What's the best video card (<$175) for counter-strike?

[monkied]

I'm looking at the geforce 3 pro, ultra, ti200, radeon 7000, 7500, and 8500. Also what's the differences between the 3 mentioned radeons? Thanks.

 

[spanky]

if u wait a little bit... the gf3 ti500 should be in that price range too. i have a radeon 8500... i thought the image quality would be better... but overall, i am pretty happy.

 

[ssanches]

Go for either the radeon 8500 or the GF3-TI-200. Many people are buying radeon8500's in the price range of $175-200. It's got decent performance for the price

 

[lastig21]

Frys currently has the 8500 for less than $140 after a $50 MIR.

 

[monkied]

So what do you think, radeon 8500 for 140 AR@frys or gainward gold sample ti200 64mb for 149@newegg? Thanks.

 

[spanky]

for those prices... definitely the radeon.

 

[monkied]

...on my way to frys...🙂

 

[mchammer187]

radeon 🙂

the 6045 drivers are great 🙂

 

[john35]

Ya I second the Radeon😉

 

[Hanpan]

I too would go for the Radeon.

 

[JoPalm]

Radeon 8500 is awesome imo! Using 6025 drivers too.

 

[murphy55d]

That Golden Sample will overclock to Ti500 speeds. Mine certainly did.

 

[ElFenix]

anything GF2 up should run cstrike really frickin' fast... its not exactly a video card stressing game, as its 16 bit color and low poly count. heck, my geforce 256 ran it just fine.

 

[monkied]

Where do I get the 6045 driver? I downloaded from ATI their latest driver but am not sure it is the 6045.

 

[spanky]

here

 

[CubicZirconia]

As long as your have some decent horsepower as far as the cpu goes, the vid card shouldn't really matter. The engine CS runs on is really, really old. My vote if for the geforce 3 ti 200 though.

 

[butch84]

Yeah, i saw a bigger jump in cs when i upgraded my cpu then when i got a new vid card. CS runs on a modified quake 2 engine actually, and it is limited at 99 fps anyway . .

Butch

 

[TheWart]

man, if you are seriously thinking "CS only" then all those cards you list are overkill! my pIII 733 w/ gf2 gts runs it at 1280 (highest res) @ 99fps, the engine's cap! my tbird 1.4 w/ gf3 runs it at same fps...again the engine is capped. obviously my gf3 helps in other games/dvds, but if you only want cs pick up a gf2 for ~$60!

 

[BCYL]

<< man, if you are seriously thinking "CS only" then all those cards you list are overkill! my pIII 733 w/ gf2 gts runs it at 1280 (highest res) @ 99fps, the engine's cap! my tbird 1.4 w/ gf3 runs it at same fps...again the engine is capped. obviously my gf3 helps in other games/dvds, but if you only want cs pick up a gf2 for ~$60! >>



Exactly... If you are only looking to play CS then just pickup something like a GF2 GTS and it's more than enough... I have a GF2 GTS 32mb and I can play CS at any res and still get good frame rates...

CS has an old engine, it's requirements are not high at all...

 

[novalogic88]

unless you want FSAA