best ati card<$150

[athalus]

i'm building a new machine this weekend. at first i was going to use an old ati card but after checking it i realized that it won't fit because of the little notch at the end. therefore i'm going to have to get a card by saturday. i decided to go ati because it's tough to get a good gf4 where i live and i see alot of good reviews about the cards. could you tell me what the best of the 3 cards are: 8500, 8500le or 9000 pro 128?

the system will be used for medium gaming (diablo 2, divine divinity, c&c generals and tron 2.0, when they come out) and eventually i plan on putting in a dvd-rw to make my own dvd's and a cr-rw.

the rest of the machine is as follows:
antec performance plus 2 case, 300w ps
gigabyte ga-8pe667 ultra mobo
p4 2.4b processor, retail
2-256mb crucial ddr333 ram
wd 100gig 7200rpm hd
pioneer 106s-2 dvd rom drive
turtle beach santa cruz sound card
modem
windows 2000
mouse, keyboard etc etc.

i don't plan on overclocking, at least not at the outset.

thanks in advance

 

[bloaty]

8500LE has is the best price/performance and its the exact same card as the 8500 with a slightly lower clock speed. the 9000 pro isnt very goood from what i know, its just a cheaply built 8500.I myself have a 8500LE(built by ati), cost $144 canadian and it overclocked to higher speeds then the 8500 quite easily.

I dont trust powered by ATI products anymore. There were these 3 XELO redeon cards i had the pleasure of returning for instance.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Buy Radeon 8500

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[funkdog]

I'd say the 8500LE is the best card under $100 if you can find one. Got mine for $99 at Best Buy, must have been a surplus or something, a week later it's back to like 120. 3 Months ago mind you. I've been pleased with it though. No problems for me.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[athalus]

thanks for the help. i think the plan is to buy what they have on the shelf: 8500-1st, 8500le-2nd. i going to best buy cause i still have a $10 card from when i bought warcraft 3. i don't have sales tax in my state so that's not an issue no matter where i buy it.

btw anyone know what the current drivers are for both these cards. sometimes the sites are confusing. i don't want all the extra stuff simply the drivers for the card (i', putting windows 2000 in).

 

[funkdog]

There are a bunch of sites that have the updated drivers, official and un-official. I get mine at Rage3d... http://www.rage3d.com/files/drivers/radeonbeta.shtml.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[Crashman]

There are too many versions of the 8500LE for me to recommend it without specific information on the particular card. Some are clocked as low as 230/183, where the Radeon 8500 (standard) is clocked at 275/275!

So I'd go for the 8500

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[athalus]

i agree but the thing is i'm in a bind. i have to get it put together asap. i live in southern nh and near me is a comp-usa and best buy in the same parking lot. i'm going to see if i can get the 8500 1st and if neither of them has it then i'm going after the le.

i think i'm going to be layed up soon recovering from an operation for about 4-6 weeks(it all depends on what the specialist decides to do) and just after or before that one i need another one that i'd be having now if it wasn't for my ruptured disk in my lower back. that's why i have to put it together soon because if something doesn't work i need to know now before my 30 days from newegg ends and before i get layed up from the operations.

i wish i had a month because after reading the specs on the 9700(no pro) i buy it right now. if i saw one at newegg i have it nexted dasyed to me and simply wait until monday to put it together.

 

[Crashman]

Well, you could order a card from Newegg, they have a full version 8500 for $105. I think Hercules cards are 250/250 for the LE, ATI's should be too, but as for other brands, it's a toss up unless you know something specific from the company.

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