~$300... What should I get?

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Raines8416

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 31, 2004
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Well its been about 3 years since I last built a computer, and I havent really kept up with the video card scene and news.


This would be for a new rig I'm going to build a new one very soon, might order parts as soon as tonight.

Basically, I would like to know what is gonna be the best bang for my buck at about $300? Im not really partial to either ATI or Nvidia, I've used both in the past.

I was kinda thinking a 260 GTX, or maybe Dual 9800GTX. What do you guys think?

So any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!
 
What are you going to be playing? By looking at your sig, you might want to think about a totally new build to be honest...
 
I agree with Cowboy420, you should definitely go for a new mobo and CPU before upgrading the video card
 
Cowboy420 said:
What are you going to be playing? By looking at your sig, you might want to think about a totally new build to be honest...
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Sorry, by 'upgrade' thats exactly what I meant. Im doing a whole new build. I havent updated my sig in 4 years anyway lol.

As for which games, I'm gonna be checking out Crysis. And I'm sure I'll be getting left 4 dead, and anything else that looks appealing in the upcoming months :p
 
So, if I'm reading your post right you are building a new rig and you have $300 to spend on a video card? Right now, that will get you a highly overclocked GTX260 or a HD4870. Both are very worthy cards. I wouldn't waste your time with SLI or the 9800 series.
 
I would agree with cowboy here! But if you re-use some things from your current rig you could come out quite nicely for not much more than that.

Well assuming that you are a gamer here is what you could do on a minimum budget for starters,

cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz $119

mobo: ASUS P5QL PRO LGA 775 Intel P43 $84.99

psu: Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified $69.99

ram: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $66.99

gpu: MSI N9800GT-T2D512-OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 $111.99

Total $453 after rebate + shipping

Provide more specific info like monitor size and resolution, games you want to play, etc for more specific input.
 
Sorry, I did forget to mention in the OP that Im putting together a new build. Most likely will include a Q6600 that will most likely be overclocked depending on how it cooperates.
 
Raines8416 said:
Sorry, I did forget to mention in the OP that Im putting together a new build. Most likely will include a Q6600 that will most likely be overclocked depending on how it cooperates.
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Im sure everyone would agree that it would be much more helpful if you would tell us what your new build will consist of and update your sig..!!!
 
snowysnowcones said:
You wouldn't gain anything from SLI because of your processor.
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That is just garbage. Please read the rest of the posts before something like that! It's obvious he's doing an entire new build after the information had been fully given.

Anyways, as others have said - Get a 260 or a 4870. My personal preference would be the 4870 only because it's a better bang for the buck in comparison to the 260 IN MY EXPERIENCE.

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3408

That's a link to the new core 260 vs the 4870. Read all of it in order to gain a good perspective of how things are right now in the market.

Good luck!
 
yo Tekkaman pay attention yourself! His op did not state that info and everyone but you didnt see what he has posted. If you look at his post you will see that he edited it.
 
Raines8416 said:
Im not necessarily wanting to build a new rig on the cheap, just looking for recommendations for video cards in the $300 area...

I found this on SD, http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=34264&t=927130

Its 2 PNY 260 GTX for $330 after rebates. Seems like a fantastic deal, but how much do you really gain from SLI?

I do have a 2408wfp Ultrasharp.
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Edited to avoid looking like I can't read.

it is a hell of a deal, not overly fond of PNY but you can hardly beat that.
 
Valset said:
two less cards do not make a better investment then one good card. Depending on the motherboard you get a 4870 or GTX260, and they are down to 200 now in the hot deal forum. From XFX no less. even if your wanting SLI then spend the extra hundred and get two of the GTX260.
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Two GTX 260s are worse than one GTX 260? Your doing it wrong, lol.

@OP: Get the GTX 260 sli deal - its a really good deal and you'll love it, enjoy :) Realistically you get like 1.5-1.8x the performance depending on the game. In terms of price/performance, the two GTX 260 deal you found would be the best in the price range you're looking at easily.
 
If you read through that slickdeals thread, it isn't going to fly for $330, you'll probably end up paying $390 which is only ~$15 off per card at their current prices. It's a good deal, not fantastic though. If you want to go for SLI, it's still your best bet. If you don't want to spend that much, you can get a single GTX 260 for ~$210, a 4870 for ~$240, or a 216 core GTX 260 for ~$280. I'd say the GTX 260 for $210 is probably the best deal, but I really like my 4870 as well. You really can't go wrong with either, hell, choose the card that comes with the best game :p.
 
kllrnohj said:
Two GTX 260s are worse than one GTX 260? Your doing it wrong, lol.

@OP: Get the GTX 260 sli deal - its a really good deal and you'll love it, enjoy :) Realistically you get like 1.5-1.8x the performance depending on the game. In terms of price/performance, the two GTX 260 deal you found would be the best in the price range you're looking at easily.
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I miss read the post. Or actually I think I quoted the wrong post. Or I was thinking of the 9800GT deal. ether way I F" uped.

330 for two is a hell of a deal really. might even be worth getting PNY.
 
Thanks for the help so far everyone. For those asking, here is the build I'm considering...

EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i FTW SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

2x for SLI PNY VCGGTX260XPB GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

OCZ ReaperX HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM

BFG Tech ES SERIES ES-800 800W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.92 SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified GTX 260 NVIDIA HYBRID SLI 9800 GX2 CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC SLI Power Supply - Retail

The total comes to about $1375, with about $300 in various rebates.
 
I know almost everyone is going to tell you to drop the Raptor drive, because there are other drives that are cheaper, have more space, and are comparatively about the same.

Otherwise, I think it's good.
Couple of the corsair guys might try to tell you the BFG PS is bad, but I think it'll work fine.
IIRC, there's a deal on PC Power and Cooling power supplies at newegg, 20% off, so you can get the 750w PCPC supply for 80 bucks, which is personally what I would go with.
 
Drakan290 said:
I know almost everyone is going to tell you to drop the Raptor drive, because there are other drives that are cheaper, have more space, and are comparatively about the same.

Otherwise, I think it's good.
Couple of the corsair guys might try to tell you the BFG PS is bad, but I think it'll work fine.
IIRC, there's a deal on PC Power and Cooling power supplies at newegg, 20% off, so you can get the 750w PCPC supply for 80 bucks, which is personally what I would go with.
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agreed, the raptor is not worth the premium. You can raid 0 two WD640 and get 4 times the storage and close to the same performance for almost half the cost.

the BFG you listed is good, Corsair is good and my preference, So is the PCPC. you really can't go wrong with any of them
 
Are you overclocking? I read through the thread again and I don't see RAM nor mention of aftermarket cooling..but the info is all over the place so I could've missed it.

Also, you taking that SLI deal? I expecting the total cost to be lower if you did.

What year are you?
 
Gah, left out the ram in the post. My Bad..

OCZ ReaperX HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
The low timing as well as the stock heatsinks are both very appealing.

Yes, I will be overclocking the CPU, I've heard that it can maintain a 3.0 on air cooling. Therefore I have a Zalman 9500 in my cart as well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003

As for the Corsaid PSU, would the CMPSU-750TX be able to handle both of the 260 GTX's?

I primarly picked the raptor because, for one, I already have over 1.5TB worth of 7200rpm harddrives, and this rig will be doing a lot of work with the Adobe Suite. I've always been picky about the long load times with Adobe's products.

I'm a Senior studying Visual Communication & Graphics Design.
 
Why do you want Nvidia chipset for? Go for a Intel chipset, 4850's or 4870's in crossfire would be better and alot cheaper. As far as overclocking, you will get a better overclock from a Intel chipset board.
 
Get the Xigmatek S1283 with the bolt through kit instead of the Zalman, better cooling power for....well a few bucks more with the bolt through kit.

Yes the 750TX would be able to handle both of them, plus with it being 84AR over at buy.com..that's a pretty good deal for a solid 750W unit.

ah, I'm a junior in AAE. Guess you're not at the game eh? :p
 
the evga 750i is pretty good, even Dan like it.

I still think the raptor are not the way to go, you would get more for your money with the other.
 
gwai lo said:
Yes the 750TX would be able to handle both of them, plus with it being 84AR over at buy.com..that's a pretty good deal for a solid 750W unit.
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Cool. Maybe I'll go with that instead. I'll order it from Amazon though. Its the same price, same rebate, except I have a prime account so free 2 day shipping.
 
That's a pretty beastly rig right there that should run pretty everything you throw at it.

I agree on nixing the Raptor, especially in multiplayer games. To be honest, loading fast has done one thing for me in the past - Make me wait for the rest of the players to join the game so the game can start.
 
I just found on Newegg that the Corsair 750TX has a combo deal for $30 off with the Q6600.

That makes the PSU price even sweeter. Thanks for all the tips guys. I think im going to order tonight or tomorrow so that I can have this thing up and running by the next weekend!
 
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