Shopping for budget card.. Help?

[xcript]

Ok.. so I really need a new card, but I only have around $150 to spend (canadian.. sigh). I'm not particularly interested in being able to run games at 16x12:4xFSAA+AF, just need a card that'll allow me to run games such as UT2003,Unreal2,Generals at a fairly decent resolution/detail-level/framerate.

I was thinking about waiting till the FX 5200's were available, but haven't heard too many good things about them at this point. So basically I need your opinion on what I should go for.

For ~150 I can get any of the following from my local computer place:

- Sapphire Radeon 8500LE 128MB
- Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB
- Sapphire Radeon 9100 128MB

Which is the nicer card? If it'd be better for me to wait for the 5200's, my question is: any idea when they'll become available?

This old Geforce2 MX400 has served me well, but man it's really starting to kill me in some of the newer games (gave up on Unreal2, runs like a$$.. ut2k3 is just bearable).

Thanks

 

[NEVERwinter]

I suggest between 8500 & 9100.
Both are using the same chipset, so it doesn't really matter but watch their core/memory speed! most R8500/9100 are clocked at 250/250 or 225/225. so the higher the clock it would be better and i don't think getting a R8500/9100 with 200/183 would be nice

 

[bgeh]

i'd get the Radeon 9100
the 8500LE's have many clockspeeds and if you are unlucky, you'll get the slow one.
so i recommend the 9100

 

[selfbuilt]

Just to let you know, FutureShop has been advertising around here the Radeon 8500LE 64MB for $99 CDN after rebates. That's a great deal, since as pointed out about the 8500/9100 are the same card. My guess is they will be hard to find now, since they were undoubtably trying to get rid of old stock (I notice the website doesn't have any listed any more).

Also, it is only the OEM versions of the 8500 that varied in clock speed ... the retail version is fine.

I agree that the 9000 is not worth it (especially since they want $150 for the Pro version at FS, and it is still likely to underperform the 8500 is many cases).

I'd look around more widely at local computer stores where you live for a retail 8500/9100. You might even be able to find a good deal on a GeForce4 Ti 4200 64MB if you are really lucky (better card than the 8500, which is a GeForce3 equivalent). Stay away from the GeForce4MX series at all costs - they are basically only slightly souped-up GeForce2 cards! And rumours on the FX 5200s is that they will be even slower than the 4MX series (argh, if true!).

Good luck!

 

[titanz117]

i wouldnt suggest bothering with a radeon 8500 le or 9100. if u have a 150 dollars on newegg you can buy a geforce 4 ti 4200 or for 10 more dollars you can buy a dx9 radeon 9500 non pro.

i just got my 64mb radeon 8500 non le clocked at 275/275 i paid 70.00 for it here on these forums and it performs like a champ

 

[selfbuilt]

Unfortunately, newegg doesn't ship to Canada. Probably the nearest example I can think of here is ncix.com, but you can likely do better with local stores if you live in a large population area.

And $150 Canadian is ~ $100 US, hence why the interest in the Radeon 8500/9100 series.

 

[mrzed]

If you can find an 8500le, go for it. I got the $99 at Future Shop myself. I was dissapointed to find it was only 230/230, and doesn't do a lot better (in my overheated case anyhow), but it's still a mighty card for the money, and at least as good, if not better than the 9000 pro for at least $35 more.

If not, get a 9100, just be aware, I've seen them clocked as low as 230/200. So see if you can get a guarantee of the clockspeeds.

As of now, there is nothing under $200 in Canada that comes close to the 8500/9100. Starting around 230-260 is where you get a real increase in performance. So there is no real reason to consider another card unless you want to hugely increase your budget. I was in the exact situation you were (upgrading from a Geforce MX original) and decided not to wait. I doubt that the 5200 will debut at less than $150 Cdn. And from looking at Tom's preview of 5200/5600 ultra performance It doesn't look like it would really outperform a 9100 (look at the 9000/9200 numbers in UT 2003) by a huge margin.

If you want to wait until a better card comes into your range, it looks like about 4-6 months at least for retail availability.

BTW, welcome to the forums.

 

[Brian48]

How much are ti4200's going for in Canada? Prices have been falling fairly quickly on these cards.

 

[selfbuilt]

Best I've seen is $190 CDN for the retail version of the 64MB Ti4200 (Abit) at a local computer store, but the larger superstores still sell them for considerably more. Hopefully should see some further reductions soon (prices haven't really moved on those cards in the last 6 months around here)

I don't know if the $90 US Best Buy deal ever made here, though. That sounds pretty sweet!

 

[Brian48]

Originally posted by: selfbuilt
Best I've seen is $190 CDN for the retail version of the 64MB Ti4200 (Abit) at a local computer store, but the larger superstores still sell them for considerably more. Hopefully should see some further reductions soon (prices haven't really moved on those cards in the last 6 months around here)

I don't know if the $90 US Best Buy deal ever made here, though. That sounds pretty sweet!

It *IS* pretty sweet. I picked up one of these card myself this week for one of my backups ($89.95 US - after instant+mail-in rebates). For the money, it's a superb card.

 

[xcript]

Wow, thanks for all the input people. It seems the general consensus is that I should go for the 9100 (which is fine by me, it's the cheapest of the 3 I mentioned at $141 )

So I'll pop into NCIX over the weekend and pick one up. Their physical store was in chaos the past couple of times I've been, but aslong as the price is right

Thanks again!

P.S. Oh, anyone have any experience overclocking the Sapphire 9100's? I'm not expecting to be able to push it very far (if at all).. but I'd be interested to know how it went.

 

[SickBeast]

do the best buy deal on the ti4200 for $90. it's in the hot deals forum. if that doesn't work out, the 9100 is a great card provided that you can get it at decent clock speeds (at least 250/250, 275/275 preferrably). if you can splurge, the ti4200 is a nice card as well, with alot more overclocking headroom. 2d image quality will suffer, but drivers *should* be better.

<edit: oops nevermind...i see you're a canuck like me...ati cards are always cheaper up here, so read what i said above >

 

[FearoftheNight]

IMHO I'd wait for FX 5200. Seems like the only promising card in the whole fx series.

 

[Blastman]

The Sapphire 9100 64MB is clocked 250/230 and goes for $106CDN at NCIX, easily the best deal for a budget graphics card here in Canada. (the Sapphire 9100 128MB is clocked 250/200)

 

[thebestMAX]

Got an 8500le 128M retail about 6 weeks ago.

Out of box 250/250 with 3.6Nsec ram

Only running it at 285/285 now but no probs. More to come.

Pd $104 delivered but cheaper around.

 

[Schneider]

I found a SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9100PRO 128MB DDR TVODVI for $203AU at my local store.
Is this a good buy?? and what are its clock speeds??

 

[Blooz1]

You can get a Sapphire Radeon 8500LE 64Mb clocked at 275/275 at AllStarShop for $89.....