Looking for a Sub $120 Video Card please help

[markrb]

I am looking for a video board to replace my GF2 GTS video board that I am giving to my nephew.
It's hard to figure out what is a decent upgrade to this card because the newer video card reviews
don't include it in the benchmarks. I have found the following cards roughly fit my budget.
If you don't see one please mention it. What would be my best choice?

1. OEM Radeon 8500 64mb ($116) Newegg prices.
2. ATI Radeon 8500LE 64mb ($99)
3. Geforce 3 Ti 200 ($113)

I really want the GF4 Ti4200, but I just don't have the cash for even the 64mb version.

I don't care about TV out or DVI.
I play some games, but nothing consistently. I am just really looking for the best value that would be a
reasonable upgrade.

Just read a nice little report Toms Hardware put together of all the video cards since the TNT2. Mostly just a list
of benchmarks. The three I listed are all fairly close to each other. So I guess it comes down to price and I read that
ATI will be dropping their prices soon with the release of the new chip.
How would you compare the OEM ATI cards against the built by ATI?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[MithShrike]

I'd go with the 8500 try and get the 128 and you can overclock to GF4 scores in 3DMark.

 

[TheBlindMan]

<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #706654">
The closest competitor to the Ti4200 is the ATi 8500 and it can be had for a lot less which makes it the biggest bang for your price point. I just bought an 8500 64Mb (Retail boxed built by ATi) for $110 + shipping... and prices are supposed to drop.

OEM ATi cards are 'built by ATi' but they are clocked slower to address GPU yield and the slower memory they are sold with... maybe you ment 'powered by ATi"? Beware when buying 'powered by ATi', some cards lack the quality of 'built by ATi' cards. On the recommended list are PowerColor, Gigabyte, and FIC, in the dogpound are Appollo and Saphire.</FONT>

 

[Plester]

the cards in your short list are all extremely powerful and extremely cheap, bang for the buck is at an all time high!

i have had a GF3 and now have a newegg 8500LE. the GF3 clocked to ti500 levels and was just as fast as the LE (which i run at 275/600). the edge goes to the GF3 simply because of game compatability. my little kid plays old D3d games like monster truck madness 2, NFS 3, etc, and the ATI drivers give graphical errors and instability w/ those.

you can't loose either way tho. GF4 cards are purely a luxury item at this point.