Need Help buying a new VC, have a $200 budget

[ladic]

Hi, I have about a $200 budget for a new Video Card for this Xmas, which card do you guys recommend?
So far, I was thinking maybe between a Radeon 9700 128mb (non-pro) and a GForce FX 9700 Ultra 128mb, is there someonething better I can get? or which one of those is better?

Here are my sytem specs:

Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton)
MoBo: ECS L7S7A2 SiS 746 Chipset ATX Motherboard(8X AGP)
Ram: 512mb PC-2700 Kingston
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live
<b>Video Card: Gainward G-Force 3 ti200 64mb</b>
HD 1: 40GB 7200rpm Maxtor
HD 2: 20GB 5400rpm Maxtor
Case: Antec Lanboy w/See thru window and 350watt PowerSupply
CD-RW: Hitachi 8X/4X/32X
DVD: Sony 8X




<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Ladic on 11/12/03 12:52 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[ladic]

anyone?

 

[RCPilot]

Look at the Vid Card Buyers Guide on the top of this page, That's what it's there for IMO.



Dazzle them with Brilliance, or Baffle them with BS!

 

[cleeve]

$200 gets you a nice Radeon 9600XT with a Half Life 2 voucher.

Worth considering in the price range, for about $210 you can find a GeforceFX 5900, but for around $240 it'd be definitely worth the Radeon 9700 PRO or Radeon 9800 non-pro.

------------------
Radeon 9500 (hardmodded to PRO, o/c to 322/322)
AMD AthlonXP 2400+ (o/c to 2600+ with 143 fsb)
3dMark03: 4055

 

[ladic]

So, would this be a good buy?

<A HREF="http://www.ocsystem.com/atira9712ddr.html" target="_new">http://www.ocsystem.com/atira9712ddr.html</A>

 

[ladic]

$200 gets you a nice Radeon 9600XT with a Half Life 2 voucher.

Worth considering in the price range, for about $210 you can find a GeforceFX 5900, but for around $240 it'd be definitely worth the Radeon 9700 PRO or Radeon 9800 non-pro.

at which site can I find those cards and those prices?

 

[cleeve]

<A HREF="http://www.pricewatch.com/" target="_new">http://www.pricewatch.com/</A>

The cheapest 5900 is $198 there, and the cheapest 9700 PRO is $244

They have 9800 non-pros listed for $150 there but BEWARE!
They are ALL 9800SE cards, with half the pipelines and bandwidth!
Never ever get an Ati card with an "SE" in the title!

The cheapest real 9800 non-pro is $259 or so. But a 9700 PRO is actually better, so I'd go for one of those.

The 9700 at $219 is a pretty good deal too. Might be able to overclock it to 9700 PRO specs.
I'd choose a 9700 non-pro over a 5900 non-ultra any day of the week.


------------------
Radeon 9500 (hardmodded to PRO, o/c to 322/322)
AMD AthlonXP 2400+ (o/c to 2600+ with 143 fsb)
3dMark03: 4055

 

[ladic]

thanks, on that Link that I put about the Radeon 9700, is it OEM? cause I don't read any brand.

 

[cleeve]

Looks OEM to me, probably Sapphire, Powercolor, or unfortunately Gigacube...

------------------
Radeon 9500 (hardmodded to PRO, o/c to 322/322)
AMD AthlonXP 2400+ (o/c to 2600+ with 143 fsb)
3dMark03: 4055

 

[ladic]

Is Powercolor a bad brand? because most Radeon Cards that I find for cheap are that brand.

 

[cleeve]

It's not horrible. I have one, works for me.

To RMA the card directly to them though, they charge $20.

------------------
Radeon 9500 (hardmodded to PRO, o/c to 322/322)
AMD AthlonXP 2400+ (o/c to 2600+ with 143 fsb)
3dMark03: 4055