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New Graphics Card

S

Sarcastic

Member
I'm looking to buy a new video card from 100-200 dollars. What would be the best bang for the buck?

thank you. (I'm into gaming more than applications).. thanks again
 
IMHO....

MSI/PNY/Gainward GeForce 3 TI200

[*]excellent driver support
[*]killer framerates
[*]excellent 2D and stunning 3D
[*]~160.00
 


<< IMHO....

MSI/PNY/Gainward GeForce 3 TI200

[*]excellent driver support
[*]killer framerates
[*]excellent 2D and stunning 3D
[*]~160.00 >>


I personally went with a Gainward 128mb ($175 @ Newegg), but most people will tell you its a waste 😛
 
The 128MB is a waste, but people also have 1GB of memory in their system that they will never use either. It is more of a bragging right thing. I would personally suggest a Radeon 8500 since it has superior performance to the GeForce 3 Ti 200, although both are good cards.
 
Don't get the LE, get the retail version. It is only a little bit more, but performs much better. You can get it from newegg for $165, or if you want to mail in the rebate, you can get it for $138 at best buy. I wouldn't worry about picking the wrong one because they are all good cards and have their own strengths.
 
Any GF3 Ti200 card is usually a good deal, but Radeon 8500's have been going down in price lately and they are faster than the Ti200's. CompUSA right now have tha RAdeon 8500 (retail) for $149 after rebate ($199 before rebate). Now that is a good deal.
 
I'd reccomend a radeon 8500, gf3 ti200, or if you want to wait, you can get a "barebones" gf4 ti4xxx from visontek

Bestbuys has a Radeon 8500 for $139 after $50 mir
Compusa has a Radeon 8500 for $150 after $50 mir

Or wait up for a gf4 ti4400
 
Wait for a dead on a GeForce4 if you can. If you missed the deal for a GeForce4 TI4600 for $330 or a GeForce4 TI4400 for $230, then be patient. The GeForce4 4200 is still coming in at $199 and will be measureably faster than a GeForce3 TI200.

Old GeForce4 4400 $230
 
I prefer the Radeon 8500 over the other cards in that price range. The hardware DVD acceleration coupled with excellent image quality in games is more my forte than pure performance. I love being able to play with 128-tap anisotropic filtering, smoothvision, 2x quality FSAA, and LOD 8 in high resolutions with good frames. The lowering of the anisotropic filtering and LOD makes a noticeable difference.
 
Radeon 8500, faster then the GF3 Ti200 with a better feature pretty much across the board, along with numerous little extra's in the way of superior FSAA visual quality, better DVD playback, better 2D visual quality in most cases, a better anisotropic filtering algorithem, slightly better TV-Out capabilities, DVI-Out, TV-Out, HydraVision by default. etc.

The GF4 Ti4200 looks to have another month in a half before it hits the market, and latest rumours all seem to have it being delayed until ATi's RV250 core hits so I wouldnt count on it anytime soon.

If you can wait a few months then the Radeon 8500XT, and GF4 Ti4200 are all coming down the pipes... but it's questionable when they will appear.
 
thanks everyone, unfortunatey i cant wait, so i'm gonna go with the 8500 retail at best buy (hopefully they will still have it) thanks 🙂
 


<< IMHO....

MSI/PNY/Gainward GeForce 3 TI200


excellent driver support

killer framerates

excellent 2D and stunning 3D

~160.00 >>



Ditto with this post. Except you can find them even cheaper, so I hear.
 
At times like this you really wish for another competitor to choose from. Radeon 8500 or GeForce3 Ti200, geeze that's it?
 
a better anisotropic filtering algorithem

It's only "better" because it cuts corners, reduces image quality and doesn't do it properly, hence it's faster.

nVidia gives you true anisotropic filtering which enhances image quality in all situations, regardless of the angle or distance to the textures. If you plan on using anisotropic filtering there is no way you can currently recommend a Radeon 8500 over a GF3.
 
cnetpc.com has the Radeon 8500 (retail, not OEM which is a little slower) for $156 and you don't have to fool with the rebate.
 
umm... if you really need one for the time being, i suggest you buy a the cheapest card that works and wait out until the Geforce4 has permeated the market.
 


<< a better anisotropic filtering algorithem

It's only "better" because it cuts corners, reduces image quality and doesn't do it properly, hence it's faster.

nVidia gives you true anisotropic filtering which enhances image quality in all situations, regardless of the angle or distance to the textures. If you plan on using anisotropic filtering there is no way you can currently recommend a Radeon 8500 over a GF3. >>



IMHO the only real significant benefit to the GF3 anisotrophy compared to the R8500 is it can do it along with trilinear filtering, whereas the R8500 has to stick to bilinear filtering.
But the fact that the R8500 can dynamically alter anisotrophy levels depending upon the situation and hence take an extremely small performance hit while still maintaining the image quality, and it manages to match the GF3's visual quality at it's maximum level of image quality while using a lower level of anisotropic filtering speaks volumes about the relative superiority of the implementation IMHO.
 
That is misinformation. You don't seem to have one because you'd see the difference. The Radeon 8500 is only applying the filtering on vertical and horizontal planes. Of course if you do have a Radeon 8500 and want to post pictures refuting the technical limitations and show why we would want to believe you rather than technical sites, go ahead.
 
Best bang for your buck between $100-200 right now bar none is either the GF3 TI200 or the ATI Radeon 8500.
Take either for their strengths or weaknesses but both are good cards. If you go with the Radeon, get the Retail one that's clocked 275/275.

Now hurry up so you can get back to your game! 🙂
 
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