LOOKING FOR THE BEST PRICE/PERFORMANCE CARD????

[SSXeon5]

Hercules Radeon 8500 128MB $129.00 Retail!!!!!

Hercules 8500 128MB

SSXeon

 

[Dragon365]

Only problem with that is that bios problems with that card will bring your performance down to way below ATI-brand card levels. No clue when an updated bios is coming out.

 

[sash1]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1126&DEPA=1

8500LE for $91

 

[SSXeon5]

Originally posted by: Dragon365
Only problem with that is that bios problems with that card will bring your performance down to way below ATI-brand card levels. No clue when an updated bios is coming out.

What bios problem ... sorry i have never heard of this ...

SSXeon

 

[Dragon365]

I read a review (forgot where and cant find it with google) which said that hercules would soon release a new bios which would fix performance problems with their card, since their benchmark numbers were quite a bit lower than expected. If those problems were fixed, I would definitely get this card though.

 

[bassoprofundo]

I believe that the BIOS problems applied only to the 8500LE-based card. This is based off the retail 8500 chip, and it's an absolute steal at this price. I broke down and bought one myself to replace my beloved Matrox G400 Max. I'm finally starting to play games that choke it up, and this looks to be the best balance of price, performance, and visual quality I could find. I searched for any kind of reason to convince myself to buy a Parhelia (besides the absolutely sweet 2d), but there's just no justifying the performance of that card at that price. I also considered waiting for the Radeon 9700, but $400 is just TOO much to spend on an item with a 6-month product cycle no matter how sweet the performance is. Lest anyone ask, I did consider getting a GF4-4200, that is... until I saw one in action on my monitors (Nokia 445Xi Pro and NEC FE1250) and compared it side-by-side with the G400. At 1600x1200 on the 4200, I literally became nauseous trying to read the text. Anyone who says that their 2d is up-to-par with Matrox has some vision issues. The 8500 I tested was relatively sharp, though still not equal to the G400, but I decided I could handle the sacrifice in order to avoid anymore 3d "slide shows" in current games on the G400.

On a side note, I can officially call myself old now since I've reached the point that I'm satisfied with not having to have bleeding-edge technology but rather something that performs without being cost-prohibitive. I never thought I'd see the day. It's amazing what four years of marriage and two children can do to you...