new video card

drkclw

Senior member
Apr 16, 2001
265
0
0
I'm looking for a new video card for a friend of mine. They have a system identical to mine except for an old 4mb video card. It'd be used for some gaming. They'd like to keep the price under $100 or as close to it as possible. Any suggestions and places to get them?
Thanks.
 

nardvark

Member
Jul 3, 2002
131
0
0
Not sure exactly what "some gaming" means, but it sounds like it won't be anything too hardcore.
If you want relatively new technology that doesn't have the greatest 3D gaming performance, but has a nice price, you could pick up a 64MB ATI Radeon 9000, for about 65 bucks last I saw.
If he's looking to spend about exactly $100, there are Radeon 8500LE 128MB cards that will perform better, and will probably stay viable longer, because of the larger amount of ram, and you can find these for like $99 plus shipping at many online dealers.
As far as NVIDIA choices, I'll let someone else handle that, as I don't know much about them.
As far as dealers, check out Newegg.com and Googlegear.com.
they're two of the most consistent and trusted dealers.
hope that helps,
 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
2,112
0
0
;) I'd stay well clear of the Rad9000 cards, and even the much faster Rad9000PRO FTM. Rad8500LE-128MB should be under $100 and is an all round excellent card. The GF4TI4200 is the other main alternative without getting overly technical or nit-picky, bot 8500 and 4200 are very good cards, I'd slide more to the 4200 personally but the 8500 is a shade cheaper (US & Canada) and is still an excellent choice. The Xabre, Rad9000 and GF3 cards really aren't worth considering so it is really 8500 vs 4200. They both have excellent image quality, dual display and about even AF, the Radeon is stronger for DVD playback and TVout while the GF4TI is better for AA and faster esp once o/c'ed (TI4400+ speeds). As for RAM, if you buy a Rad8500 def get 128MB, 4200 with 64MB is still a good buy but it is worth paying the bit extra for the 128MB version. Here's a couple of reviews:

Tech-Report Rad9000PRO (inc 4200, 8500 and others)

AnAndTech Rad9000PRO (inc 4200, 8500 and others)
 

nardvark

Member
Jul 3, 2002
131
0
0
Anand...the reason I suggested the 9000 is it's price...he's clearly not looking to spend too much, and I didn't really think the Ge4ti4200 was an option as he really didn't want to go over 100, and the 4200's are going to put him well above that mark.
the 64mb 9000 seems like one of the best budget buys right now, what would you suggest instead of it in the sub $80 range, without taking a rather large leap backwards technology wise? I'm kind of curious, this chunk of the market doesn't get a whole lot of notice on the message boards.
 

rogue1979

Diamond Member
Mar 14, 2001
3,062
0
0
The Radeon 9000 is a good choice for someone on a strict budget. And the 9000 Pro 64MB is close to 8500 performance, usually overclocks higher, check the latest reviews. The Geforce3 Ti200 slips in at $69, and if you choose correctly you will get one that overclocks to Ti500 levels. That is slightly faster than an 8500 and getting closer to stock 4200 speeds. If you use any level of FSAA the Radeon performance will drop significantly compared to any GF3 or GF4. Any of these video cards would suit your needs.
 

AnAndAustin

Platinum Member
Apr 15, 2002
2,112
0
0
:eek: Well the Rad9000 is a good replacement for the 'ancient' Rad7500 and can easily take on the GF2 and GF4MX cards with the advantage of offering DX8. Rad9000PRO is a good 20% faster AND many people simply can't o/c a std 90000 at all making it very unwise considering how little extra a 9000PRO, 8500LE and GF3 cost. The 9000PRO is still about 15% behind a Rad8500LE let alone the full Rad8500, all three cards tend to o/c by about 10% so while the 8500 series iss till available it makes sense to get them. The GF3 cards are more pref for 3D esp as the GF3TI200 o/c's to TI500 speeds, certainly MUCH faster than the 9000 and 9000PRO and of course all these cards do DX8. The GF3 is of course a little lacking in the non-3D depts, namely image quality, dual display, TVout and hw DVD playback so that would be a matter of 3D vs these other factors if you are deciding between Rad9000PRO/Rad8500 and GF3. GF4TI4200 is clearly faster than all these cards esp once o/c'ed to at least TI4400 speeds, plus it now addresses the main points and you not only get a faster 3D card but also enhanced image quality, dual display, TVout/VIVO, AA and a card which takes much better advantage of the faster CPUs. Here's a rough guide to prices from Pricewatch:

*GF2TI 64MB $49
*Rad7500 64MB $51
*GF4MX440 64MB $53
Rad9000 64MB $63
Rad8500LE 64MB $71
Rad8500 64MB $81
Rad9000PRO 64MB $82
Rad8500LE 128MB $92
Rad9000PRO 128MB $101
Rad8500 128MB $102
GF4TI4200 64MB $107
GF4TI4200 128MB $134

* denotes DX7 rather than DX8.

;) Given these prices IMHO it would be MX440 in the very cheap end (9000 is only $10 more but at this price that's 20% more expensive and prob too slow to make DX8 an advantage), Rad8500LE 64MB if you can spend a little more (well worth it), then finally at the 'top end' the 8500LE 128MB is very good while the 4200 64MB is good too.

EDIT: Added AnAndTech CPU Scaling Article showing many diff CPUs with many diff gfx cards in many diff games:

AnAndTech CPU Scaling Article
 

drkclw

Senior member
Apr 16, 2001
265
0
0
Thanks guys for the help. I'm gonna pass this on and see what my friend wants to do.