Best card for $260 Range

[shakaka]

Hey there I am trying to figure out which video card I will buy for an E8400 build. What I am looking at now is the GeForce 8600 GT OC by BFG Tech (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8594381&productCategoryId=abcat0507002&type=product&tab=2&id=1190678470708#productdetail) or a regular Geforce 8600GTS like this one(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500006).

I havent ruled out a Radeon 3870 but I just want to know with Nvidia's new 9600 line coming out which is the best card in this range now a days? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[emp]

This is probably the BEST deal out there for a $250 card, especially since it comes with The Witcher.

MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

And if you read closely you're not showing 8600GT or GTS, you're showing two 8800GT. The Best Buy one is a horribly overpriced card, and so is the Zotac on newegg.

 

[shakaka]

Oops damnit, Yeah I meant 8800 I was thinking about the 9600 and got mixed up. I am a little behind on my video cards. So that MSI one is the best you think? I was looking at Tom's VGA charts and it looked like the GT OC out performed GTS's, by a decent margin.

Another question that is off topic, I am going to have 8GB of RAM in this system and was trying to decide between Vista 64 bit or WIndows XP 64 bit, does anyone have any feedback as to which may be better overall for gaming?

 

[invisik]

ya i would go with the 8800gts g92.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yep, 8800GTS (G92).

 

[cisco]

My personal choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Evga might be slightly better to deal with, but they have the same core clock and the MSI is cheaper so thats what I'd opt for... unless you want the step up program.

 

[Avenger_K]

My personal choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130325

I'd take this one and overclock it myself.

 

[ZOldDude]

Get a 8800GTS 512 (G92)...any brand they all OC to the same place.
Avoid the ones on Newegg they are overpriced...you can find them for $220 USD.

 

[angry_ducky]

Stretch your budget by $30 and get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130072

 

[emp]

Honestly if you're going to be gaming only, then 2GB is enough and 4GB is plenty, by the time we actually will make use of 4GB we will be somewhere waiting for the 32nm die shrink of nehalem, so 4GB should be plenty even until Sandy Bridge (Next architectural change from intel after nehalem), so I'd only put 4GB now.

I'm one of the few followers of XP 64, however I'm all up for Vista after SP1, it seems that any huge gaps in performance have been closed and the few gaps left are in the single digits (single digit FPS differences), and it definitely has potential to perform better than XP (You can see Vista SP1 consistently stomping on XP when Oblivion is tested). I'd say, if you have to buy a new OS, then buy Vista 64, if you can use an old OS, then stick with XP until you feel like jumping on Vista. Personally, I got Vista here for some time, and I'll be jumping for good on my next formatting (Sometime in april).

 

[shakaka]

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Is the extra performance from the GTX worth it over the GTS? That link angry_ducky gave me seems like a beast. I think I am going to get that card now.

 

[spotless]

what the intended resolution u are going to use?

 

[phuzed]

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Is the extra performance from the GTX worth it over the GTS? That link angry_ducky gave me seems like a beast. I think I am going to get that card now.

It's a slightly better card but honestly its not $90 better then the GTS by any means imo.

You can find a GTS (g92) card for around $200..

Here is an example.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500004

If your on any kind of budget then I think the GTS (g92) cards are a much better bang for the buck card.

 

[ZOldDude]

Is the extra performance from the GTX worth it over the GTS?

Not to me it's not.
For half the price and alot less power/heat of a GTX the new GTS (G92) does it all and the human eye can't tell between that and dual GTX's.