Help with Video Cards Suggestions

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I haven't bought a new video card for years and the one I own wasn't
state of the art at that time. I currently run an Asus 7100 Deluxe
Combo which uses the Nvidia Geforce 2 MX chipset. When I bought it, I
was looking for a one slot video card with a TV tuner as well. I am
thinking about building a new PC and selecting various pieces as time
and money permits. In order to test the pieces I do buy, I have them
installed in an existing PC so I won't find out they are defective too
late to return them. I also read about how PC's are built from the web
and this newsgroup since some of it is new territory for me.

When you visit the local computer stores and the online resellers, I
see a large selection of different cards epecially the Nvidia ones.
Most of them seem to have names like Nvidia 5700 etc. I can't tell how
they compare to each other and make any intelligent decision of
narrowing down the various models. Is there anywhere that explains the
different models and what you gain or lose by choosing that. I am
thinking about spending in the range of $200 or a little more if it
buys a better card. The newest state of the art cards seem to run in
the $400-$500 price range and that's beyond my budget. So far I was
thinking about an ATI 9800 model which seems to run in the $200 area.
When it comes to the Nvidia models, I have no idea how they compare. I
would like to use the system for gaming, but I am not a diehard must
have the latest state of the art graphics. I just want to be able to
run current games at a decent level. Most of the time it'll be used
for web surfing, Microsoft Office and that sort of general purpose
usage.

I am willing to get an addon TV tuner card someday in the future since
todays newer motherboards have enough free slots. I know they still
make video cards with TV tuners on them, but I am more interested in
getting good video for the money spent instead if dual use.

Thank you for any suggestions you may offer.