Ive got $140 for a card but............

[barthautala]

I read the article and threads concerning the cards for the best price around 150 bucks. So I took this info and went over to newegg and tigerdirect...........now Im confused.

ASUS or ATI or HIS or Nvidia or EVGA or GeCube or WTF?

I dont even know where to begin to find a comparison on the same model card over different brand names. I ask because I can get what seems like a really sweet card from an off brand versus what seems like a low end card from a mainstream (ATI or Nvidia) for the same price. For instance a 512mb card from Sparkle vs an Nvidia 256 for the same price......are there comparisons for this?

I dont want to spend 150 bucks on what is supposed to be a nice card but ends up being a piece of crap.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[TurdBurglar]

From my experience, ATI tends to charge more if you order directly through them. The vendors such as eVGA, HIS, and GeCube tend to offer lower prices. They are not "off brands" as you said. I like HIS personally because they tend to offer better cooling solutions with their boards. eVGA and Gecube are also both fine brands for video cards. I have owned cards from each. The only brand I have ever had bad luck with is Jaton. Good luck.

 

[emp]

nVidia does not sell nVidia branded cards, they only make engineering samples and reference cards for testing I believe. However Ati is a whole different beast, they do sell their Ati branded cards, but kind of reminds me a bit of Apple, for everything they put their label in you have to pay a premium even if it's not as good as others or just the same. In this case for every ati product you buy you'll pay a premium, however it is the exact same product you'll get from say... Sapphire.

Which card to get huh? Well for Around $130 you can get from newegg the Sapphire X1950Pro 256mb or for $130 you can also get from tigerdirect the 7900GS, which are comparable cards.

EVGA GeForce 7900 GS KO / 256MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...E145-7892&SRCCODE=SHOPPINGDF&CMP=OTC-SHOPPING

SAPPHIRE 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061

EDIT: However this is where your money will be best spent:

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

This card is priced a bit higher than what you intended to pay ($145 after rebate) however this is the best card you can get for the money right now, and a very nice jump in performance in comparison to the 7900GS or X1950 Pro.

 

[Yoosty]

Hi BartHautala,

Is this for an AGP or PCIe graphic card that you are looking for.

AGP
ATI
SAPPHIRE 100209L Radeon X1950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Video Card - Retail $139.99
($119.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102093

nVidia
XFX PVT71KUDF3 GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $179.99
($149.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150174

PCIe
ATI
SAPPHIRE 100199L Radeon X1950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $129.99
($109.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102034

SAPPHIRE 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $136.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061

SAPPHIRE 100200L Radeon X1950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $139.99**
($119.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102094

SAPPHIRE 100210L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $144.99.**
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102102

nVidia
eVGA e-GeForce 7900 GS PCI Express 256MB GDDR3 Video Card w/Dual DVI-I and HDTV Retail ***Free Shipping***
$159.99.*
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322821

EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GEFORCE 7900GS KO 256MB DDR3 PCI-E DUAL DVI / HDTV Out RoHS $149.90.*
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA50770

Notes
EVGA Step-Up™ Program. In order to give our customers the greatest amount of flexibility when purchasing EVGA video cards, we have instituted the EVGA Step-Up™ Program. Participants will be allowed, for one time only, to trade in their existing EVGA video card and upgrade to a select greater performing video card.
http://www.evga.com/stepup/default.asp?switch=3

* Either of EVGA graphic is good choice, but a little over what you listed for your price range, but EVGA Step-Up prpgram makes up for that.

** Best choices for ATI PCIe graphic cards in your price range.

Any AGP is good.

Hope this helps you out some.

 

[barthautala]

See this is what I dont get.........

My instincts tell me that this card is probably junk

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3 053784&CatId=1558

But youre all saying that the brand doesnt matter? That another branded card that cost 3x as much will perform the same?

I shouldve stated PCI-e..........sorry. Thank you for your leg work Yoosty.

Ive noticed something funny also. Most of the reviewers here at Toms hardware seems to favor ATI when everyone else in the internet world seem to favor Nvidia. The chipset to me isnt important as real world performance data.

 

[barthautala]

also I was considering the XFX 8600 XXX edition. Why would I choose this over the 7900 as above.......or vice versa?

 

[emp]

That card is not really a piece of junk, it's just common garbage... that's all. Check out the cards I showed you above, they are the absolute best you can get for your money. (And no, I don't favor Ati or nvidia, I favor whoever gives me the most for my money)

EDIT: Stay AWAY from the HD2600 or 8600 series, they are complete and utter trash (except for PCs that are intended to be used ONLY and SOLELY as HTPCs). Right now the only gaming card choices other than the high end 8800 or HD2900 are the 7900GS, 7950GT, X1950XT, and X1950Pro.

 

[barthautala]

I appreciate the help. One last question - Is a direct X 10 card required cause I thought Direct X was just software? I watched the video on Tiger Direct for the 8600 and they showed a FSX screenie showing one vs the other DX10 vs DX9.

 

[Yoosty]

I shouldve stated PCI-e..........sorry. Thank you for your leg work Yoosty.

Ive noticed something funny also. Most of the reviewers here at Toms hardware seems to favor ATI when everyone else in the internet world seem to favor Nvidia. The chipset to me isnt important as real world performance data.

No problem on the leg work. One time when I only gave nVidia card choice, I got ripped by the ATI Fanboys, so I now include both sides.

Since on my main computer I have EVGA Quad SLi (2x7950) and might upgrade later this year when the new nVidia 2gen DX10 cards come out.

As Emp said : Right now the only gaming card choices other than the high end 8800 or HD2900 are the 7900GS, 7950GT, X1950XT, and X1950Pro.

Those are your best choices and for the money you have for card. It narrows the field down to either the ATI 1950's or the nVIDIA 7900's. My choice given EVGA Step-up program would be the nVidia 7900's cards.

 

[emp]

DirectX10 is an API that requires a compatible card, however games for the next months (12-18 at least) will be released with DX9 support as well. But the point I want to emphasize is on is that even though they advertise the 8600 to have DirectX10 support (which it does) it lacks raw performance to make use of it, you'll probably end up watching a DX10 slide show with one of those cards, instead of playing a game.

 

[pesh]

I agree in general the need to stay away from HD2600 and 8600 cards.
But for the price, the 8600GT is a steal for a dx10 card.
Its all about what kinda games you are looking to play and how long you wait to do upgrades. If your looking for highend gaming, budget price, short term, 7900 series and 19xx series will do the job fantasticly. I came from a x1900GT and now have a 8600GT and have indeed shown performance increase, I only paid 115 bucks for the card as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127286

 

[kaotao]

No problem on the leg work. One time when I only gave nVidia card choice, I got ripped by the ATI Fanboys, so I now include both sides.

No, you got ripped because you didn't have a clue as to what you were talking about.

To the OP: In the $150 price range, the best PCI-E card hands down is this X1950XT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

 

[barthautala]

Spent a couple extra bucks and bought a X1950XTX.

 

[kaotao]

How much extra?

 

[emp]

The XTX is a great card.. however I think the only difference between the X1950XT and the X1950XTX are clock speeds and maybe that the XTX has GDDR4.

 

[barthautala]

that xt only had 256 gdd3 vs the 512 the xtx has. It was a smokin deal anyways.

 

[emp]

But by how much and where? I'd like to check it out, I haven't seen a decently priced XTX in ages.

 

[rsetter1]

POWERCOLOR X1950PRO512MBAC Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $159.99 after rebate
Newegg Item #: N82E16814131055

 

[kaotao]

POWERCOLOR X1950PRO512MBAC Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $159.99 after rebate
Newegg Item #: N82E16814131055

Not a good deal...