What would be a decent gaming card for about $100-150?

[aj95]

OK, lets keep this short and simple. im looking for a gaming graphics card for about 100-150 dollars. any recommendations?

maybe something to run crysis. ( NOT on like max settings just enough to play it.)
and CoD4. im CURRENTLY running on a HD3650 just to get me by. (i get low FPS in CoD4. like 15-25 )

 

[Dekasav]

an HD 4850 would be the best, but at the top of the range. An 8800GT or 9800GT would be good, too, and they're a little cheaper. Either one would probably do you quite well.

 

[yonef]

HD4850, Definitely

 

[dieseldre2k]

100+ posts and ur telling me u've never seen this here?
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Best-Graphics-Card,2033-3.html


*edit* u didnt post what resolution u game at, but this is another chart that gives u approximate fps (change according to ur resolution, but im assuming ur using 1680x1050):
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/Call-of-Duty-4-v1-6,745.html

 

[NewLCD123]

You didn't mention how slow your cpu is, but I suspect youd benefit more from a cpu upgrade, especially since you don't care about running max settings, just getting high fps.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

4830, not 4850. With an overclock it will perform like a 4850 for a good bit less.

 

[aj95]

thanks. i totally forgot about that FPS chart.

 

[sentenced83]

4850 or a 8800 gt

 

[dagger]

thanks. i totally forgot about that FPS chart.

You should not look at that Tomshardware chart. It's just plain bad. Look at how 8800gts sli far outperforming 4870 cf, or single gtx260 far outperforming 9800gx2. I don't know how they get results like that, but it's BS.

Here's a real benchmark chart:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4850_X2/26.html

 

[Wrecks]

The Asus EN9800GTX+ Dark Knight Edition
- check out the cooling compared to the rest
- I just got one, and with fan at 100%, showed 42 Celsius after 3dmark
- $159.99 after mail in rebate from here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=9800GTX

My system before


My system after


Haven't really played any games that test it yet. Sorry for the poor quality images, but you can see that is a pretty substantial leap in performance on 3dmark.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

The Asus EN9800GTX+ Dark Knight Edition
- check out the cooling compared to the rest
- I just got one, and with fan at 100%, showed 42 Celsius after 3dmark
- $159.99 after mail in rebate from here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=9800GTX

My system before
[url]http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/8981/stockscoremt7.png[/URL]

My system after
[url]http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3590/3dmark06fa4.jpg[/URL]

Haven't really played any games that test it yet. Sorry for the poor quality images, but you can see that is a pretty substantial leap in performance on 3dmark.

Synthetic Benchmarks mean nothing. That card does not even have that great a factory overclock, and the stock cooler is about as good as that one...

My cousin's 8800 GTS 512 when I just tested one scored higher than that set at 810/2180 with the fan at 72%, which is not very audible. That card is overpriced, but I am not a fan of factory OC'd cards to begin with, its easy enough to do it yourself. That said you got a great card, just not the best for your money. I do recommend booting up Rivatuner or ATI Tools and doing some overclocking though.

 

[Wrecks]

Cooling. Have another look at all the manufacturers cards, and tell me Asus' cooling solution doesn't look better than the rest. It works, too. Coolest running card I've ever had. It will be stupid easy to clean, also.

So, a year down the road and a little dust, and those stock cooled, factory O/Ced cards are going to bake. This thing will be running cool as a cucumber.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

The stock cooling for the 8800 GTS 512/ 9800 GTX is a cooler made by Zalman. The cooler on the "dark knight" edition is the Arctic Cooling (or a very similar knock off) heatsink which when used with the fan kit cools almost exactly as well as the stock Zalman cooler. You realize that it is very easy to remove dust, it is called compressed air.