Video Card under $100?

[XtheEliminator]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a video card under $100 that will play games
such as Hitman 2, NOLF 2, etc. I currently have a GeForce2 MX and a
800 Mhz Athlon with KT7-RAID mobo. I have no plans to upgrade my
CPU. I was thinking about getting a GeForce3 Ti200, but I don't know
if some sort of Radeon wouldn't be better. Any recommendations on
a $100 card or below that can play some of the newer games reasonably
well would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[dguy6789]

Get an ATI Radeon 8500 LE. that should be about $80. It can play all games now at decent frames. hope this helps.

 

[spanky]

yes it seems a lot of ppl like the 8500 for the $100 and under price range.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yeah 8500 in the US and Canada are great value. Do look for the 128MB version and be careful you get a correctly clocked one, 250/250 (250/500 DDR) is roughly what you should be looking for and the 8500LE is VERY close to a full 8500. A little slower is the 9000PRO but do avoid the std 9000 as it's a lot slower. You may find a GF4TI4200 for very close to $100 (64MB is fine for GF3, GF4TI or Rad9000 series) but the 8500 isn't a whole lot slower and your 800mhz CPU is going to be the limiting factor for all these cards anyway, so do be sure to enable AF and AA (or max out AF with no AA on Radeon cards). GF3 cards are okay but the 8500 series are better, 3D is close but in all other areas the Radeons are superior (hence the release of the GF4TI cards). Obviously avoid GF4MX and that about wraps it all up. Do consider a CPU upgrade, Duron 1.1 - 1.3ghz are almost free they're so cheap and AthlonXP if your mobo can handle them are VERY powerful and XP1800+ to XP2000+ are cheap too, may be something to consider after the gfx card upgrade?

AnAndTech showing the benefits of diff CPU speed and gfx card combinations

 

[pillage2001]

Another vote for 8500.

 

[duritz]

Geforce 4 Ti4200 is $110 at pricewatch

I currently have the 64mb version and it runs all my games great with my 1.0ghz duron

 

[anazoal]

By an 8500LE. You can usually flash them to retail bios or overclock them and they'll be simillar to a regular 8500.

Visual quality of the Radeon is better than the GF 3, and o/c'd performance is on par with a GF TI4200, but for much less $$$$.

 

[lifeguard1999]

I own an original 8500 @ 64MB and it works fine. I can recommend it from experience. An 8500LE 64MB runs from $65 up. An 8500LE 128MB runs from $88 up. The Ti4200 64 MB is also a great card, at $110 shipped.

 

[AnAndAustin]

In 3D perf over all (as it varies game to game) the Rad9000 series come bottom of the DX8 cards (excluding SiS's quirky implimentation) then there's the GF3 series, next the 8500 series and finally the GF4TI series. The std 9000 is pretty slow but at least it has full DX8 hw unlike the GF4MX or Xabre cards. The 9000PRO is decently fast but 8500LE is faster (99% of the time) and then 8500 (only slightly faster than an LE). The 8500 series really gain from having 128MB even before games use it, any game should run about 5% faster with an 8500/8500LE 128MB (making a Rad8500LE-128MB wiser than a Rad8500-64MB). The GF3 series is let down by other factors, image quality, TVout, DVD playback and dual display are all much better on the 9000 or 8500 so if prices are close between these Rads and GF3 def go for the Rads. The GF4 cards address many of these issues and are also faster than these Rads, but then they're more expensive too! When you look at o/c'ing there are NO guarantees at all but all cards should increase (on average) by 5-15%. This means an o/c'ed 8500 can take on a std un-o/c'ed GF4TI4200 (esp if your CPU is at the lower end) but then you have to factor in that most 4200 hit at least 4400 speeds which is clearly faster than an o/c'ed 8500. So take o/c'ing with a pinch of salt, have a look at prices but Rad9000PRO, Rad8500LE, Rad8500 and GF4TI4200 (in speed order) are all very good choices and the perf diffs are very small if your CPU is close to 1ghz, the faster your CPU the bigger the diffs tend to become. Do watch out for clock diffs, a Rad8500 series can range roughly from 230/200 to 275/275 and there's a BIG diff between them, the other cards tend to have very std clock speeds but do check esp if you fancy a Rad8500/8500LE.

 

[NEVERwinter]

another vote for 8500/LE
or spare some $$$ for Ti4200

 

[kmmatney]

Cheap cards rule!! I am also trying to decide between the Radeon 8500 LE and the GF4 4200.

I would say you should definately choose the Radeon 8500LE over a GeForce3 Ti200. Tom's hardware has a recent roundup of many video cards using recent drivers:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20021218/vgacharts-06.html

With newer drivers, the Radeon 8500LE is easily faster than the GeForce3 Ti200.

Actually, here's a better comparision:

Xbit benchmarks

 

[AnAndAustin]

I'm not arguing at all, I'd take a Rad8500LE over any GF3 if the prices were close BUT I've never heard of a GF3TI200 that didn't get close to GF3TI500 speeds if not exceeding them which tends to put the GF3 marginally ahead in most real world games. Of course the Rad8500 series o/c's but gains tend to be smaller and the clocks and implimentation vary VERY significantly not only with oem vs retail but certainly by brand. So it is a little muddy but if you want more than just gaming from a card the Rad8500 series is better than the GF3 ... enter GF4TI!

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Get an ATI Radeon 8500 LE. that should be about $80. It can play all games now at decent frames. hope this helps.

first thing i thought of too.
i love my 8500LE, it was $119 CAD.
which makes it like $80 USD.

 

[alrocky]

Today's Fry's ad has a Best Data GeForce4 Ti4200 for ($140 - $50 MIR=) $90, price good til the end of the year. 64 mb with TV out.

 

[cpl593h]

Originally posted by: alrocky
Today's Fry's ad has a Best Data GeForce4 Ti4200 for ($140 - $50 MIR=) $90, price good til the end of the year. 64 mb with TV out.

Is this in the Bay Area? This would be perfect for me, I've been looking for an upgrade from my craptastic Geforce 2.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: alrocky
Today's Fry's ad has a Best Data GeForce4 Ti4200 for ($140 - $50 MIR=) $90, price good til the end of the year. 64 mb with TV out.

Same here in So Cal... dunno if theres any left though...