Video card suggestion?

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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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My FX5900XT appears to be dying. I'll be getting a new computer in January when Vista comes out, so I don't want to sink too much money into my current system.

But I've got a 19" monitor and I want to be able to continue playing WoW at 1280x1024. I've got 1GB of PC3200 RAM and an Athlon 64 3000.

The two cards I'm considering right now are the following:

eVGA Geforce 6200 128MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130008

eVGA Geforce 6600LE 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130262

Considering my situation, does the 6600LE justify being 2.4x more expensive? Especially considering I'll only be using it for about six more months. (And that I make $9.78/hour. :) )

Thanks.
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
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Yes, The 6600GT is well worth the extra money, the 6200 you have linked there might be ok if you never gamed at all, but even for a casual gamer its crappy.... you would NOT be pleased at all.

HOWEVER, don't buy the 6600GT you have linked there either ... 256mb's of ddr on a 6600GT is a complete waste of your money because the card is too slow to make use of it, plus that 6600LE is a total POS! (LE = lame edition!) Go for this A-Open 128mb regular 6600GT, it has much faster memory & a 200mhz faster core clock as well so it will totally smoke the LE & will be faster then your 5900 too. plus its the same price @ $99, all you lose out on is the $15 rebate & trust me, its money well spent!

Link to suggested card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135185
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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Originally posted by: Captante
Yes, The 6600GT is well worth the extra money, the 6200 you have linked there might be ok if you never gamed at all, but even for a casual gamer its crappy.... you would NOT be pleased at all.

HOWEVER, don't buy the 6600GT you have linked there either ... 256mb's of ddr on a 6600GT is a complete waste of your money because the card is too slow to make use of it, plus that 6600LE is a total POS! (LE = lame edition!) Go for this A-Open 128mb regular 6600GT, it has much faster memory & a 200mhz faster core clock as well so it will totally smoke the LE & will be faster then your 5900 too. plus its the same price @ $99, all you lose out on is the $15 rebate & trust me, its money well spent!

Link to suggested card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135185
Click to expand...
Hmm... the 6600GT was always the card I really wanted. Just figured it would cost too much to bother with. Is A-Open a decent brand? I'm just a bit wary of the fact that it's quite a bit cheaper than the equivilent eVGA card (when they sold it?the $150 6800XT appears to be its replacement).

Also, what about this card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102410

Thanks!

EDIT: Nevermind, that's PCI-Express, too. D'oh. Here's a list of every AGP card under $100 that Newegg sells:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...8+1069609639&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=48
 
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unfalliblekrutch

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May 2, 2005
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you could try getting a used 9800pro or something.

Try newegg's refurb (now called open-box) section. There's some good deals to be had there.
 
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morgash

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Nov 24, 2005
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yeah the refurb section has some x1600pro's for under 100 bucks. they will smoke anything else in that list. 12 pixel pipes + failry high clocks puts em above anything from the nvidia 5 series or the ati 9 series even if they do only have 128 bit mem interface. also might wanna look in the for sale/for trade forum. GREAT deals to be had there and u could easily find a much better card for much less than newegg can do for ya.

Morgash
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
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A-Open is a decent company .. not as good as EVGA of course, but then who is?

If you want a new card, that GT is about the best you are going to do, however a used 9800 Pro can be had for +/- $75 in FS/FT and will perform very close to as well as the 6600GT... I'd personally avoid Newegg refurb video cards because I think most of them are returned by folks who didn't get the overclock they expected.

Good luck!
 
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unfalliblekrutch

Golden Member
May 2, 2005
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Originally posted by: Captante
A-Open is a decent company .. not as good as EVGA of course, but then who is?

If you want a new card, that GT is about the best you are going to do, however a used 9800 Pro can be had for +/- $75 in FS/FT and will perform very close to as well as the 6600GT... I'd personally avoid Newegg refurb video cards because I think most of them are returned by folks who didn't get the overclock they expected.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

we're not asking him to overclock, so what's wrong with a card that someone couldn't overclock? The point is it works.
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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Originally posted by: unfalliblekrutch
we're not asking him to overclock, so what's wrong with a card that someone couldn't overclock? The point is it works.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't overclock anything. I just want something to get me by until Vista comes out.
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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daveybrat

daveybrat

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Jan 31, 2000
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3DFuzion 6600 256MB AGP $85.99

This seems to be the best deal for a sub $100 card. This card will be faster than the ATI x1300 and it is faster than your 5900XT while also offering true directX 9.0 support.

And it will have some decent overclocking potential if you decide to experiment later on just for fun.

:thumbsup:
 
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morgash

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Nov 24, 2005
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the x1600pro/xt is much faster than any of the 6600's just so ya know. 4 more pixel pipes and higher clocks = better performance.

;)
Morgash
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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Originally posted by: daveybrat
3DFuzion 6600 256MB AGP $85.99

This seems to be the best deal for a sub $100 card. This card will be faster than the ATI x1300 and it is faster than your 5900XT while also offering true directX 9.0 support.
Click to expand...

Is that a decent brand, though? It's $20 cheaper than the same thing from eVGA, which worries me a touch.
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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Originally posted by: morgash
the x1600pro/xt is much faster than any of the 6600's just so ya know. 4 more pixel pipes and higher clocks = better performance.
Click to expand...

I wish I could find benchmarks comparing all these cards. Closest I've found is this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/vga_charts_vii/page7.html

...and it's a year old. 5900XT's on there, 6600's on there (usually out-performed by my card), but no X1300 and no X1600 Pro. It's tough to find AGP benchmarks anymore, it seems. :(
 
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akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
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One thing you can do is that instead of waiting till Jan upgrade now. Get a card like 7600GS and wait till Jan for a dx 10 card. That time just upgrade the psu and graphic card, do rest of the upgrades.
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,353
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136
Originally posted by: RobertMcDonald
Originally posted by: daveybrat
3DFuzion 6600 256MB AGP $85.99

This seems to be the best deal for a sub $100 card. This card will be faster than the ATI x1300 and it is faster than your 5900XT while also offering true directX 9.0 support.
Click to expand...

Is that a decent brand, though? It's $20 cheaper than the same thing from eVGA, which worries me a touch.
Click to expand...

BFG is a good company but thats not a 6600GT, its a plain 6600 & again 256mb's is a waste of money on this level card. Your a lot better off getting a 128mb GT with its much higher clockspeeds... also what I meant was that the Newegg open box/refurb cards have likely been pushed to their limit by somone else & thats why I wouldn't buy one.

The best bets in your price range are the X1600 Pro, the 6600GT or a used 9800 Pro/XT pretty much in that order... if you can swing a little more cash ($140-$150) you might get lucky & find a 6800GT in FS/FT around that price too & its faster then any of the above by a wide margin.
 
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RobertMcDonald

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Aug 23, 2004
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Originally posted by: Captante
also what I meant was that the Newegg open box/refurb cards have likely been pushed to their limit by somone else & thats why I wouldn't buy one.
Click to expand...
So you think a Newegg open box is most likely abused? Wouldn't that be a bit risky for them to sell abused video cards?

Originally posted by: Captante
The best bets in your price range are the X1600 Pro, the 6600GT or a used 9800 Pro/XT pretty much in that order... if you can swing a little more cash ($140-$150) you might get lucky & find a 6800GT in FS/FT around that price too & its faster then any of the above by a wide margin.
Click to expand...

My price range us under $100, and all those cards are over that. :) I'm getting a system with a DirectX 10 video card next year, so I don't see what the point is of spending more than $100 on a temporary video card.

Having said that, thoughts on this, anyone?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102600
 
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