Best value card?

[kakita_jimbo]

Hey folks,

I know there's the larger general guide, but I am trying to build a workable gaming system on a very tight budget, and wondering if I can get by with a 9550 or a 9600 (and which one I should go for) vs. spending the extra $75-$100 on a 6600 TD. Is the 6600 LE card any good at all? I really would like to avoid the higher costs on the TD card.

Here are the cards and the prices (in Canadian dollars).

Asus A9550GE/TD AGP Video Card w/128Mb $75.00

Gigabyte GeForce 6200 AGP Video Card w/256Mb - GV-N62256D $94.00

Gigabyte Radeon 9600 Pro AGP Video Card w/256Mb - GV-R96P256D $99.00

Sapphire Radeon X1300 Pro PCI-E Video Card w/256Mb $129.00

Asus N6600LE/TD AGP Video Card w/256Mb $137.00

Asus N6600/TD AGP Video Card w/256Mb $171.00

Of those six cards, what would you guys suggest is the best value on a card? Any good advice is *very much* appreciated. There are just too many options and after trying to do some research, I still am no closer to knowing what is the best value in a card. Thank you!

 

[cleeve]

I personally voted X1300 PRO because of it's enhanced video functionality, but the 6600LE is probably a bit better as far as strictly gaming goes.

For the price difference between the 6600LE and 6600, it's not worth it to get the 6600.

So if you want the best game performance for your dollar, get the 6600LE and overclock it. You might approach 6600GT speeds on the core, and if you're lucky, 6600 speeds on the memory.

But if you do alot of video editing/encoding, get the X1300 PRO... and then overclock it...

NOTE:
You have both PCI-express and AGP cards listed there. If you're building a new system, you'd be crazy not to get a PCI-express motherboard. So if you can't find a 6600 PCI-express, get the X1300 PRO for sure.

 

[kakita_jimbo]

Thanks so much for the advice. I bought a 9600 PRO for my current system (2400+ with a gig of RAM) about a year ago and it seems to still run things well...I was wondering if it was worth it for the price difference (which is really only $20). Is the 9550/9600 PRO just too old now to be of any use at all?

Is there a huge difference between PCI-Express and AGP cards? Is the performance difference significant? Would most motherboards have PCI-Express slots, or would you be paying more for one with them?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I personally voted X1300 PRO because of it's enhanced video functionality, but the 6600LE is probably a bit better as far as strictly gaming goes.

I don't even know if it's better at gaming in general.

Look at the Xbit review of the S3, which puts an X1300Pro against an X700, GF6600 and GF6600DDR2;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/s3-chrome-s27.html

I'd say the X1300PRO does very well indeed.
Add the video abilities ontop of that and of the above that's the winner IMO too.