middle of the line geforce card?

[xxStan]

a little background first
I'm running a DFI LanParty UT-250GB with a Sempron (yeah the 64 is coming soon), and I'm pretty much satisfied with everything else. This is my second personal rig, and the one I want to start tuning and overclocking with, once I get quality components. Two IDE 80gb WD drives, Creative Audigy sound card, 3 x 512 sticks of Mushkin ram, blah blah blah, but they're all secondhand parts from my old box.. I'm fairly satisfied though everything was cool... except my video card was kind of due for an upgrade. So, at the beginning of this year my dad was being "economical" and we wanted to upgrade my GeForce 2... so he picked up an eVGA FX5500 256mb for me. Not knowing the new lines all that well, I just knew that I wanted an improved card, so I could play half-life 2. So basically I like my card, and its a nice step up from the 2, but I'm still not quite amused. Are there any cards out that are like sub $200 that could run HL2 or GTA:SA at a reasonable resolution, with settings maxed out?


The only reason I don't like aTI is the bad taste they left in my mouth with the Rage 128 and the Rage Fury Maxx that I had so much trouble with

so what should I look for?

 

[Gamingphreek]

I would definitely look at the 6600GT. If you like AA and AF the 6800NU will be a better choice.

How long are you planning on keeping this card. If you plan on keeping it for years (~1-2), then i would definitely stick with the 6 series (maybe even save for a 6800GT).

However Dell has an X800XTPE on sale for 229 which is arguably the best deal around. If you only plan on keeping this card for 1 year or so, you might want to jump on that deal.

-Kevin

 

[Matthias99]

The only real good choices under $200 right now would be the GeForce 6600GT and the RADEON X800. Of the two, I'd suggest the X800. ATI has come a *long* way since the Rage Fury days. It's also significantly faster than the 6600GT, especially at HL2, or with AA/AF enabled.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

For context, you should note that many people loved the Radeon 9800 Pro's while the FX 5000 cards, marketed as being comparable to the 9800 Pro, couldn't hold a candle to it and disappointed people. The success of the 6000 line was a big turn around for nVidia.

 

[xxStan]

yeah i'm shooting for about a 2 year lifespan

i mean i keep hearing great things about the x800, but i'm just really hesitant. d**n me for buying the rage fury maxx... bahahha.. well that and my nforce based motherboard...

what kind of performance could I expect out of the 6600GT?

brandwise my friend swears by Gainward but i don't know if he's full of it or not. which company should i go with?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: xxStan
yeah i'm shooting for about a 2 year lifespan

i mean i keep hearing great things about the x800, but i'm just really hesitant. d**n me for buying the rage fury maxx... bahahha.. well that and my nforce based motherboard...

what kind of performance could I expect out of the 6600GT?

brandwise my friend swears by Gainward but i don't know if he's full of it or not. which company should i go with?

If you are shooting for 2 years... i would shoot for an Nvidia card that is >=6800GT. Of course waiting for the R520 is always a nice option.

ATI will be plenty fast enough, however, it lacks in features.

-Kevin

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: xxStan
yeah i'm shooting for about a 2 year lifespan

i mean i keep hearing great things about the x800, but i'm just really hesitant. d**n me for buying the rage fury maxx... bahahha.. well that and my nforce based motherboard...

what kind of performance could I expect out of the 6600GT?

brandwise my friend swears by Gainward but i don't know if he's full of it or not. which company should i go with?

Check out some benchmarks.

some recent comparative ones
some other fairly recent ones

Seriously, the X800 is flat-out a better card than the 6600GT. Refusing to consider ATI because of a bad experience -- what, FIVE product generations ago? -- is a little silly IMO.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: xxStan
yeah i'm shooting for about a 2 year lifespan

i mean i keep hearing great things about the x800, but i'm just really hesitant. d**n me for buying the rage fury maxx... bahahha.. well that and my nforce based motherboard...

what kind of performance could I expect out of the 6600GT?

brandwise my friend swears by Gainward but i don't know if he's full of it or not. which company should i go with?

As much as people are going to flame me for this, I had a similar experience back in the day w/ and ATI rage PRO and I swore them off, I decided to give them another shot w/ the 9600Pro, since people praised ATI so much, and performance wise the card was fine, but stability wise, the card was every bit as bad of a dog as the old ATI's were. This, is, of course, just my personal experience, and I'm positive that most people are being honest when they praise the great experiences they've had with the last and current gen ATI cards, but as soon as I switched my 9600Pro for a 6800GT, all was well with my rig, so jusy a warning, YMMV (still).

 

[xxStan]

well the thing is it has to be agp. i know pci-e is wave of the future blahblahblah but i JUST got my motherboard in january, and I don't want to upgrade it AGAIN.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: xxStan
well the thing is it has to be agp. i know pci-e is wave of the future blahblahblah but i JUST got my motherboard in january, and I don't want to upgrade it AGAIN.

There are still plenty of very good AGP cards out there....