which Vid Card should i buy? (budget around c$ 100)

If you all you do is play online games, encode, rip DVDs, then you dont need much power at all in a card. The toughest load a card would have with you is online games, as encoding and ripping DVDs takes no load from a gfx card. Just get the 6200, it should do you nicely.

NONE.

Get a used 9700 PRO or 9800 PRO from ebay for ~ $60 cdn... it'll beat the snot out of any of those cards listed.

If you're a gamer on a budget, it's the way to go.

what about those 9600pro and x1300 ?

Thx again for the suggestion.
Tom

Yep. Hell, the 9700 PRO is even better than the X1300.

The 9550, 9600, X600, 5200, 5200FX, 6200, and 5500 are ALL 4 pipeline cards. They can output 4 pixel per clock.

The 9700 PRO / 9800 PRO can process TWICE that per clock - 8 pipelines, 8 shader units, 8 pixels per clock.

Keep in mind the X1300 runs almost twice the clockspeed as the 9700 PRO... but it's memory isn't faster, and the 9700 PRO has twice the memory interface (256-bit vs the X1300's 128-bit)

the bottom line: If you want to game to the best of your ability, and you can't afford a new 6600 or X1300, a used 9700 PRO or 9800 PRO will be cheaper and perform better anyway.

The 9500 PRO is also a good used card, about as good as the X1300.

is there anything in my list that would b at least as good as my old one?

i kinda comparing N6200 and my old 9500 pro atm.
and not sure about the different b.w these two.
can someone help me out?

and thx very much to cleeve, however, i still don't like the idea of buying second hand though.
do you have any other suggestion?

i'm really apprecaite for any suggestion here.
Thx again
Tom

An X1300 or 6600 should be a bit better than your old 9500 PRO, but not much.

none of the card in my list is at least as good as my old 9500 pro?

i didnt vote because th echoices sucked

k, i STILL run a 9700pro on my older system, been kicken for 3+ years now. Even runs fear (800x600, no SS no AA medim settings, low physics) and others ok. the 9500 was a clipped 9700 pro chip which is why it was so killer. (easy to unlock it to a 9700 perf) the 9550 is NOT an improvement. It is an entirely new chip, like said above closer to the 9600 which was also not an improvement. (in most games of the time that is)

NONE of the 5xxx series from Nv cannot even hold a candle to the 95/9700 chips. (and 9800 later) They are WAY SUB-PAR in comparrison.

This leaves the 6200 as the only choice if you dont want to go used. While it may service you ok, you will prb see slightly less perf. over your old card but to be honest I havent seen that new of a card stacked up against that old of one (the 9500) in any benchies. It is kindof a gamble, but that is prb your best bet, and it seems that the voters agree.

one other thought: if you do alot of dvd ripping and especially encoding then the x1300 (or any x1000 series) allows AVIVO and ati's video encoder app that uses the gpu for video format conversions... very fast, and AVIVO is much better picture qual. If that is a bigger focus for you you will prb like that better... just avoid the "smart cache" versions (or whatever ati calls it) and make sure it is also agp and not pci-e.

here endeth my 2 bits.

In reply to Cleeve:



A 6600 will absolutely punish a 9500 Pro. Do you mean a 6200?

tom_mk you would be better off getting an old 9700 Pro/9800 Pro, HOWEVER, if you can get together a few more $$, and didn't want to go the used route, then you could purchase a NEW 6600, for around $100 CAD.

wow, i didn't notice the 6600, thought he meant 6200! doh!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...

There's a 6600 for $90.

that great!!
but should i increase my budget a bit and grab the 256mb instead.

price >> http://search.ncix.com/search.php?q=N6600+agp&SUB=Searc...
128 = C$118
256 = C$153

would it be any lot of difference in perf?
let's say playing game.. and video encoding.?



Thx again
Tom

i just found that those price are not for the GT.
will the GT and non-GT be big different in money worth?

Definately do not bother with a 256 mb card that is under $200. 128 will suffice for everything the card can handle. As for the 6600 GT and 6600, yeah there is a pretty decent price difference between them, usually around ~$50 CAD. For your budget I would just go with a 6600 128 MB.

get the 6600gt; it'll blow away a regular 6600, even one with 256 mb.

In reply to angry_ducky:




Yeah, but originally his budget was under $100 CAD, and a 6600GT AGP is like $160 CAD at the very cheapest. That's why I recommend the 6600 128.

is it true that
EVGA E-GEFORCE 6600GT 128M DDR3 AGP8X VGA DVI HD Out Video Card
http://search.ncix.com/displayproductdetail.php?sku=135...

can not run properly with the 450W??
cos mine is only 400W though.
wat about the normal 6600?

Both a 6600 and 6600 GT should run perfectly fine with your PSU. Where are you located by the way?

vancouver, BC Canada.

Yeah, ok check out www.atic.ca. Prices are the best in Vancouver, they are on broadway near main. You can find those 2 cards you listed for $10 less or so, customer service is horrible, so make sure you know what you want before you go in,  . Are you going to go with a 6600 GT, or 6600?

prolly 660GT

the price seems ok though.. even thought i need to untie my budget
http://www.atic.ca/index.php?page=LongDesc&sku=11712

best option of all mentioned, good choice man.