Please help me choose a graphics card for someone.

[iDunno]

He has a 200 dollar budget and he wants a card with the BEST value, like my radeon 9600 for 70 bucks.

Please suggest some ideas.
Thanks

[Black Hawk]

You can get a 9700NP for $194 at Allstarshop.com (http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simprod.asp?pid=6227&ad=pwatch) and OC it to Pro levels (mem oc depends on the chips).

[keto]

ATI (or other brand) 9600XT is the way to go in that budget range right now.

[Geeky1]

Newegg's Refurbished section;

In order from best --> worst:
Radeon 9800, 9700, 9700 Pro ($200-$220...) 9500 Pro, 9600 XT, 9600 Pro, 9500, 9600.

[Disvengeance]

9600Xt isnt that bad, considering it comes with hl2 and its better than the reg 9600.

[GnomeWizardd]

I got a 9600 XT I love the thing!

[Xenogeared]

lol 200 dollar budget? go get a 9800 from circuit city

[pseudonym]

If you can find em.....

[GnomeWizardd]

yeai know! i went to circut city in 3 counties in the last 2 days cause i was board and no 9800's at all

[SimGuy]

$200 USD...

Sounds prime for a 9700 Pro or below.

9700 Pro, 9700, 9500 Pro, 9600XT, 9600 Pro, 9500, 9600.

I wouldn't be considering anything else except for a 9800 if budget allows.

[GnomeWizardd]

<< is selling a perfectly fine 9700 pro with a Zalman heatpipe cooler on it

[Jengo]

Get an nVidia GeForce FX 5900, WAY better performance wise then the 9600XT and about $200 bucks, good card good performance and GOOD value

HERE (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1387&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1) is the list of cards, near the bottom is the 5900, hurry and get it before the sale ends!!

:thumbsup:

[TheLostSwede]

I tested a 9800 SE with 256bit memory yesterday, and i can tell you that i was surprised how well it ran. Unless you won't use over 1280X1060 at full blast in games, the 9800SE is a GREAT card.

[csimon]

Mackanz had this to say
I tested a 9800 SE with 256bit memory yesterday, and i can tell you that i was surprised how well it ran. Unless you won't use over 1280X1060 at full blast in games, the 9800SE is a GREAT card.
so you got it running? what was the problem?

[TheLostSwede]

Must have been shorted when i left my other 9800 hanging in the tubing but i'm positive it didn't have any contact with the case or the mainboard. Weird as hell if you ask me. But i tried it in a KX7-R (my old beuty board that still runs like a champ) and booted straight away. I got chequerboards when i used the softmod with all 8 pipes though, so the card is only able to run at default 4 pipes. Would be interesting to voltmod it though and see if that helps.

[Geeky1]

Uh, Jengo... that 5900 won't run HalfLife 2. Or any other DX9 game, for that matter.

[GnomeWizardd]

Geeky1 had this to say
Uh, Jengo... that 5900 won't run HalfLife 2. Or any other DX9 game, for that matter.

ATi all the way because of that little fact!

[SimGuy]

Geeky1 had this to say
Uh, Jengo... that 5900 won't run HalfLife 2. Or any other DX9 game, for that matter.

It will.. but instead of running pure DX9 and FP-24 bit rendering precision like the Radeon cards can, the GeForce FX will run it at FP-16 bit rendering precision and use some DX9 and DX8 extensions.

[Geeky1]

SimGuy, you forgot to mention that it'll run it like a slideshow... GeForce FX performance isn't measured in Frames Per Second; it's measured in Seconds Per Frame. They're all essentially useless as DX9 class cards.

[SimGuy]

Geeky1 had this to say
SimGuy, you forgot to mention that it'll run it like a slideshow... GeForce FX performance isn't measured in Frames Per Second; it's measured in Seconds Per Frame. They're all essentially useless as DX9 class cards.

I don't call 1024x768 @ 104fps, 1280x1024 @ 69fps and 1600x1200 @ 50fps using the Cg rendering path a slideshow. ;)

Yes, the Radeon is better, but in a pinch, the GeForce FX will run the same games, just not as fast (the exception being that crappy-assed FX5200).