well, i'm debating on which Video card is worth the money. My main usage of computers is:
- DVDs
- Music/listen/record/mix
- Inet browsing
- some games (but demanding HL2, BF2,i.e.)
- web design,creation/photo design
- multitasking

I'm skeptical about paying $400+ on the 7800GTX (since i don't do lots of gaming). Which GPU would you recommend?

1.) 7800GTX
2.) 7800GT
3.) 6800GT
4.) another

5.) Also, which brands/specs/price/link?

$450 is a lot of f*&^ing money for a current GPU, when in near future the prices will eventually drop. so ill need a demanding card thats appropriate for my usage, what's ur expert opinions?

my upgraded comp will be:
-FSP AX450-PN ATX12V 450W PSU
-AMD X2 4200+ Manchester
-EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra
-OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB
-Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM
- VIDEO CARD

p.s. i have a GeForce MX400, so anything will look good, just lemme know ur opinion's, THANKS in advance! -take care, hope you had a merry xmas

IF
you are considering a 6800gt
THEN
i would buy a 6800gs instead
because
they are quite a lot cheaper than 6800gt
and
they perform almost the same
and
they are by large consensus
the mid-range bang-for-buck card
UNLESS
you have a killer price on the 6800gt

by the sound of it
the other cards u mention
would be overkill
if u're not much of a gamer
but
as always
it depends
how much
$$$
mean to you.

That's also my opinion.

If money happened to be not an option would the person be better off waiting for a 7800GTX XXX Edition as I have looked at specs and reviews and this card is no doubt a monster (BFG version) or would you consider the dual GPU cards proposed by ASUS 7800GT Dual card.

Although it works well on F.E.A.R but not on Quake 4 as pointed out by Toms hadrware review. The question is I was wondering whether it is good in the area of BF2

What is the futue of dual GPUs anyway? I have been searching on google but points me towards gigabyte and ASUS... anyone else taking this up?

Many thanks
P[e]nt

Personally I think the 7800 GT is the best card for the money right now. I got my XFX 7800 GT for $280 after rebate. The 7800 GTX is great, but the price is a tad high. The 7800 GT kills the 6800 GS and the 6800 GT. In fact I don't know why anyone would get a 6800 right now with the 7800 GT priced so reasonable. NewEgg has the eVGA 7800 GT for $299 plus $4.89 shipping with no rebate to mess with. The card comes factory overclocked from 400 MHz to 445 MHz and it also comes with Quake4.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130256

For god's sake, guys.

If you don't do alot of gaming, I can basically GUARANTEE you that a $240 Geforce 6800GS or $200 Radeon X800 GTO would be *MORE* than you'd need for at least a year or two.

If you're a casual gamer, any 7800 based card would be killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

A 6800 GS will play HL2 & Doom3 at nice settings with ease.

Unless you have a desire to throw away scads of cash, there's no need for anything better than a 6800GS or X800 GTO for a casual gamer. Hell, there are serious gamers who don't have the cash and get by just fine with 6600 GTs.

A $750 GTX 512 is overkill. A $280 7800 GT is not that much more than a $240 6800GS. $40 is not "scads of cash" to me, perhaps it is to you.

Ultimately the OP should be the one to judge what is overkill and what is not. FEAR is already bogging down my 7800 GT. I've got to turn down the shadows and volumetric lights in order for the game to play smooth.

xslim-dude

Games are about the only thing on your list that stresses a video card. If you like playing the latest games than a good video card is a must. How much you want to spend is up to you. If you are looking for a card to play semi-current games like HL2 than I agree with Cleeve a 6800 should be fine. Already there are games that stress a 6800 pretty hard and it is only going to get worse in the future. I can almost GUARANTEE you will be disapointed with a 6800 inside of two years. In fact I bet you will even be getting tired of the 7800 (if you get one) inside of two years.

I just got an XFX 7800 GT for $280 after rebate to replace a 6800 that was 10 months old. The 6800 played Doom3 great but it had trouble with FarCry (my favorite game) at medium to high settings.

Please let us know what you decide.

The fellow pointed out that in his opinion "$450 is a lot of f*&^ing money for a current GPU, when in near future the prices will eventually drop. so ill need a demanding card thats appropriate for my usage, what's ur expert opinions?"

It would seem that he considers $450 to be "scads of cash", and it would seem to me that he'd like the cheapest solution to fit his needs. As far as his minior gaming needs go, a 7800 GT *is* overkill. He would never see the difference in performance if he's a casual gamer running 1024x768 or even 1280x960.

$240 was a high estimation, you can grab 6800 GSs for as low as $210. So a $70 difference probably isn't justified in this case.

Not that I ave a problem with the 7800 GT, it is the best high-performance gaming bang for the buck. But when a casual gamer comes asking for a card that will fill his needs and everyone starts yelling "7800!", I have an issue with that.

But if he's informed and want's to invest the $80 into a bit more longevity, that's a fine choice as well. But by no means does he need that level of hardware to sustain his gaming needs, that should be made clear.

The cheapest I've found a 7800 GT at NewEgg lately is $285 plus shipping and a rebate is involved to get it that low. If you don't want to fuss with rebates $299 is the about the going rate.

Personally I think the 6800 GT is too close in price to the 7800 GT but of course that is up to you. The cheapest NewEgg has a 6800 GT for is $240 with rebate and if you don't want to fuss with rebates $253 is the going rate on 6800 GTs. I guess none of us are suggesting the 6800 GT.

I was thinking that for $240 the 6800 GS was also too close in price to the 7800 GT ( I only paid $280 for my 7800) however the 6800 GS can be had easily for around $200 which makes it much more attractive. It looks like the difference in price is more like 85 dollars and more like $100 if you don't like fussing with rebates. With that in mind I'll join in and suggest the 6800 GS as well, sorry for the misunderstanding, I should have checked prices on the 6800 GS instead of running with the $240 figure.

Gigabyte 6800 GS for $199.99 plus only $3.50 shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125218


Cleeve is right on track (IMO) The 6800 XT and the (barf) 6600 LE are crap and are to be avoided.

Looking back it seems we agree on everything. The 7800 GTX is too expensive and overkill for now. The 6800 XT is crap and the 6600 LE is total crap. The 6800 GT is ok but it is over priced compared to the 6800 GS and the x800 XL.

I think we all agree that the 6800 GS is a fine card for the money. The OP mentioned that $450 was too much but did not mention what was just right. I think we all also agree that if the video card budget is $300 than a 7800 GT is the way to go.

There really isn't anything in between unless you can find a x800 XT somewhere.

BTW if we have any ATI fans in a similar situation the x800 XL is in the same ballpark as the 6800 GS and is about the same price at around $200. At the $300 level you have no choice except to become an nVidia fan.

The fault is mine, I misquoted the GS to start with. My apologies.

I personally would hesitate to recommend the X800 XL over the 6800 GS, since the 6800 pretty much beats it in everything (but not by much) - however the X800 XL is a dismal overclocker from what I've seen, and the 6800 GS is a champ.

However, the X800 GTO2 is a great alternative around $200, built on the R480 (X850 XT) chip, pretty much guaranteed 16 pipelines and good overclocking upgrade to X850 XT for free with a BIOS flash.

But yeah, $300 segment is pwned by nvidia.

A bit higher is gets a little more muddled between the 7800 GTX and X1800 XT tho...

Just one more thing and then I'll shut up. The 7800 GS might be coming soon..........

Where'd you hear that?

I thought it was just speculation. I'm sure something like that'd come out sooner or later, I wonder if they'll disable pipes or simply lower the clockspeeds of a 7800 GT to make a 7800 GS.

Or guys like me who still have TI4200s.

It is speculation, hence the "might be".

Anand has an early sample.....

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2616