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Need advice on Video $200-$300, been slacking

C

criznag

Junior Member
Hey Everyone, I've been meaning to get a new video card for like the past 6 months, but have been slacking - I am also not completely up to date on the latest hardware. With Doom 3 coming out tomorrow I defintely would finally like to get something ordered so I can play it.

I have an AMD 3000+, gig of ram, MSI KT4-ULTRA Motherboard right now, and unfortunately a GF3. The only other game I really play is Lineage 2, BF1942, and plan to play World of Warcraft.

I cannot make up my mind. With Doom 3 in mind - what would you guys recommend? My choices are the following, all between $200-$300.

1) Radeon 9800 Pro 128
2) Radeon 9800 Pro 256
3) Then I came across this card, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=14-150-068&ATT=Video+Cards&CMP=OTC-yah00TT
An XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, TV-Out/Dual DVI, 8X AGP, Model"PVT40KND" -RETAIL

Now I was defintely going to go ATI, but that 6800 card seems pretty cool - with all the different variations going around though I cannot tell how this will perform in Doom 3, is this the "GeForce 6800 OC 128MB" that performs very well in the HardOCP benchmarks? Is this still better than the Radeon PRO with 256 megs of ram, even though this has 128?

I need a lot of help here guys - I should do the research myself but I just want to hurry up and get this over with.

I do want something that will obviously last, play Doom 3 well, and HL2 (But more Doom 3). I do not want to spend more then $300 (First I defintely thought $200 for the 9800 pro, I am on a tight budget, but the extra for the Nvidia card or the extra ram MAY (?) be worth it.

Thanks guys.
 
Personally I think any of those cards are about right for the money. Though I'm not too sure about the 9800 pro 256. I'd go 6800 128mb before 9800 256mb.
 
Just saw the "9800 pro or 6800" thread, still can't make up my mind though - so far leaning towards the 6800 but it is an extra $80..
 
The 6800 is the "low" end of that series. It is still an excellent card.

The 6800 GT is considered to be the best value, as it can potentially overclock to the speed of the higher-end Ultra card.

6800 Ultra is the big boy.
 
my big beef with the nvida cards right now is the lack of triple buffering in opengl, which hurts if you want to play doom3 with vsync on. also in doom3, the 256mb will get you higher quality texturing but the 6800 is generally faster so you can have higher resloution or some aa instead. personally i would stay away from the 128mb 6800s as they will eventually wind up like the 64mb ti 4200s have, a fast card for what it is but one you have to turn the texture quality down to use.
 
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
my big beef with the nvida cards right now is the lack of triple buffering in opengl, which hurts if you want to play doom3 with vsync on. also in doom3, the 256mb will get you higher quality texturing but the 6800 is generally faster so you can have higher resloution or some aa instead. personally i would stay away from the 128mb 6800s as they will eventually wind up like the 64mb ti 4200s have, a fast card for what it is but one you have to turn the texture quality down to use.
Click to expand...

So you're saying go with the 256 Radeon Pro?
 
I don't see the 128mb of ram as a negative since I wouldn't expect it to be a 16x12 aa/af card for me. The PVP is non-gaming area it should eventually add value through as well *crosses fingers on that one*
 
I guess the question then is (If this didn't get any more complicated), which variation? I've been looking at the XFX version, but should I go with the cheaper eGA (By $4), or another?

Thanks
 
The eVGA is a winner, probably get $20= from selling the FarCry that it comes with too.
 
Originally posted by: criznag
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
my big beef with the nvida cards right now is the lack of triple buffering in opengl, which hurts if you want to play doom3 with vsync on. also in doom3, the 256mb will get you higher quality texturing but the 6800 is generally faster so you can have higher resloution or some aa instead. personally i would stay away from the 128mb 6800s as they will eventually wind up like the 64mb ti 4200s have, a fast card for what it is but one you have to turn the texture quality down to use.
Click to expand...

So you're saying go with the 256 Radeon Pro?
Click to expand...



well if you are planing to hold onto what you get for a while i would, or hold out for a newer card with 256mb of ram. if you don't think you will keep your card very long, doom3 is probably the only thing you will have to suffer though with a shortage of video ram.
 
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
Originally posted by: criznag
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
my big beef with the nvida cards right now is the lack of triple buffering in opengl, which hurts if you want to play doom3 with vsync on. also in doom3, the 256mb will get you higher quality texturing but the 6800 is generally faster so you can have higher resloution or some aa instead. personally i would stay away from the 128mb 6800s as they will eventually wind up like the 64mb ti 4200s have, a fast card for what it is but one you have to turn the texture quality down to use.
Click to expand...

So you're saying go with the 256 Radeon Pro?
Click to expand...



well if you are planing to hold onto what you get for a while i would, or hold out for a newer card with 256mb of ram. if you don't think you will keep your card very long, doom3 is probably the only thing you will have to suffer though with a shortage of video ram.
Click to expand...

I just went ahead and got that XFX 6800. I just can't hold out with this Geforce 3 anymore (I've had it for three years!). Since Doom 3, HL2, and WoW are the only games I anticipate playing for a while, I think this will suit me just fine. Its within my price range, I just could not drop the extra $70-80 for the 256 meg card, I already paid an extra $82 above what I was originally going to get - the 9800 pro.

Thanks for all the advice, but keep it coming - I haven't got the card YET 🙂
 
9800p 128mb or 6800nu at $170/$265 best pricing. These two are the best bets right now for your budget although hard to find at these prices.
 
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