What video card should I get for around $80-100?

[Rand3000]

I currently have a Geforce 3 TI. I've upgraded most of my computer in the last 9 months and it's now time to get a new video card. What would you recommend for around $80-100? The main reason for wanting a new card is so that I can enjoy the graphics better in Doom 3 and also Half Life 2 when it comes out.

 

[Schadenfroh]

geforce4 TI4400 or a 4600 if you can find it, might also be able to get a refurb 9600XT for that price, i would highly reccomend saving an extra $70 up and buying a 9800 pro or a 5900XT, they would be MUCH more worthy upgrades

 

[Dman877]

How about 50$ more for a 5700 Ultra? People seem to run Doom3 decently on those...

 

[Marsumane]

Actually in newer games, the newer dx9 archetecture seems to hold up better than the older gf4 archetecture. I suggest getting the highest 128mb 9600 variant you can afford. Just DO NOT get the SE under any circumstances. The 9600 will provide comparable frames to that of a 4200 -> 4600 (depending on what 9600 variant you get), but have better iq due to dx9, improved AA/AF, geometry intancing (9500 on up has this), as well as better driver support for upcomming games. The GF4 archetecture is starting to show its age. Here is an example of what i am talking about with reference to Doom 3 on high image quality: http://www.techreport.com/etc/2004q3/doom3-midlow/index.x?pg=5
You can see the 9600p getting roughly 2x the frames of the 4600 on 800x600 hq. You can usually find a 9600p for ~$100 so this would probably be your best bet.

 

[Rand3000]

Thanks for the information. One other thing, what do you think about getting a normal Radeon 9600 with 256 MB of RAM or a Radeon 9600 Pro with 128 MB. They seem to be around the same price. My inclination would be to go with a card with more RAM on it. Also, last time I did some research on graphics cards, ATI was the leader and NVIDIA was behind. Is that still the case or has NVIDIA caught up? Thanks.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Rand3000
Thanks for the information. One other thing, what do you think about getting a normal Radeon 9600 with 256 MB of RAM or a Radeon 9600 Pro with 128 MB. They seem to be around the same price.

256mb on a 9600 non pro is useless, the pro is higher clocked and will perform much better

benchmarks, old but is the only one i could find that covers such a range of cards

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Rand3000
Thanks for the information. One other thing, what do you think about getting a normal Radeon 9600 with 256 MB of RAM or a Radeon 9600 Pro with 128 MB. They seem to be around the same price. My inclination would be to go with a card with more RAM on it. Also, last time I did some research on graphics cards, ATI was the leader and NVIDIA was behind. Is that still the case or has NVIDIA caught up? Thanks.

nVidia has definitely 'caught up' and in some cases surpassed ATI - this generation.

However, for your price range, the 9600 seems to be the best buy. . . the 'xt' stands out but is over $100.

If you can afford a 'bit more', the 9700p is much better than the 9600 series . . .

and forget 256MB over 128 MB unless it is the 9800p . . . even then it needs a flash to 'xt' to really 'use' the extra memory.

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: Rand3000
I currently have a Geforce 3 TI. I've upgraded most of my computer in the last 9 months and it's now time to get a new video card. What would you recommend for around $80-100? The main reason for wanting a new card is so that I can enjoy the graphics better in Doom 3 and also Half Life 2 when it comes out.

I know this isn't the "For Sale" forum but let me know if you're interested in purchasing a 9600Pro. I just upgraded my video card and a 9600 Pro is what I took out. Card runs flawlessly and gave me no issues at all playing Far Cry and Doom 3. Only reason I upgraded was to just future-proof my rig a bit further than it is. If you're interested, PM me. The 9600 Pro is about the best card you're going to find for the price range you mentioned.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc

Originally posted by: Rand3000
I currently have a Geforce 3 TI. I've upgraded most of my computer in the last 9 months and it's now time to get a new video card. What would you recommend for around $80-100? The main reason for wanting a new card is so that I can enjoy the graphics better in Doom 3 and also Half Life 2 when it comes out.

I know this isn't the "For Sale" forum but let me know if you're interested in purchasing a 9600Pro. I just upgraded my video card and a 9600 Pro is what I took out. Card runs flawlessly and gave me no issues at all playing Far Cry and Doom 3. Only reason I upgraded was to just future-proof my rig a bit further than it is. If you're interested, PM me. The 9600 Pro is about the best card you're going to find for the price range you mentioned.

He's probably right about that.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: Rand3000
Thanks for the information. One other thing, what do you think about getting a normal Radeon 9600 with 256 MB of RAM or a Radeon 9600 Pro with 128 MB. They seem to be around the same price. My inclination would be to go with a card with more RAM on it. Also, last time I did some research on graphics cards, ATI was the leader and NVIDIA was behind. Is that still the case or has NVIDIA caught up? Thanks.

Neither one of them were ever really behind, nVidia dominated at open GL apps, and ATI was better with directX. Suffice to say, nVidia is giving ATI quite a show now with their new 6 series. Things are back to normal. And 256MB of RAM = completely useless on anything lower than a 9700, or 5900 series.