Best card sub $200?

Drake

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2002
Messages
1,056
Hey all,

Title is obvious ;) No brand preference, just a budget. I do plan on using linux, so nVidia is a good thing, but I'm willing to use ATI if the performance benefit is great enough :)

Thanks in advance!
 
6800 NU if u can find one for that price. i think this price will pop up again during christmas sales.
 
but I'm willing to use ATI if the performance benefit is great enough

Well..if there Linux drivers suck then it does not matter even if you get a x800 XT PE. The performance will still be poor.

You should go for the 6800 NU and unlock those extra pipes/OC it.
 
6800nu prices should drop soon.. I found mine 239 at a local store plus tax so 259 after that. But outpost has the BFG 6800OC for like 249. You can probably find a 9800 Pro (256bit) for around 200.
 
don't get the 9800pro... at 200 thats a rip off right now. u can get a 6600gt for a bit more and for a bit more then that u can get a 6800 nu which is imo a steal right now since u can unlock the pipes!
 
Best cards for $200 right now are the 6600GT if you can find them for $200 that is ;) The 9800Pro still is well and truely worth at least $170 ;)
 
first of, saying 'get a 6600GT or 6800nu' is not what he's asking for. Sub 200 means it's under 200 dolalrs.

I'm guessing he's not running a PCIe system. (not sure.), and so AGP 6600GT's are around 220-250 right now. AGP 6800nu's are running 250+, unless you find a relic of the Black Friday deals (AKA CompUSA), but bother rebates, it's still not sub 200.

If you are looking for later on, sure, hang out for the 6600GT to come down, the 6800NU will most likely not stay stable at sub 200 for a while.

If you are looking for now, look for a 9800PRO 128mb 256bit version, and hope you can flash it to a 9800XT. OR, if you prefer the Nvidia camp, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest either a 5900XT or maybe a 5950. I'm not sure if you can find the 5950 for under 200 bucks, but 5900XT has good preformance for under 200 bucks. (If you wanna stay away from ATi cards)
 
I havent seen that many cheap 6600Gts.. least not so much cheaper then an 6800nu it makes it worth the buy. Sub 200$ I think the 9800 pro will give him his best bang for the buck. Probably a good time to wait for the 6600GT to come down in price or even the 6800nu.
 
Going PCIe and spending under $200 is the 6600GT @ $185

Staying AGP is wait for another sale and pick up an AGP 6800NU for $200
 
Best Buy had a 9800 Pro for $150 after mail in rebates. Sorry can't be more helpful, saw it in an ad and it isn't listed like that on their website.
 
i think he should wait for a good deal unless if he must have the card. christmas sales will surely bring another deal.
 
If you're a heavy Linux user, you're best off going with the nVidia cards - last I checked, ATI cards only get about 75-80% of their Windows performance. Unless you can wait for a special on 6600GTs or 6800s, you've only reallly got 3 nVidia options right now :

GF FX 5700 (watch out for LE cards) - about $140
GF FX 5900XT - about $175
and there's always this refurbished 5800 Ultra for $199 -
http://www.chumbo.com/Info.aspx?id=197314

I was pretty much set on the 5900XT myself until I decided to break down & get the 6800 at the CompUSA BF sale.
 
ameoba said:
If you're a heavy Linux user, you're best off going with the nVidia cards - last I checked, ATI cards only get about 75-80% of their Windows performance. Unless you can wait for a special on 6600GTs or 6800s, you've only reallly got 3 nVidia options right now :

GF FX 5700 (watch out for LE cards) - about $140

Just FYI, I just bought this card. It's a full-on 5700 (not LE) for $88 shipped.

I'm currently running it at 500 core, 615 mem for 24/7 - which you'll note is faster than the 5700 Ultra's core (although way, way lower on the mem, of course - still, games like Doom3 rely more on the core than memory speed, so I get near 5700 Ultra performance in it).

Which ain't bad for $88. It certainly gives you enough performance to play ANY of 'todays' games, and enough performance to hold out for the next gen 'mid-range' graphics card. (Which I'm thinking will be the 6600GT AGP when it's <$175, or maybe a refresh part of the 6600.)
 
dderidex said:
Just FYI, I just bought this card. It's a full-on 5700 (not LE) for $88 shipped.

I'm currently running it at 500 core, 615 mem for 24/7 - which you'll note is faster than the 5700 Ultra's core (although way, way lower on the mem, of course - still, games like Doom3 rely more on the core than memory speed, so I get near 5700 Ultra performance in it).

Which ain't bad for $88. It certainly gives you enough performance to play ANY of 'todays' games, and enough performance to hold out for the next gen 'mid-range' graphics card. (Which I'm thinking will be the 6600GT AGP when it's <$175, or maybe a refresh part of the 6600.)

LOL...go read Anandtech's article about the DX9 performance of the FX series in Half Life2.

Best card for under 200 right now would be the 6600GT...$189 at the egg.
 
Met-AL said:
LOL...go read Anandtech's article about the DX9 performance of the FX series in Half Life2.

Best card for under 200 right now would be the 6600GT...$189 at the egg.

Try "$245 at the egg". Which means it isn't "under $200".

Most of us don't have PCI-E motherboards yet.

(And besides, HL2 is a terrible example. It was coded specifically to cripple the FX cards in DX9 mode. You know how nVidia put in 'mixed mode' rendering with them? What SHOULD have been the wave of the future - the best of both worlds - FP32 when you needed it, and FP16 or INT12 for speed when you didn't? Well, when you force DX9 mode in HL2, it forces the FX cards to run FP32 all the time! Which is an outrageous example of bias, given that the ATI cards run the DX9 mode in HL2 at FP24 - and, by all accounts, forcing FP16 in HL2 results in no discernable image quality differences at all. Valve just forced FP32 to screw over FX users in DX9. Guess that's what ATI bought with their $6 mil.)
 
dderidex said:
Try "$245 at the egg". Which means it isn't "under $200".

Most of us don't have PCI-E motherboards yet.

(And besides, HL2 is a terrible example. It was coded specifically to cripple the FX cards in DX9 mode. You know how nVidia put in 'mixed mode' rendering with them? What SHOULD have been the wave of the future - the best of both worlds - FP32 when you needed it, and FP16 or INT12 for speed when you didn't? Well, when you force DX9 mode in HL2, it forces the FX cards to run FP32 all the time! Which is an outrageous example of bias, given that the ATI cards run the DX9 mode in HL2 at FP24 - and, by all accounts, forcing FP16 in HL2 results in no discernable image quality differences at all. Valve just forced FP32 to screw over FX users in DX9. Guess that's what ATI bought with their $6 mil.)

Did you actually bother to go check the price?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-156&depa=1


I could care less why the FX's suck with the source engine. The fact of the matter is that along with the Doom3 engine, we are gonna see alot of games running on it.
 
Did you also care to listen that the 6600GT is worth the extra 45$ :p J/K. But its Your call? At this late stage in the game unless i was (UBER DESPERATE) i wouldnt even look sideways at any FX series Nvidia card ;)
 
Sorry, should have mentioned it's an AGP system :rolleyes:

Anywho, I think I'll just wait around for a 6600GT or 6800NU to fall into my price range. Or maybe get this if I get really desparate. I'm running an 8500LE voltmodded and overclocked to stock 8500 speeds; I can hardly play Rome: Total War let alone Doom 3/HL2 :rolleyes:

Are there any good comparisons/reviews of the 6x00 series out there?
 
6600 gt is the way to go, i just got one and WOW i love it plays all my games 1600x1200 full setting no problems

farcry, unreal 2k4, doom3, so on
 
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