Newbie needing help deciding on a video card

[TheRaven2156]

I am currently building a new computer, I so far have

Sonata II Case
AMD 64 3000 Venice Core
MSI K8N Neo4 SLI Motherboard

First off let me say I am not big into gaming so I want to get away with as cheap a video card as I can that is still a decent card. I want a video card that enables me to play most games on the market today. Should I buy one good video card or two decent ones since i have two video card slots?? I want to try to get a decent video card for what I need for the best value. Anyone have any suggestions??

All replies are welcomed and appreciated!! Thanks!!

 

[crazydingo]

Get a 7800GT.

You can add another one down the road and it will be faster than all single-card solutions.

 

[TheRaven2156]

Little out of price range 600 Canadian, and i really dont need that good of a video card. Im looking at something under 150$ Canadian (I know its not alot but its a budget)

My local Com store is having a sale on a (All Canadian Prices)

MX 4000 128 MB AGP Regular 99.95 on for 49.95
BFG FX 5500 128 MB AGP Regular 119.95 on for 59.95
BFG FX 5200 256 MB PCI Regular 129.95 on for 59.95
BFG FX 5700LE 256 MB AGP Regular 219.95 on for 99.95.

are any of these a decent card for the price and WILL THEY WORK ON MY MOTHERBOARD?... should i pick one of these up??? all response are appreciated!!!

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: TheRaven2156
Little out of price range 600 Canadian, and i really dont need that good of a video card. Im looking at something under 150$ Canadian (I know its not alot but its a budget)

My local Com store is having a sale on a (All Canadian Prices)

MX 4000 128 MB AGP Regular 99.95 on for 49.95
BFG FX 5500 128 MB AGP Regular 119.95 on for 59.95
BFG FX 5200 256 MB PCI Regular 129.95 on for 59.95
BFG FX 5700LE 256 MB AGP Regular 219.95 on for 99.95.

are any of these a decent card for the price and WILL THEY WORK ON MY MOTHERBOARD?... should i pick one of these up??? all response are appreciated!!!

Those are all horrible cards. Also, in case you didn't notice, you have a PCIe motherboard, which cannot use AGP graphics cards (you could use the FX5200 PCI, but that thing would be pretty awful). You can use any graphics card that uses PCIex16.

If you want a 'decent' but not super-expensive card, I'd look at something like a 6600GT or RADEON X800 (vanilla, not the GT/GTO/GTO2, although those are nice as well), or the new NVIDIA 6800GS or a RADEON X800XL if you want to spend a little more.

 

[Hikari]

Definitely what Matthias says. A 6600GT or an x800GTO (the connect3d one is a steal at $154 after rebate). Both of these are a good bit under $200.

 

[Fern]

First off let me say I am not big into gaming so I want to get away with as cheap a video card

Then why get an SLI mobo? Doesn't that feature cost more?

 

[mrzed]

For $150 cdn your only really sensible choice is a 6600GT. This BFG at ncix is $160 after rebate. If you can stretch to $225, you can get this Connect3d X800GTO.

The X800 will be a fair bit faster than the 6600 out of the box, but can be unlocked to be much faster, and is probably the best bang for the buck in Canada right now if you don't mind unlocking. But if you are new to this stuff, I'd more likely suggest the 6600GT, as it's in your price range and won't require any fiddling to get max performance. It will also play any current game reasonably well.

I also agree that if you are not a big gamer, save a few bucks and don't bother with an SLI motherboard. There's a giant thread on right now arguing the merits of SLI, but most reasonable people agree that the only truly good use for dual cards is for people with huge budgets that want to buy two of the fastest cards available. Currently in Canada, that would run you nearly $1500 for cards alone.

If you already have the motherboard, no worries, but remember that one card at twice the price is almost always a good bit faster than two at half the price. Just get the best single card for your budget, and don't worry about the rest. When it comes time to upgrade, sell the old card and get the new best single card you can afford.

 

[Eureka]

6600GT, but if you stretch to get the X800GTO, it will be the best deal you will ever had.... if it unlocks that is. If you don't think you want to try and unlock/overclock, 6600GT is the best deal in the range. If you can unlock/overclock, the X800GTO is the best deal.

Norm