$100 Budget

J

J_I_M_B_O

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 31, 2006
Messages
400
I need the best video card for $100 (if there's a big step up for $25 more that's good too)
I'll will be
-Gaming-Oblivion, Counter Strike Source, ect.

-PhotoShop...ing

-Watching movies (if it matters)


thanks
 
7600GS its $14 over but, its the only thing that fits.

well that and the add that is looking me right on the face on the right side of the screen as i type this. the X1600, or the 7600GS. id go for the 7600.

it will struggle with oblivion. but it will run it.
 
7600GS its $14 over but, its the only thing that fits.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'll be just fine. I'm used to playing with an onboard GPU (anything is better)
Anything else?
 
J_I_M_B_O said:
Yeah, that'll be just fine. I'm used to playing with an onboard GPU (anything is better)
Anything else?
Click to expand...
7600GS is an excellent choice new. Otherwise you could try and see if a used 6800GT is within that price range. Really though, the GS is probably the best option.
 
If you'd like to stay closest to your budget, then the first eVGA is your top choice. adding another ~$25 is the XFX with a core clock of 500mhz (a full 100 more than the eVGA model).
 
Sqantor said:
maybe consider a ati x1600pro on newegg they hav sum of those cards 4 less than a hundred dollars

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure I'd purchase an x1600pro, as it's outperformed by the 7600GS in every test

daphatgrant said:
Personal nvidia flavor prefs:
#1 BFG (lifetime warrenty ;))
#2 EVGA
#3 XFX
Click to expand...

and what, eVGA and XFX don't have lifetime warranties? eVGA and XFX actually have superior warranties when it comes to coverage. eVGA allows for aftermarket cooling, and XFX allows for the transfer of the lifetime warranty if you choose to sell the card on.
 
the EVGA 7600GS sounds like a good idea to me.

EDIT: sweet jeebus the 7600GS' even come in 512 mb..

in terms of performance of a single core type you get what you pay for. if you get an active cooler, you might be able to oc a fair bit. with passive cooling i wouldnt push it.

ok you seem to be a tad confused....

all that the board manufactureres (ex ASUS, EVGA, BFG) have done is take the card maybe stuck on active cooling (a fan) and maybe overclocked, meaning they told the core to run at 430MHz as opposed to 400, (YES i did just explain what overclocking is, i dont think anyone is an idiot im just covering all the bases) something which is really easy to do. However should YOU chose to overclock, it voids warentee, where as if they overclock it, it comes warenteed. of course they charge you more.

i recomend the passivly cooled EVGA one because:

1. EVGA has an awsome tech support team. not to mention a tech support forum.
2. comes with a good warentee. If it buggers up its good to be able to say "send me a new one!"
3. $20 rebate, making the cards total under $100.
4. Because all of the cards baised on a 7600GS will perform to within 5% of each other.
 
btw, I don't plan on overclocloking. I don't want to risk my hardware, I don't have the cash to replace it.

Yeah, I think that's it eVGA GeForce 7600GS.

But, what about this

Is it better? And is that a good price? Because I'd like to go grab one just down the road at good 'ol compusa
 
Thats a teeny bit better than the $100 eVGA 7600GS on newegg. It's 80 mhz down on the core compared to the $130 XFX on newegg. It's a fine card, but you're paying about a $40 premium to get it from the store.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130004

The 256MB edition with rebate that brings it just under your $100.00 requirement. I have a competitors 7600GS, the MSI NX7600GS-T2D256EH that I had picked up for $115.00 that also uses a passively cooled heatsink.

The card is phenominal for the money in my opinion, but for titles that "require" a 512MB frame buffer it'll under perform. Other than a marketing gimick, I think springing for the extra memory over an overclocked version is a waste of good money.

As to overclocking, I've overclocked "comfortably" meaning no more than a couple degree's increase under full load to 500MHz core and 450Mhz ram. This may vary by card, but I'm very pleased. I suspect this is why BFG and the others sell an OC version, due to the GPU capable of a lot of head room.

On the lower cost models using DDR2 memory, you won't be able to clock these too much higher on the memory. GDDR3 is more expensive but has a higher operating frequency and brings the card very close to a full 7600GT performance. So if you have to have a more expensive card, get the XFX overclocked version with the GDDR3.

Otherwise, get the very inexpensive EVGA I linked above.
 
Nobody should give you ANY suggestions until you answered the question if you have AGP or PCI-E....
 
ScYcS said:
Nobody should give you ANY suggestions until you answered the question if you have AGP or PCI-E....
Click to expand...

WHy would I narrow it down to 2 PCI-E cards if I have AGP? That'd make no sence. I have PCI-E.

And anyways I've decided to go with the eVGA 7600gs 256mb

I appretiate the help, guys.
 
J_I_M_B_O said:
WHy would I narrow it down to 2 PCI-E cards if I have AGP? That'd make no sence. I have PCI-E.
Click to expand...

Because some people simply don't know what they have. Especially people with onboard / budget cards sometimes don't know. And then they end up buying cards they can't use.
 
ScYcS said:
Nobody should give you ANY suggestions until you answered the question if you have AGP or PCI-E....
Click to expand...

ScYcS, you need to improve your extrasensory skills. We all intuitively knew he had PCI-E yet you didn't :p
 
lol

evga's lifetime warrenty covers overclocking, bios flashing/ modification and aftermarket heatsink instulation. the only thing not covered is if you cause physical damage to the card.
 
HighTest said:
ScYcS, you need to improve your extrasensory skills. We all intuitively knew he had PCI-E yet you didn't :p
Click to expand...

Well no, i didn't. I suspected, but it wouldn't be the first time someone gets a pci-e card for an agp slot...
 
yea ok well good choice. no doubt youll be happy.

the 512mb is a waste... you need more memory when you amp up the resolution. quite frankly, you need hella large (like greater then 1600X1200) to need more then 256 mb. plus the bus size is dumb. 128bit bus on a 512mb board? not gonna work guys.

i plan on getting a 24" monitor (hehehehehhehe) and getting a 7900GT, overclocking of course, and i spect itl run at that 2w/e by 19something something. if not itl be SLI time.

thats another thing. if you ever upgrade the mobo/cpu(/PSU) then you can keep the 7600GS, and perhalps get an SLI board and if you ever need more performance, get another 7600GS on clearance (and make sure its on clearance, SLI is almost, but not yet as cost effective as buying a single, more powerful card), and put em in SLI. there you go. 512 MB, lots of processing power too.
 
sli does not add the memory from both cards, 256 + 256 = 256 as the same data is used in both cards memory at the same time.
 
I had the same price range as you on the video card. I ended up getting an x800gt, based on the 256 bit bus/256 meg mem, and the overclockability. Alot of them unlock to 12 pipe (mine didn't) so you're taking a small chance, but even with my 8 pipe card I CAN play oblivion at 1280 x1024 with some aa/af and quality set to medium. I get anywhere from 30 to 50 frames a second. The x800 series is a little dated, and it's missing a few features, but the price/performance is pretty damn good.
 
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