Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Best Graphics card for around $200
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offspringfan23   04-01-2009 at 09:29:06 AM

I'm leaning toward GeForce, but if anyone has any suggestion, I would really appreciate it. Thank You

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Jaysin   04-01-2009 at 10:02:38 AM
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Id lean towards the HD4870 though the GTX 260 216 isn't a terrible choice.

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gkay09   04-01-2009 at 10:33:52 AM
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Well its upto you...
Both the GTX 260 core 216 and the 4870 1GB are very good..Either of those will give you high performance...
But WAIT for few more days. BOth ATI and Nvidia are set to launch new cards...So you will be able to get a very good deal then...

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Dahak   04-01-2009 at 11:27:33 AM
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I agree with gkay09.Bothe the 4870 and GTX260 are good performers for around 200.But as stated by gkay,wait a couple weeks and you may get the card for even less.I actually have bothe those cards and am quite happy with the performance of them.I have 4 different systems.

Dahak

ASUS P5N-D
C2D E8500 STOCK
ZALMAN 9700 CPU COOLER
2X2GIG DDR2 1066 IN DC MODE
TOUGHPOWER 850WATT PSU
EVGA GTX 260
SMILIDON RAIDMAX GAMING CASE
LG 24IN WS LCD 1920X1080
250GIG HD/500GIG HD
LOGITECH G15 GAMING KEYBOARD
G5 GAMING MOUSE
LOGITECH Z-5500 5.1 SURROUND SYSTEM
500WATS CONTINUOUS,1000 PEAK
WIN XP PRO


Message edited by Dahak on 04-01-2009 at 11:29:31 AM
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mindless728   04-01-2009 at 02:35:40 PM
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+1 to most

both the GTX260-216 and the HD4870 1GB would be good choices

Reply to mindless728
offspringfan23   04-01-2009 at 06:24:40 PM
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How will Crysis look with those cards, what kind of settings could I run of those?

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lasoski311   04-02-2009 at 09:22:33 PM
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based on specs the MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv2 GTX 260 is the best
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127409

Reply to lasoski311
lasoski311   04-03-2009 at 12:28:53 AM
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there all pretty much the same but id go with SAPPHIRE they have the best reputation

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offspringfan23   04-03-2009 at 03:14:18 AM
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So, between the MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv2 GTX 260 and the SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit , which would be the best?

Reply to offspringfan23
lasoski311   04-03-2009 at 03:27:18 AM
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they are about as even as you can get, each one trades off being better than the other depending on which game your playing. So my advice...flip a coin or pick the one you think looks better lol thats about all i can tell you

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offspringfan23   04-03-2009 at 04:35:21 AM
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Are there any better though for the price or around the same price?

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lasoski311   04-03-2009 at 02:25:18 PM
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no those two cards are equally the best at the under $200 price point

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 02:17:45 AM
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I might just get the MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv2 GTX 260, especially since it comes with Far Cry 2

Reply to offspringfan23
jennyh   04-04-2009 at 02:35:12 AM
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Wait!

 

Don't buy any 260 or 4870 at $200 now. If you really want an Nvidia, wait 1-2 weeks and see how the 275gtx pans out. If the benchmarks are reliable, and the 275gtx can be found in stock then it will probably be the card you want.

 

You could also buy a 4890 now for very close to $200-$220 (prices will drop every day), and that is well worth paying the extra for compared to the 260 or 4870.


Message edited by jennyh on 04-04-2009 at 02:35:56 AM
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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 04:28:11 AM
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I guess I'll wait a week or two, that's a good suggestion. Now I need to get a processor, I'm leading toward the Intel Core 2 duo E8500, what does everybody think?

Reply to offspringfan23
lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 05:43:14 AM
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what motherboard do u have?

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 05:50:57 AM
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I don't have one yet, any suggestions

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lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 06:03:03 AM
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so ur building a new computer....u should have said that, whats ur overall budget? ill put together a build for you if u want.

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 06:06:23 AM
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around $800, I already have the case and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, I would definitely appreciate your help

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lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 06:08:27 AM
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do u need a monitor, keyboard or mouse?

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 06:10:38 AM
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no, I also don't need any drives

Reply to offspringfan23
lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 06:12:55 AM
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so u basically need a motherboard, processor, memory, and video card for $800?

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 06:22:49 AM
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$700 would be better if possible since I just bought the case and Vista.


Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-04-2009 at 06:23:04 AM
Reply to offspringfan23
lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 06:44:55 AM
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Well heres what i came up with.....

Processor: ($220) Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
Motherboard: ($160) EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI FTW
Memory (x2): ($50) G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
Video Card: ($190) MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv2 GeForce GTX 260 896MB

Total: $678.50 including shipping

if u still want to spend less than that u could go with a dual-core rather than quad-core and u could go with 4GB of ram rather than 8GB, but thats up to you. Let me know if u need any other suggestions.

One more thing, if you want to save money without sacrificing performance you could go with an AMD/ATI based build, let me know if that would be something u want to consider. IMO u should go with amd/ati but thats just my personal preference.

Reply to lasoski311
offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 06:59:47 AM
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looks good but what about this processor:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115036

 

BTW, this is my case:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137

 

It has 3 fans in it already but I would like some more, how many should I get and what brand?

 

I was thinking about getting 2 sets of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103022


Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-04-2009 at 07:30:23 AM
Reply to offspringfan23
boudy   04-04-2009 at 07:35:07 AM
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You want the Quad-core instead of the dual-core. You can overclock if you want 3 GHz.

If you are getting some more case fans, then you should look at CFM and dBA. DBa is how loud the fans are, and CFM is how much air the fan is moving.

I suggest these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811999127

They push a lot more air and are just about as quiet as the ones you thought of. Plus they are the same price.

Reply to boudy
offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 07:39:48 AM
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but there is only one fan for 9.99, I'd be afraid to overclock , because I've never done that, I'd be afraid that I'd ruin it.

Message quoted 2 times
Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-04-2009 at 07:42:28 AM
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boudy   04-04-2009 at 07:47:13 AM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

but there is only one fan for 9.99



Ahhh, you got me! lol
Alright, so its $10 more......

Reply to boudy
boudy   04-04-2009 at 07:49:49 AM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

I'd be afraid to overclock , because I've never done that, I'd be afraid that I'd ruin it.



Its perfectly alright to be afraid. Its a very scary thing for a first timer. The forums here are a great place to ask for help though: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] uals-guide

Reply to boudy
lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 08:01:12 AM
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i would stick with the quad-core i suggested, its much better than the dual-core

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offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 08:10:52 AM
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Is it going to be slower than the one I showed since it has 2.66GHz instead of 3.16GHz, sorry, I'm kind of a noob when it comes to this stuff. On some of the reviews I've seen they say the duo is better than quad right now since games don't take advantage of the quad.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-04-2009 at 09:15:32 AM
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boudy   04-04-2009 at 06:09:46 PM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

Is it going to be slower than the one I showed since it has 2.66GHz instead of 3.16GHz, sorry, I'm kind of a noob when it comes to this stuff. On some of the reviews I've seen they say the duo is better than quad right now since games don't take advantage of the quad.



There are going to be new games that take definite advantage of quad-cores. A quad is going to be more future proof.

Reply to boudy
offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 06:31:54 PM
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Alright that sounds good, but would AMD be better?

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to offspringfan23
Bluescreendeath   04-04-2009 at 07:30:13 PM
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For gaming, get a good dual core. If you're going to do some significant overclocking, then get a quad core.

Reply to Bluescreendeath
lasoski311   04-04-2009 at 08:14:04 PM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

Alright that sounds good, but would AMD be better?



ur going to get very mixed opinions about this, i personally think AMD is better because they are cheaper. With intel ur paying for the brand, but then again this is just my opinion, lots of people think intel is more reliable than AMD and maybe it is but who knows.

Reply to lasoski311
boudy   04-04-2009 at 08:30:39 PM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

Alright that sounds good, but would AMD be better?



Performance-wise, no.
If you wanted to have a AMD processor, you might as well go with the Dragon platform...completely.

Reply to boudy
offspringfan23   04-04-2009 at 10:48:29 PM
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so many choices, what do you mean a dragon platform?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-05-2009 at 02:26:01 AM
Reply to offspringfan23
boudy   04-05-2009 at 07:12:30 AM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

so many choices, what do you mean a dragon platform?



The Dragon platform is a Phenom II processor, a 790GX motherboard, and a 4800 series graphics card. (the RAM doesnt matter)
Honestly, it is a cheaper alternative to what lasoski suggested. It is supposed to get very good gaming performance as well.

Here is a example of what a Dragon platform would look like:
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128378

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231190

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

Altogether, with 578.15 with shipping.
And thats with a quad-core CPU, DDR3 memory, a nice motherboard, and a really nice video card. Wow!

Reply to boudy
offspringfan23   04-05-2009 at 08:19:51 AM
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I'm getting a lot of different replies so I'm going to wait on the graphics card and processor. What about the PSU, how is this one?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 966d859afe

 

Or if you guys have any other suggestions just let me know.

 

Also I want a hard drive that has at least 500gb


Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-05-2009 at 08:49:06 AM
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offspringfan23   04-05-2009 at 09:21:52 AM
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I was browsing newegg and I found this puppy:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103471

 

It sounds amazing, what do you guys think?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by offspringfan23 on 04-05-2009 at 08:54:05 PM
Reply to offspringfan23
lasoski311   04-06-2009 at 03:21:09 AM
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offspringfan23 wrote :

I was browsing newegg and I found this puppy:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103471

It sounds amazing, what do you guys think?



the cpu i just built for myself has that processor and a Antec PSU similar to the one u suggested, both are great and i highly recommend them.

Reply to lasoski311
offspringfan23   04-06-2009 at 04:49:21 AM
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Thanks, I think I'm going with those

Reply to offspringfan23
boudy   04-06-2009 at 05:56:39 AM
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That is a nice PSU. Its a recommended brand (or at least one that I would recommend).
That is a great CPU. It can overclock well, despite already being at 2.8GHz, and it is quad-core.

Reply to boudy
offspringfan23   04-06-2009 at 10:46:39 PM
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I just purchased the PSU and CPU, now I hae to get a motherboard graphics card and some fans

Reply to offspringfan23
offspringfan23   04-07-2009 at 12:37:23 AM
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Anybody know of a great hard drive with at least 500gb that would work well with what I have so far?

Reply to offspringfan23
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