes with a version of Far Cry, and 6800 is almost always faster than 6600Gt.

Thats a decent budget config. btw. If you want to have AIW capabilities, it's pretty tough to get something decent in this price range. So i guess 9600xt it is. Otherwise you could pick up 9700Pro for around $150.

EDIT: Here is an idea....since you are on a budget, instead of getting 1 gig of ram, get 512mb and 9800Pro AIW. This should make things better for you since 1 gig of ram and a slow videocard arent going to help your framerates.

 

[Blackjack2000]

9700np AIW goes for $195 at the egg. Not sure how it's speed compares to the 9600xt.

 

[batmanuel]

When the heck is there going to be a price cut on the retail 9800 Pros, anyway? They can't keep selling them for $180-$200 for much longer now that the 6600GT AGP is out on the street. Newegg seems to have cleared out their stock, but my local B&M retailers still have a lot on the shelves (especially CompUSA). I want to see some fire sales!

 

[Blackjack2000]

I think both the 9600 series and the 9800 series are overdue for a price cut. Unfortunatly, since all the new cards have been pci-e, they've had no comptetition. Now that the 6600 GT are on the street, hopefully we'll see some big cuts since the GT pretty well throttles the 9800 pro. Not holding my breath, but hoping for

9600 pro = $65 - $70
9800 pro = $150

 

[ponyo]

I don't think Newegg AIW refurbs come with any accessories. I hope you have the remote and all the connectors already!

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Nanobie
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/h...le.php/3211_3093161__3

You figure, if it can handle Quake 3 at max with a VERY high fps, it should be able to handle HL2 at medium.

Quake 3 is a pretty old engine now. I wouldn't necessarily make that assumption.

Originally posted by: batmanuel
When the heck is there going to be a price cut on the retail 9800 Pros, anyway? They can't keep selling them for $180-$200 for much longer now that the 6600GT AGP is out on the street. Newegg seems to have cleared out their stock, but my local B&M retailers still have a lot on the shelves (especially CompUSA). I want to see some fire sales!

I think blackjack is right. Give the 6600gt AGPs a few weeks and they should start to drive the price of the 9800s down. If ATI wants to move any of them to anything buy fanboys they're going to have to slash their cost, because the 6600gts make short work of them based on those benchmarks AT posted yesterday.