Need advice on budget card

[Twill]

Mornin all.

I'm hoping someone here can give me some pointers or suggest a place to get advice on a good performance video card for opengl games (also will be using shaders).

I have a budget of about $100-150 USD and dont need the bleeding edge...dont really even need cutting edge...butter knife's edge will do.

I'm looking for most bang for buck so something overclockable or flashable is good.

Thanks folks.

Have a great evening

Twill

 

[Cawchy87]

used 9800pro from the FS/FT fourms for 150 shipped. They seem to be hard to come by for that price now tho.

So a 9700pro for 120-130 shipped would be just as nice in your price range.

DON"T let anyone tell you to get a 9600 series card!

 

[KingCobra2001]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
DON"T let anyone tell you to get a 9600 series card!

I don't get why everyone hates the 9550 / 9600 series!!

For the price.. why are they so bad?

 

[Twill]

Does running an nforce2 board with nvidia provide any stability or performance increase over using an ati card with it...same manufacturers etc?

Just curious.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Twill
Does running an nforce2 board with nvidia provide any stability or performance increase over using an ati card with it...same manufacturers etc?

Just curious.

No.

Fern

 

[lifeguard1999]

The simple answer is to go to Newegg.com and search on video cards with a price range of $100 to $150. For $150 you can get some NVidia 6600 or ATI X600 cards. Avoid the 9800SE cards that are shown as they are neutered and have low performance. Otherwise, go to the For Trade/For Sale forum and pick you up a good 9800.

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
used 9800pro from the FS/FT fourms for 150 shipped. They seem to be hard to come by for that price now tho.

So a 9700pro for 120-130 shipped would be just as nice in your price range.

DON"T let anyone tell you to get a 9600 series card!

9600 PRO if you don't want to deal with potential trolls

 

[rkoenn]

I have a 9700 Pro card I would be willing to part with for $125 plus shipping. It was almost $400 new but that really is irrevelant at this time, just letting you know. If you are interested let me know. It was a retail card so still has at least 2 years on the warranty. rkoenn@cfl.rr.com.

 

[Twill]

So the general consensus is ATI for opengl games?
I dont need good DX9 support as I really dont use it...

rkoenn, I'll pm you if/when I decide which direction to go.

Thanks folks

Twill

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Twill
So the general consensus is ATI for opengl games?
I dont need good DX9 support as I really dont use it...

rkoenn, I'll pm you if/when I decide which direction to go.

Thanks folks

Twill

No, NVIDIA is better for OpenGL. But the GeForceFX line is really, REALLY bad at DX9, whereas ATI is very good at DX9 and still pretty good at OpenGL.

So unless you really *only* intend to play OpenGL games for the lifespan of this card, the ATI cards are a better choice. They also perform a lot better with AA and AF on.

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: Twill
So the general consensus is ATI for opengl games?
I dont need good DX9 support as I really dont use it...

rkoenn, I'll pm you if/when I decide which direction to go.

Thanks folks

Twill

Nvidia all the way of you want OpenGL performance. If you are speaking of DX8 games in OGL such as Unreal2003 or the like, a GF4 Ti is very strong in this area, rivaling much newer cards.

While they are becoming scarce these days, you can still search around on Ebay or the For Sale forums and get a cheap deal. They also run Doom 3 at higher framerates than a 9600 Pro.

The 9600 Pro is still an all around better video card, but if you need it specifically for the reasons above, don't spend the extra money.

 

[overst33r]

6600 regular much better than 9800 knockoffs

 

[Twill]

Well that just threw me off a bit...did someone say GF4 Ti??

So I could get a GF4 Ti4800 and still do just was well (for the money) as one of the spendy new FX series or the xwhatevers that everyone is racing to get?

I really will only be using it for an openGL game which is fairly vram intensive and tends to get very low framerates...does that make the GF4 TI still worth while?

Twill

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Twill
Well that just threw me off a bit...did someone say GF4 Ti??

So I could get a GF4 Ti4800 and still do just was well (for the money) as one of the spendy new FX series or the xwhatevers that everyone is racing to get?

I really will only be using it for an openGL game which is fairly vram intensive and tends to get very low framerates...does that make the GF4 TI still worth while?

Twill

Would you just tell us what game you're trying to run? It would be easier to give a recommendation if we had a better idea of what the heck you're trying to do with the card. The GF4Ti is not a great choice for Doom3, if that's what you are hinting at.

If all you want to run is DX8-class OGL (few or no shaders), and don't want AA/AF, yes, the GF4Ti cards will run those games very well and are a great value. You would get a *lot* better performance with an FX5900XT or a 9700Pro/9800 (both ~$180 new, maybe ~$130-$150 used). But the GF4Tis work well for less demanding games at lower resolutions.

 

[Twill]

Would you just tell us what game you're trying to run?

Sorry, I figured most of you wouldnt know the game as it's still in beta...www.darkandlight.com

They use OpenGL graphics but also a lot of shaders...I dont know the tech behind it, just that I want a card that can run it

Thanks again for all the help, hope I havnt been too frustratingly indirect.

Twill

 

[CraigRT]

I'd be willing to bet your best bet is still to eBay a 9800/9700 or take the offer up on the guy selling his 9700 pro for $125.