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Quick Video Card Buyer's Guide

Z

ZobarStyl

Senior member
If you are buying a card for the primary use of gaming, the following cards are going to be recommended to you if you post a thread asking, so save yourself the trouble. This is just a quick and easy version of the FAQ, but you didn't read that, did you? All prices are U.S. dollars; find the number closest to your budget and get that. THESE ARE ALL CARDS THAT ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW FOR AN AGP SLOT.

DO NOT ask if there is a card that will run games for less than ~80 dollars (i.e. where this price guide starts). Any card you buy for less (barring some extreme sale/deal) than that will not give acceptable performance, PERIOD. And no, the nVidia GeForce FX 5200 is not acceptable for gaming purposes, even if it has 256 megabytes of RAM on it. If you buy a FX 5200 with more than 128 mb of RAM, have the nearest person to you break down the box it came in, roll it up and bonk you on the nose with it saying "NO" firmly but slowly until you understand what you've done wrong.

So without further delay...


~80 dollars = nVidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200, although you may have to get a used one.

~100 dollars = ATi Radeon 9600 Variant (Pro or XT)

~130-150 = ATi Radeon 9700Pro or 9800 (not Pro, SE or XT, just 9800). Can be found used in this range.

~200 dollars = ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB of RAM (the 256 MB variant, even if modded to XT, is not worth the price premium) and be sure to check for 256-bit (not MB) RAM if purchasing a Sapphire card.

~300 dollars = nVidia GeForce 6800 (regular)

~400 dollars = nVidia GeForce 6800 GT


If you are spending any more than 400 dollars, you should already be sufficiently knowledgable in the realm of GPU's to make your own educated decision.
 
Well nice post and all but you need to be more specific and give reasons. However otoh this is a repost, both Schadenfroh and i have Video Card Guides up, both of which cover the others holes or weaknesses if you will.

-Kevin
 
This is just a quick and easy version of the FAQ, but you didn't read that, did you?
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That's why I put that in there, GP. Just a fast version of what people could easily search AT, google or read the stickied FAQ for but they don't like the work that typing the word Radeon into Yahoo or reading the whole 2 screens worth (so much!) of your thread. Just numbers and words, real easy.
 
be sure to not get any Sapphire ATLANTIS variants
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And why is that? The Sapphire Atlantis 9800 has 128bit memory. The Sapphire Atlantis 9800 Pro has 256bit memory, and new ones are guranteed to come with a 360 core.

Don't spread misinformation about Sapphire's Pro cards. Their Non-Pros are just as Non-Pro as any others though!
 
Once again, this is quick and dirty for those who just need numbers and fast info...I figured better safe than sorry (prevents more "Did I get Ripped Off" Threads).
 
Blacktankofhopelessness, the official 9800 NUs come with 256bit memory NOT 128bit, unlike Sapphire's, and I also heard about those Sapphire Atlantis 9800Pros with 128bit, so I don't think Zobar is spreading misinformation. They might've stopped producing them though.
By the way, good job for this quick guide, Zobar :thumbsup:
 
Blacktankofhopelessness, the official 9800 NUs come with 256bit memory NOT 128bit, unlike Sapphire's, and I also heard about those Sapphire Atlantis 9800Pros with 128bit, so I don't think Zobar is spreading misinformation.
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Check Sapphire's homepage. 9800's come with 128bit memory. 9800 Pro's do NOT! And mine definately didn't. No Atlantis Pro's come with 128bit memory, that's a fact.
 
Originally posted by: blacktankofhopelessness
Blacktankofhopelessness, the official 9800 NUs come with 256bit memory NOT 128bit, unlike Sapphire's, and I also heard about those Sapphire Atlantis 9800Pros with 128bit, so I don't think Zobar is spreading misinformation.
Click to expand...

Check Sapphire's homepage. 9800's come with 128bit memory. 9800 Pro's do NOT! And mine definately didn't. No Atlantis Pro's come with 128bit memory, that's a fact.
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sorry blacktank but Sapphire does make 128-bit 9800 "pro" cards. They now call them 9800 pro "ez". Sapphire dug itself a hole for a little while because it was marketing these 128-bit cards as authentic 9800 pros. Real 9800 pros are 256-bit whereas a sapphire pro (now called "ez") has 128-bit mem. They do manufacture both 128 and 256-bit versions. ZS isn't trying to mislead anyone or bash any particular manufacturer, rather warn everyone about this false advertising they had been running. Also all 9800s originally are designed with 256-bit memory. The new 128-bit versions of some of these cards (SEs, NP and Pros) are all variants of the original design which drastically reduces performance.

9800 Pro "EZ"

Sapphire's 256mb 128-bit "9800" for $205 at newegg

Edit : added second link
 
~200 dollars = ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB of RAM (the 256 MB variant, even if modded to XT, is not worth the price premium) and be sure to not get any Sapphire ATLANTIS variants.
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The problem is that this card, the "Sapphire ATLANTIS RADEON 9800 Pro", is a full 256-bit 9800Pro. It's only the "ATLANTIS 9800" that currently is crippled (although, for a while, they *were* selling "9800Pro" cards that had a 128-bit bus). So you're basically telling people not to buy any Sapphire 9800s at all.

You also might want to mention the 5900XT at the $175-200 pricepoint. It's a bit slower than the 9800Pro, but also a bit cheaper, and some people might want to stick with NVIDIA for some reason.

And for ~$130-150, you can find quite a few used RADEON 9700Pro and RADEON 9800 (non-Pro, non-SE) cards. These can be a pretty good deal as well.
 
This thread is a good idea, if it gets the message out. Yes, it could have justification, but then you already have people's "buying guides" for that. And yes, there are some cmall exceptions, but for a quick and direct "what do I buy?" answer, this serves the purpose.

As far as Sapphire goes, they can blame themselves for the confusion. To build a 9800pro with 128 bit memory is at BEST causing confusion, and at worst downright deception. If a few people get steered away from their cards because of it, it's their fault. Besides, there is no "quick and easy" way to explain whether a card is the crippled version or not.

The only thing I'd consider adding is the fact that Sapphire isn't the only company selling crippled 9800pro's. Powercolor does it as well. (I don't know of any others off the top of my head.)

You might consider just telling people to make SURE that their 9800pro indicates 256 bit memory.
 
Sapphire dug itself a hole for a little while because it was marketing these 128-bit cards as authentic 9800 pros.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing that fact, I'm only disputing the fact that all Atlantis 9800 Pro's are 128bit cards. it was marketing... Past tense, no? Nowadays no Atlantis 9800 Pro's come with 128bit memory. And they are not making 128bit Pro's at all anymore. They're just called 9800 128bit.
 
Originally posted by: blacktankofhopelessness
Sapphire dug itself a hole for a little while because it was marketing these 128-bit cards as authentic 9800 pros.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing that fact, I'm only disputing the fact that all Atlantis 9800 Pro's are 128bit cards. it was marketing... Past tense, no? Nowadays no Atlantis 9800 Pro's come with 128bit memory. And they are not making 128bit Pro's at all anymore. They're just called 9800 128bit.
Click to expand...

Maybe the thing to say is "If you buy a 9800pro, make sure that it has 256bit memory, not 128bit. In particular, if you buy a Sapphire or Powercolor 9800pro, check to be sure that it is the one with 256bit memory."
 
Besides, there is no "quick and easy" way to explain whether a card is the crippled version or not.
Click to expand...

Usually there is. On newegg it's specified whether a card has 128bit or 256bit memory. And most other component-shopping sites show those specifications as well. I was actually very close to ordering a 9800 Non-Pro from Powercolor by mistake until I noticed (at the swedish site I was shopping at) that 128 bit cards is not what I should be getting!

Anyhoooo, I suggest you do what Rio Rebel suggested: Point out to people that they should check whether the card they're getting is a 128-bit or 256bit version. Don't tell them to stay away from Sapphire Atlantis cards exclusively.
 
You may want to add a suggestion for a $500+ card (Ultra / PE) but.... that may be too tempting a target and turn this thread into a flame fest 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Staz
I would add a $150 and $250 range as many people look at those price ranges also.
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I believe the 9700 pro/9800 falls into the $150 range.

Really for $250 there isn't much to buy, either a $200 (or less) 9800 pro or a $270-$300 6800 NU
 
Addressing some concerns:

1) I did not want to put too many used cards in, although the Ti 4200 is very good card for it's money and the lowest end anyone should purchase for gaming. I put the 9700pro and 9800 in to fill the ~150 range, but I recommend just spending the 200 on the 9800pro. There are used/deal cards that could fill in some ranges but I wanted a small list that could easily be found at a major e-tailer like Newegg.

2) I have nothing against Sapphire per se, but they have caused more than their share of 'ripped off' threads with the 9800 Pro 128-bit. I changed the wording to appease blacktank, but remember I wanted this short and sweet, no long writeups (That's why people aren't reading the FAQ in the first place) so that's why I just said 'stay away' before.

3) Matthias, someone who wants to 'stick with nVidia' despite the 5900XT's lower performance I assume would know enough about the cards to make that decision themselves. This guide also does not factor in Linux drivers (for which the 5900XT would be recommended), as someone who is using Linux primarily is, by sheer demographics, likely to know their stuff. Once again this is just a quick and dirty numbers guide to what Schadenfroh and Gamingphreek have already done a very good job at as far as depth is concerned, but it hasn't stemmed the tide of repetitive questions so this is just numbers and small words. The thread has some 180 views thusfar, assuming only 1 in 20 read it and saved themselves the trouble of posting, that's 9 less threads and that's fine by me.

4) There is no ~250 dollar recommendable card. The 9800 Pro 256mb mod-to-XT is in that range, but is hardly worth the price premium, and for another 50 dollars you can get the much better performance out of the 6800.

5) I already addressed the >400 dollar price range. You should know what you are doing if you are going to fork over that much cash for a video card. Plus, I'm not here to start a fanboy war, I did this to lower the threads posted that are always answered with the exact same 4-5 cards.

On that note, sticky, perhaps? 😀
 
Well, I think a sub-$80 range would be acceptable in some cases...

I've been hunting for a bargain card for my wife's PC for Sims2 (she's using my somewhat dead 8500 - texture corruption). Radeon 9100/8500/8500LE seems to fit the bill and can be found around the $40-$70 range used. Ditto for Ti4200s - they go cheaper than $80, quite frequently. Sometimes as low as $50ish.

My 64MB non-le Radeon 8500 played UT2004 fine at 800x600...ditto for C&C Generals, etc...just changed it out for a 9800pro. At it'll reportedly play Doom3 @ 640x480, barely (at least so say the benchmarks I've seen).


Very good summary though - short and to the point.
 
Originally posted by: GreenMonkey
Well, I think a sub-$80 range would be acceptable in some cases...
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I know that some cases would be acceptable for certain games, but in general recommending any bargain bin card just creates an unrealistic expectation of that card and is just asking for trouble. There was a nVidia stand (complete with TWIMTBP logo) at Fry's this weekend that had copies of Far Cry, Painkiller and Doom3 on it...and underneath those were nothing but BFG FX 5200 256mb cards and some other brand of MX4000's. It was horrible because you know people are going to pick up a copy of those games and one of the video cards and get home to realize you can only run it at 640x480, all settings off at 20 fps.

I for one won't recommmend something that's bound to cause nothing but disappointment.
 
Since there hasn't been a single "What Should I Buy" post today, I'll assume this is working and bump for the hell of it.
 
I'd still add the Powercolor to the 9800pro cards to be careful about, since their "EZ" model is 128 bit.

(actually, what I mean to say is "BUMP to the top!")
 
Hell, I'll just bump it (there's another "which card should I buy"? thread on the front page...)

Can we get a sticky? If a half-baked, hard-to-read FAQ (no offense, kev, it's getting better but it still needs work) can be stickied, so can this.
 
Well i revised it what seems to be hard to read. I bolded titiles... organized everything... proper spacing... what seems to be the problem.

-Kevin
 
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