Which Card to buy for my setup?

[gordita]

I just built a setup consisting of:

Epox 8RDA+
Athlon 2100+ T'Bred
Crucial 512Mb PC2100
Antec Truepower 430W
Lian Li 65b

The Problem arose when I took my old Viper V550 from my previous box to put it in my new setup and saw that the AGP socket on the
Epox is different than on my ECS board and hence, i can't use the card anymore.

Now, i'm in the market to buy a video card to fit this setup.

What should this card do?

* mostly 2-D stuff including web,email,photoshop, occasional dvd.
GF does web designing so she uses illustrator, falsh MX, dreamweaver and photo.
* must have VGA and DVI inputs (i'm currently using a 19' CRT and am going to upgrade to a LCD as soon as the price of a quality 18' LCD falls to $350)
* VIVO functionality would be great but I don't know if I can get it within my budget and so would be a TV tuner

Budget: $80 - $90 (max $110 if the card is just phenomenal)

does anyone have any suggestions/deals/ or anything?

appreciate it.

 

[gordita]

noone has any suggestions....?

 

[kylebisme]

well the ATI 32MB RADION ALL IN WONDER DVI AGP just barely meets all your needs here

 

[wayliff]

I would make an effort and go for a Matrox card...like the 450

 

[Jeff H]

gordita, take a look at the Crucial 8500LE 128MB card, for $92, shipped. I know there will be guys saying the Crucial version isn't clocked as high as other 8500LE cards, but it's still a sound value for $92. I just installed one in a friend's system, connected via DVI to a Hitachi 17" LCD and it looks great.

 

[ScrewFace]

I concur with Jeff H. A 128MB RADEON 8500 LE is a great choice as its 2D IQ is the best and one of the fastest and if you do decide to play a 3D game of some sort the card can do that very well, also.

 

[kylebisme]

well ya the 8500le is a nice card but you can get them a lot cheaper elsewere.

 

[Johneverd]

Just make sure to get a AGP 4x or 8x compliant card. Looks like your old one was 2x.

EDIT: GeForce3 cards are good deal for the $$ right now, especially on [gulp] eBay [end gulp]. HERE is a Tom's Hardware article on video cards that compares the differant cards.

 

[gordita]

yea....got to make sure its AGP 4x,8x compliant
so I guess that the Radeon 8500 is a much better option to goto rather than the G4 MX440

now, I'll just look for deals on that then...

thank u all

 

[Krugger]

Definetly go with a radeon, several different models can do vga + dvi (and usually tv out too)
I have one like that and i love it.
(as a side note i'm selling another one is FS but it might be lower specs than you want, see sig)
you probably want something like an AIW.
Krugger

 

[ProviaFan]

Go with ATI - decent 2D image quality with enough 3D power (well, depending on which model you get) for the occasional game. Go Matrox for best 2D IQ only if you will rarely ever be gaming, and even then only with older games (no UT2003). Nvidia if you hate ATI, but even then not for the 2D image quality.

 

[yz426]

I would keep an eye on newegg refurbished cards. I have bought several without any problems. Might be able to find a nice 8500 128 meg or 64 meg aiw. Have not looked in some time though.

 

[mboy]

I would actually go for the Abit Siluro 64mb G4 ti 4200 at gameve.com for $114 shipped (I already did actually).
It has awesome cooling but is slightly loud, but if you are looking for absolute bang for the buck, this card is it.
2d is fine, 3d is awesome (for the price) since it comes stock clocked at 4400 speeds has Svideo and DVI out, comes with all cables and adapters you need. Aside from being slightly noisey (could also be my TT smart 2 fan , I think this is your best bet, especially if u ever want to play a new game.