What is the best video card $130 can buy???

[alexruiz]

I think the title speaks by itself.... $130 is the budget to get a brand new video card.

What should I choose??

I have seen Radeons 8500 LE by Apollo at $120, and GeForce3 Ti200 at $115. What is the best choice.

Thanks

 

[gunf1ghter]

If you can get a Radeon 8500 for $130 you should jump on it.

 

[IndyJaws]

I would definitely go with the Gainward GF3 Ti200 Golden Sample. Overclocks to Ti500 levels and has excellent 2D display. Anandtech gave it their Editor's Choice Award when they did their roundup. Excellent card!

Did a quick search on Newegg and they just dropped price - $129 for full retail box. I paid $135 for mine last week.

 

[spanky]

for some reason, i just don't like "le" version radeons. i have a retail ati 8500 myself, and like it very a lot. if u can land an ati 8500 in the $130 range, jump on it. otherwise, i have heard many good things about the ti200. either way, i don't think u could go wrong.

 

[tenoc]

R8500 is best bang for the buck.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

How about this Radeon 8500 64MB DDR for $148 here (is this the same one you said is $120?):
http://www.dvcentury.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=DVC&Product_Code=586479

or the 128MB DDR version for $179 here ( a bit over the $130 you requested though):
http://www.dvcentury.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=DVC&Product_Code=897365

 

[PizzaDude]

Don't get the Radeon 8500 LE. If you are between an 8500 LE and a GF3 Ti200, get the Geforce. I personally am an invidia fan, and I wouldn't want to mess with the drivers for ANY ATI card. This is exactly why I'm saving for a Geforce4 ti4200.

 

[DClark]

ATi drivers are fine, and have been fine for a while. Generally it seems to be the people who don't own a Radeon 8500 who have problems with Radeon 8500 drivers.

I'd recommend the Radeon 8500 as well; if you can afford a bit more, the Retail 64mb ATi Radeon 8500 is selling for $154usd at Newegg.com. Just note the clock speeds of the various versions; Newegg also sells a 230mhz clocked Radeon 8500LE for $125, and there are also 250mhz clocked cards.

With the ATi boxed retail 8500, included in the bundle will be the DVI dongle, an S-video to composite adapter, a S-video cable, a composite cable, installation CD with ATi's DVD player, and TruFormed Halflife: Counterstrike, so I think all those are worth the extra cost to get a full-speed, 275mhz clocked version.

 

[Toro 45]

"Generally it seems to be the people who don't own a Radeon 8500 who have problems with Radeon 8500 drivers."

he he, good one

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

I like my old visiontek gf3 ti200, but I put that in my server since I've since got a PNY GF4 TI4600.

 

[moocat]

Check the forsale forum. Someone has a retail (275/275) 8500 for $140.
It's a fresh RMA so essentially it's brand new. Good deal.

And by the way, the latest ATI drivers for 98/ME, 2k, and XP are very good. Check rage3d.com for more info.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

ATI drivers lately are no problem, especially if you get the Omega (for Win9x/Me) or Red Software (for XP) tweaked versions.

 

[spanky]

<< ATi drivers are fine, and have been fine for a while. Generally it seems to be the people who don't own a Radeon 8500 who have problems with Radeon 8500 drivers. >>



very well put

 

[alexruiz]

OK, got Radeon 8500 64 MB retail at ubid ($117 + 13 shipping). Now my question is, what drivers should I use??? What drivers are included in the retail package CD??

Thanks

 

[tenoc]

Depends on your OS.

Go to ATI.com to get the latest official ones, updated last week, I believe.

Go to rage3d.com if you want to play with the latest betas. (Just remember, they are betas.)

 

[DClark]

If you have Win9x/Me, then try the 9026s; usually the higher the number the better. The Win2K/XP drivers are 60xx; I think 6058 are the newest, and people have said good things about those as well.

 

[moocat]

The Win98/ME 9026 drivers are quite good. I've been using them for a while and haven't had any problems. This is the best set I've used so far. For what it's worth they gained me 200pts in 3dmark2k1se but more importantly they gave me 8-10 fps in Nascar2k2 and fixed the slowdowns that happened when involved in or driving through a wreck. Seems like smoke really killed some of the previous driver releases but the 9026s seem to handle it much better. N2k2 has very realistic smoke that drifts based on wind speed and direction.