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new video card rec's

biffbacon

Golden Member
so, im putting together a system. well, actually its a dell 400sc, and im looking to add video and sound cards today. as far as sound, im just going with a TB santa cruz (i have one in my old comp, and am very happy with it). now to the video card. im looking to spend under 130$. all i use it for is day to day stuff, and a little gaming. i play COD, and would like to be able to play games like doom3 if possible. any rec's?
 
Doom3 for $130? Maybe a used geforce4 ti4200. For a bit more than $130, a used 9800 pro. For $200, wait for the AGP version of the 6600GT For $250 a plain 6800.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Doom3 for $130? Maybe a used geforce4 ti4200. For a bit more than $130, a used 9800 pro. For $200, wait for the AGP version of the 6600GT For $250 a plain 6800.

well, i am able to play doom3 on my ti 4200 on the old comp (at very low settings), and just want something a little better. i found a Verto GeForce FX 5700 LE Optima at compusa for around 130$, any thoughts on that card? how would it compare to my old ti 4200?
 
A 5700 Ultra or 9600XT would let you move up to medium quality at 800x600 AT article, but the 5700 Ultra at newegg is $177-186, about the cost of the better 9800 Pro.

A 5700 LE is a crippled card that might be worse than the gf4. Do some googling if you want to find the disappointing benchmarks.

If you're an nvidia fan, you might look for a useed 5700 ultra or 5900 non-ultra in the FS/FT forum, or look for a closeout in the Hot Deals forum.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
A 5700 Ultra or 9600XT would let you move up to medium quality at 800x600 AT article, but the 5700 Ultra at newegg is $177-186, about the cost of the better 9800 Pro.

A 5700 LE is a crippled card that might be worse than the gf4. Do some googling if you want to find the disappointing benchmarks.

If you're an nvidia fan, you might look for a useed 5700 ultra or 5900 non-ultra in the FS/FT forum, or look for a closeout in the Hot Deals forum.

ok, so ive done a little shopping around, and now ive decided its between the 9600xt, and the 5700 ultra.... which do you recommend?
 
If possible, either hold onto your Ti4200 for a little longer, or get a cheap stopgap card like a vanilla 9600. A few more months, and you'll start to see the new generation of budget cards come in, like the 6600 and 6200 (which I think is the more exciting prospect, looking at HardOCPs preview). Overclocking a 300MHz GPU to 550MHz opens up a lot of possibilities in the low-budget market.
 
I would also hold on to the Ti4200 and wait, because a 9600 Pro or XT is a bad investment with 6600/6200/X700 coming up shortly.
 
i actually think i just found the one. its more than i wanted to spend, but its a geforce 6800oc for 249.00 at best buy. think this is a good choice?
 
Yes, a 6800 like that should let you run Doom3 nicely, and will be fast enough for other new games like Half-Life 2. It probably makes more sense than spending $150 on a card that only offers a small performace jump, then needing to spend anout $200 in 6 months for a card to play newer games.

 
That would be a great choice despite the extra expense--should actually last you 2 years or more, depending on your expectations. And at $249 it's a steal.
 
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