new video card recommendation

[squidgy]

I have a 2-year old P4 2.66, 1 GB of memory with an ati 9800 pro.

I wouldnt call myself a heavy gamer but I have been playing a lot of Doom 3 lately and plan on moving to HL2 when I'm done with Doome.

I want to keep my current system for at least another year but I'm wondering if there's a video card I can get for maybe $200 or so that'll increase my current level of performance.

Would the X800 be a good match for my current setup? Also, my current power supply is only 250 watts. Will that be a problem?

 

[Mullet]

The power supply could be a problem but depends on what other components you are running. A good GPU for your system would be a 6600GT or like you say an X800. I believe that doom works best with ATI so go X800.

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[pauldh]

I wouldn't upgrade without making a big enough jump. A radeon 9800 pro does great in HL2. far better than in Doom3. With a 9800 pro, I played through it at 1280x1024 highest details, but without FSAA enabled. To me, you need a X800 pro, X800XL, 6800GT caliber card to really make a big difference, and you will want a new power supply with those. Until you can buy one of those, try OC'in the 9800 pro if you need a few more fps.

If you are in the USA or Canada, ATI has a refurbished X800pro AGP with 3 year warranty for $180(USD) + shipping in <A HREF="http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2700726" target="_new">their clearance section</A>. Otherwise I'd suspect that 6800GT and X800XL will drop to under $200 by years end. Just remember that in some games you will be cpu limited.


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