Need a decent Vidoe card HELP!

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » February 27, 2006, 3:38 pm

SO I read way to many reviews and did some looking on pricing but still can not decide on what card to get. Im looking in the sub $200 range and it has to be AGP 8x, anyone care to offer an opinion?

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » February 27, 2006, 3:55 pm

It might help to look up reviews for Video cards

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 4:21 pm

BFG Geforce 6800GS

A little bit over your $200 limit but you may be able to find it for $199 with a bit of effort. The best card in your price range.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 27, 2006, 5:43 pm

Yep, 6800GS is where to go for sure. ATI has no card in that price range worth noting.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » February 27, 2006, 5:50 pm

I just got one of these cards and it rocks, hard. Keeping my AGP bus/socket 754 system alive for another year on a tight budget is well worth it!

Don't forget to get a Zalman VGA cooler along with the card!

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » February 27, 2006, 5:51 pm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102666

what do you guys think about that one!

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 27, 2006, 6:00 pm

If that's your price, then you've got a good buy. But the 6800GS is better.

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » February 27, 2006, 6:10 pm

Tenuvil wrote:I just got one of these cards and it rocks, hard. Keeping my AGP bus/socket 754 system alive for another year on a tight budget is well worth it!

Don't forget to get a Zalman VGA cooler along with the card!

I run a 5200fx 256 now, wondering if the downgrade in amount of memory will be noticable with the better chip set..

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 6:26 pm

Sapphire's quality and support are below average. I've seen 2 cards that overheated on normal use (not overclocked) and one that was dead out of the box. I've also read reports of power issues with their cards.

I'm not sure if Asus or even ATI makes a card to that spec (the ATI x1300 is similar), but if you can find it, I would definately choose either of those brands over Sapphire.

But.. that card for that price is a really good deal. As long as the retailer has a decent return policy, you should be ok.

Honestly though... the 6600 that Tenuvil linked and the 6800 I mentioned are, in my opinion, much better options than the ATI. I used to have hardcore loyalty to ATI cards (worked for ATI a few years back

)but I've been finding myself recommending nVidia cards more often lately.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 6:28 pm

sarlen wrote:
Tenuvil wrote:I just got one of these cards and it rocks, hard. Keeping my AGP bus/socket 754 system alive for another year on a tight budget is well worth it!

Don't forget to get a Zalman VGA cooler along with the card!
I run a 5200fx 256 now, wondering if the downgrade in amount of memory will be noticable with the better chip set..

A 6600 will absolutely smoke a 5200 in any benchmark you can throw at it.

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » February 27, 2006, 6:31 pm

miir wrote:BFG Geforce 6800GS

A little bit over your $200 limit but you may be able to find it for $199 with a bit of effort. The best card in your price range.

This card is about perfect beyond the out of stock and an ETA of over a week from now, This card is "the one" as far as Im concered but not sure I can hold out that long!

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 6:35 pm

sarlen wrote:
miir wrote:BFG Geforce 6800GS

A little bit over your $200 limit but you may be able to find it for $199 with a bit of effort. The best card in your price range.
This card is about perfect beyond the out of stock and an ETA of over a week from now, This card is "the one" as far as Im concered but not sure I can hold out that long!

Based on opinions from my BFG vs EVGA thread, take a look at this one

... it's in stock @ newegg.

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » February 27, 2006, 7:06 pm

miir wrote:
sarlen wrote:
miir wrote:BFG Geforce 6800GS

A little bit over your $200 limit but you may be able to find it for $199 with a bit of effort. The best card in your price range.
This card is about perfect beyond the out of stock and an ETA of over a week from now, This card is "the one" as far as Im concered but not sure I can hold out that long!
Based on opinions from my BFG vs EVGA thread, take a look at this one

... it's in stock @ newegg.

And we have a winner, looking over the specs for this card I was very impressed. Ordering today for 2 day delivery. I will try to write up a review for it when I'm done.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » February 27, 2006, 7:40 pm

Since I'm still AGP.. Wondering if people thought the 7800GS would be worth the ~$120 extra cost over the 6800GS.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 7:56 pm

Aslanna wrote:Since I'm still AGP.. Wondering if people thought the 7800GS would be worth the ~$120 extra cost over the 6800GS.

I'd wait until you upgrade your motherboard/cpu. I don't think that upgrading to a 7800 would give you that much of a performance increase unless you have the top end CPU for your socket.

Ebumar · Post by **Ebumar** » February 27, 2006, 9:57 pm

Which is more important? Memory Clock, or Core Clock?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2006, 9:58 pm

Aslanna wrote:Since I'm still AGP.. Wondering if people thought the 7800GS would be worth the ~$120 extra cost over the 6800GS.

hmmm, the 7800 is a sizable increase over the 6800 but it depends how long you'll be keeping the AGP motherboard.

I'd probably go with the 6800 and save some money until you upgrade to dual core/pci-e, etc. Don't think it will matter much with an older processor. I was running everything fine with the 6800GT on the 24"...just couldn't do other things at the same time!

If it's going to be more than a year, go for the 7800.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2006, 9:58 pm

Ebumar wrote:Which is more important? Memory Clock, or Core Clock?

core