need dual-dvi card asap - help!

[slug420]

I could have sworn my ATI9800pro AIW had one DVI and one VGA connector. So i bought my 2 widescreen LCDs assuming I could use them.

Unfortunately this is not the case as it only has one DVI so I need ot get a dual dvi card asap (if im buying a card specifically for this theres no point in getting vga/dvi)

I like to play FPS games such as CS, BF, BF2 etc and would like to be capable of playing anything on the shelf right now but im not a serious gamer by any means. Watch a lot of movies on my PC, make movies, some web/graphics work etc....

My mobo right now only supports AGP so while I have not completely ruled out a enw mobo/cpu combo at this time that would give me PCI-E, I would like to stay away from spending more money if possible.

so...

1. What card woudl you reccomend for AGP?

2. What card for PCI-E

3. Would I be paying less money for a superior card if I was buying for PCI-E? (could help rationalize the purchase of the new mobo.

This is the only "reasonable priced" one i have found....but i dont know hwo good/compatible it is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150096

thanks!

 

[mdd1963]

The 6600GT in AGP is not a bad card for the money (you might be able to find a different brand for $20 cheaper on sale), but I'd also check prices of X850XT variants....

(What size are the widescreens? The 6600GT might have probs rendering modern 3d games with sufficient framerates at 1600x1080 or above resolutions, although they might squeek by without AA/AF on medium detail settings..)

6600GT in PCI-e are indeed available for about $30-$40 less, but as to wether that would warrant a new mb purchase, you'd have to decide, as it would certainly be more expensive overall...

(If you do choose to get a new PCI-e mb, I'd look instead at a 6800GS in PCI-e, which is as fast as a 6800GT usually, for about $170 or so..; and if you can sell a valuable comic book or stamp to fork up another $130, look very hard at a $299/7900GT in PCi-e only, which offers an absolutely amazing level of performance for that price point)

 

[slug420]

Thanks for the quick reply!

The screens are Dell 20.1" 2005fpw....they appear to support 1680x1050, and just to be clear I plan on playing on one screen, not on both.

Is there a card that would be a next step up in AGP land from the 6600GT that could better handle this resolution? If not, could I use a lower widescreen resolutions for my games to improve performance? ( Im not even sure how widescreen resolutions work with or translate to games )

 

[sleepdeprived82]

Next cards up in AGP

ATI X800gto or Nvidia 6800gs Medium price range about the same as each other performance wise.

then

ATI X850xt or Nvidia 7800gs Higher price range and also the top for AGP and again about the same performance wise as each other.

I would suggest one of the two top cards for running such big displays.

PCIe cards are cheaper than their AGP counter parts and also you have a lot more choice with PCIe and even better cards.

 

[sleepdeprived82]

PS lcd monitors are a bit carp when running in non native res e.g running lower than is optimal res. They Interprolate (not sure how its spelt) meaning roughly they bodge the image.