Video Card $160-$180 - Help Me Find one Please!

Camman

As posted in this thread http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31285 my video card got hosed and I now type this to you on my monitor which has lots of nice pink bars running through the screen.

So anyway, I'm looking for a video card with comparable (preferbly BETTER) performance to my Radeon 9700 Pro in the $160-$180 range. Replacing the 9700 Pro upright seemed foolish as the card is like $230 on Newegg.

The card I'm looking at now is an Abit 9600XT 256mb. It's $155 on Newegg (http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814123150) it looks from the specs that it will perform as well as my 9700 pro, but, I havent followed video cards for a long while because I havent been planning on buying one.

Any help with this is GREATLY appreciated. I'm looking for a budget performer. so, I'd like to spend 160-180 bucks as I said but I want something that will run games like HL2 and Doom 3 okay like my 9700 Pro could.

Thanks for your help in advanced

GnomeWizardd

6600gt

Mt_Goat

The 9700 Pro you have is a 256 bit memory interface part where as the 9600XT is a 128 bit memory interface part and will never be on the same level performance wise. The 6600GT Gnome suggested is also a 128 bit memory interface but due to its newer architecture and technology will perform on par in some games and just below the 9800 Pro in others. It might be my personal opinion but I feel that the 9700/9800 series cards produce a richer image than the 6600GT. I did find 2 cards that are better than what you linked to for about the same price and you can decide between ATI and Nvidia.

SAPPHIRE Radeon 9800PRO 128MB 256-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X $159.00 w/ Free Shipping

XFX Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X $189.00 - $30.00 Mail-in Rebate =$159.00 w/ $4.00 Shipping

Camman

thanks for the help guys! I am slightly partial to ATi because I really liked my 9700 Pro, it'll be a tough decision I think. I did not know about the difference in the memory interface, a friend of mine has a 9600XT and I wasnt sure whether it was faster or slower than my 9700.

Mt_Goat

Camman wrote:

thanks for the help guys! I am slightly partial to ATi because I really liked my 9700 Pro, it'll be a tough decision I think. I did not know about the difference in the memory interface, a friend of mine has a 9600XT and I wasnt sure whether it was faster or slower than my 9700.

Yes, there is actually a substantial difference between the 9600XT and the 9800 Pro. While the numbers on the 6600GT look good I am still partial to the ATI card.

GnomeWizardd

I was really partial to ATI durning the 8500 - 9800xt i owned every model of ati. BUT ive owned a 6800 6800GT and now a 6600GT and am very happy with them