longevity: what chip under $100?

[dpopiz]

I hardly ever get the chance to upgrade my video card, but now I finally do. What chip will give me the best compatability and performance for games in the next few years (I'll really probably keep this card for a few years -- really) for under $100? It looks to me like the radeon 9000 would good for this, but does anybody have some suggestions?

 

[Actaeon]

Few years? Probally none.

But, best card for under 100 is Radeon8500. If you want a Nvidia based card, try and get a Ti200.

 

[BFG10K]

A Radeon 8500 LE and a GF3 Ti200 are good choices for that price limit.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Absolutely, the Rad9000pro is slower and inferior to a Rad8500LE. Rad9000 cards only redeeming feature is the enhancement of DVD/MPEG playback using DX8 hw functions. I haven't seen this verified yet though.

If you can pay an extra $30ish then a 4200 would certainly be a much longer lasting upgrade, esp if you are likely to upgrade your CPU over the next 12 months or so. Obviously 128MB is very important now but certainly even more so in the long term. As such a 128MB Rad8500/8500LE or GF3TI200 would certainly be a very wise decision, although I'd be inclined to get a GF4TI4200 64MB over them personally as they nearly always seem to get VERY near GF4TI4600 speeds.

 

[spanky]

maybe in a few weeks the ti4200 might dip closer to the $100 range. at the moment, i would have to agree with what others have said... its the 8500 or the ti200

 

[AnAndAustin]

Using the excellent newegg.com:

GF4MX420 64MB $62
GF4MX440 64MB $78
GF4MX460 64MB $128
GF3TI200 64MB $105
GF3TI200 128MB $125
GF4TI4200 64MB $133
GF4TI4200 128MB $150

non-ATI Rad7500 64MB oem $51
non-ATI Rad9000 64MB oem $72
non-ATI Rad9000pro 64MB oem $92
ATI Rad8500LE 64MB oem $87
ATI Rad8500LE 128MB oem $107
non-ATI Rad8500 64MB oem $109

Given these prices the Rad9000 is the best budget card at $72, the Rad8500LE are much cheaper than the GF3TI200 cards and thus a better buy. The cards with the best long term appeal are the GF4TI4200 cards which aren't much more than the GF3 alternatives. It seems the Rad8500LE cards are too good to pass up considering the price/perf you get.

 

[tenoc]

Chip?
R8500.
No doubt.

 

[Blain]

You're basically asking, what's the best Banshee card to buy today.

 

[Booster]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
Using the excellent newegg.com:

GF4MX420 64MB $62
GF4MX440 64MB $78
GF4MX460 64MB $128
GF3TI200 64MB $105
GF3TI200 128MB $125
GF4TI4200 64MB $133
GF4TI4200 128MB $150

non-ATI Rad7500 64MB oem $51
non-ATI Rad9000 64MB oem $72
non-ATI Rad9000pro 64MB oem $92
ATI Rad8500LE 64MB oem $87
ATI Rad8500LE 128MB oem $107
non-ATI Rad8500 64MB oem $109

Given these prices the Rad9000 is the best budget card at $72, the Rad8500LE are much cheaper than the GF3TI200 cards and thus a better buy. The cards with the best long term appeal are the GF4TI4200 cards which aren't much more than the GF3 alternatives. It seems the Rad8500LE cards are too good to pass up considering the price/perf you get.

Of all these I'd choose a Radeon 8500LE with 128MB. It's only $7 over your limit, but it's a 128MB card and the RAM size is going to matter since games like Doom 3 will need at least 128MB of video RAM to run fast.

 

[dpopiz]

ya know what....I'm going to wait: doom 3 is really what I'm going to need this for, and by the time it's out, maybe I can get nice 8500le or something equivilent for a lot less

 

[AdvancedRobotics]

Originally posted by: dpopiz
ya know what....I'm going to wait: doom 3 is really what I'm going to need this for, and by the time it's out, maybe I can get nice 8500le or something equivilent for a lot less

Thats probably a good bet. I am guessing this upgrade would be for your current system (Radeon LE)? That system should do fine, albeit the card does only have 32Mb of RAM... As long as you don't need the highest framerates for UT2003 (if you are going to play it or any of the games running on the same engine).

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Radeon 8500 - the only card for Doom 3 right now is the 9700

 

[AnAndAustin]

Quite true DevilsAdvocate but that's only if you want 1024x768x32 with AA and Aniso. Most of us would be happy to play 800x600x32 without AA or Aniso and achieve 60FPS+ and I would expect a decent CPU (XP2000+ or P4 2.2ghz) with a decent gfx card (GF3, Rad8500 or GF4TI) would still be able to do this. As for all of the current games out there these combinations will give great gaming perf like 1024x768x32 with AA and 100FPS! If you want to play DoomIII in a way you can play current games then even the Rad9700 may disappoint, esp when it's set you back $400. I'd say buy a decent card, make sure you have a decent CPU and then wait at least 6 months for price drops and budget versions of the new DX9 cards. Just MHO!