low budget, need video card

thecrecarc

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2004
3,364
3
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okay, i have 70$. i need the best video card it can get. any suggestions?



dont tell me to save up $ ethier. 70$. thats all i can get
 

thecrecarc

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2004
3,364
3
0
all the 9600s i found was in the 80s =/

what the idffrence between the 9550 and the 9550ge?
 

thecrecarc

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2004
3,364
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well.. yes will be gaming. but since all i am using righ tnow is a 9200, think anythin will be better
 

ShadowBlade

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2005
4,263
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my FX5200 (pci) about $60 can play HL2 800x600, medium display settings, no AA/AF
i think its pretty good considering the fact that it was like $60
 
Jun 12, 2005
52
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Look on eBay for a ti4800, ti4600 or ti4200. The "higher" the number, the better the card. Get a 128MB version of it.

Girlfriend has a system with a 120mb ti4200 and a 3200+ Athlon XP, plays UT2004, all of the Splinter Cells, Far Cry, etc. fine at 1024x768. Great super-budget card.
 

sniperruff

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
11,644
2
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don't get a fx5200 or any LE/SE card. even my GF3 Ti500 beats the snot out of it, and that is like 4 years old.
 

Kogan

Golden Member
Mar 21, 2000
1,331
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Oh my god, do not get a geforce FX anything (have a very bad price/performance ratio). Geforce4 TI anything will be a good card and still play everything well except doom3. Check pricewatch.com, the forsale/trade forums and ebay for the best prices. (I've seen them for sale used for as low as $40 in the forums) The geforce4's are much better than the radeon 9550 cards as far as speed goes.

The next best card after that worth upgrading to (in my opinion) would cost at least $100 - the geforce 6600 series or radeon 9800 pro.

Edit:
And check out the charts here: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-07.html
If you want to see the speed of most cards released between the geforce4 and now. Then you can pick the maximum speed card for $70
 

mettleh3d

Senior member
May 6, 2005
330
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If you're only going to spend a little for a little upgrade, thats not efficient for you in any way. Unless you plan to play Starcraft or wc3 forever, a cheap-o card wont cut it.
Most def save your money
 

Bucks

Senior member
Jun 23, 2004
923
4
81
Originally posted by: toattett
Originally posted by: w00t
Save for at least a fx5200.


I doubt that a fx5200 would be any better (or even worse) than a Radeon9200

Agreed. Or atleast the performance increase won't yield the extra money.
 

imported_rod

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2005
1,788
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Save your money or buy second hand. $70 aint gonna be worth it for a brand new card. Anyway, a 9200 will play anything other than directX9 games fine. It'll still do HL2 (depending on the rest of your system), though at a low resolution.

RoD
 

rocketbubba

Golden Member
Jul 26, 2001
1,935
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I agree with what someone said earlier about the Ti4xxx cards. I recently upgraded from a Ti4600 to a 6600Gt which I got at a good price. If I hadn't found the deal on the 6600gt I would still be using the Ti4600 - it's a great card - very stable. $70 should get you a nice one.
 

thecrecarc

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2004
3,364
3
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Originally posted by: mettleh3d
If you're only going to spend a little for a little upgrade, thats not efficient for you in any way. Unless you plan to play Starcraft or wc3 forever, a cheap-o card wont cut it.
Most def save your money

actually, i DO play sc and wc3 alot. and doesnt the fx series suck? and i CANT save up any money. if i hvae to, ill get a 9550. hey, its still better than my 9200.
 

Muscles

Senior member
Jul 16, 2003
424
13
81
You can't save up money? Nonsense... I know 6 year olds who save up money. Go setup a lemonade stand or something. Be an entrepreneur!
 

eXx08

Banned
May 28, 2005
2,363
0
0
If your a gamer $70 isn't gonna get you far for a video card. My 9600se isn't the best card out there but for $120, (befor I knew about newegg, got it at circuit city) you can't beat it. If you can save for a 9600se, it does me very well.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,520
5,714
136
Try the FS/FT forum, they usually have people willing to sell for cheaper.