best sub $125 card

B

Blasterboy460

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 2, 2002
Messages
1,610
looking to build a budget SFF setup to keep at the girlfriends house. im not looking to spend alot of money, but i dont want to sacrifice on performance. ATI or Nvidia, although i have been hearing that ATI has better price/performance ratio. anyways let see what you got for me.
 
There's a magical site called Newegg.com where YOU have the power to answer this yourself....or at least start off looking..
 
Guys im not new to the egg. its just hard to keep up with the naming schemes ATI and Nvidia use on there cards. it seems really confusing nowadays.
 
I suggest you purchase the 4850. Just to let you know about the naming schemes:

The most recent ATI cards are the 48** series. The most recent Nvidia cards are the 200 series.
Keep in mind the 9 and 8 series from Nvidia are both still well performing and perfectly viable options.

I would stay away from the 38** series from ATI.

Goodluck
 
You can get a 4850 for a pretty low price (140$ with rebates). I'd go with that. It is a good card.
 
If you absolutely must stay under $125, I believe the ASUS 9800GT with 128 shaders is available within that budget. If you can spare a few more bucks though, a 4850 can be had for ~$140 after rebates which would be a better card. Chances are a 9800GT would be sufficient though.
 
It's not the most powerful, but an HD 4670 is energy efficient and doesn't produce as much heat. I think it's worth considering for a small form factor PC.
 
Call your local Best Buy and see if they have 8800GT 512MB SKU #8657553, they have been on clearance in many stores for $102.99. Then you use the 10% off coupon and its less than $93 + tax out the door. Can not beat that for a 8800GT, if available in your area.
 
I love the 4670 for the price, but a 9800GT w/128 shader processors or 8800GT at BB for $103 would be better and are great deals.Or you can wait for the 4830 which will supposedly be right in your price range ($120-145)
 
I'd pick the 9800GT, as it outperforms the 8800GT by a smidgen in some tests. The ATI 4850, however, is the way to go, as far as a budget card in a gaming machine, ATM.

Here is a link to a review of the 9800GT AMP!, but it does have numbers of an ordinary 9800GT:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_9800_GT_Amp_Edition/6.html

Here's a link to a few more reviews:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviewdb/Video%20Cards/NVIDIA/9800%20GT

The 4850 is well worthwhile if you can afford to pay a tiny bit more. I'd try my best to fit the 4850 into my system, if I could.
 
ocellaris said:
9800GTs are 8800GTs with different stickers and a different BIOS (unless you get the Asus one which is actually a 8800GTS).
Click to expand...


Well, it is actually cheaper (AR) than the 8800GT, on Newegg, so I suppose it doesn't make a ton of difference. There could be some optimizations in the BIOS, but maybe not. The discrepancy in the numbers could be due to other things. I had initially thought it was an 8800GT, but heard some other rumors about differences, so I surmised the number differential could be due to an actual physical difference in the programming or structure of the card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0048 106792522 1067942536&bop=And&Order=PRICE

I suppose Nvidia simply wanted to keep the card looking current and simply made it part of the 9-series to sell more of them.

Anyway, I suppose I should've delved into it a bit further, as an 8800GT is a viable choice if it is lower in price.
 
Starcrossed said:
I surmised the number differential could be due to an actual physical difference in the programming or structure of the card.
Click to expand...

Nvidia and card makers are much too cheap for that :D Also the 8800GT beats the stock 9800GT in some of those, its pretty even.

Anyway, like you said, 9800GTs are cheaper depending on where you look. So at this point whatever the cheapest 8800GT/9800GT the OP can get would be a safe bet. Very good values for a performance minded enthusiast with $100 to spend.

Past that price range, the 4850 would be at the way to go for $150+ budget.
 
ocellaris said:
Nvidia and card makers are much too cheap for that :D Also the 8800GT beats the stock 9800GT in some of those, its pretty even.

Anyway, like you said, 9800GTs are cheaper depending on where you look. So at this point whatever the cheapest 8800GT/9800GT the OP can get would be a safe bet.
Click to expand...

True enough.

I think I'd jump on the MSI 9800GT@ Newegg to get in on the free game; although EVGA is my favorite company and offers the Step-Up program. One of the other reasons that I advised the 9800GT is that the board is bound to be newer and any revisions done to it are bound to be the latest by the particular manufacturer. Also, they are more likely to be packaged with the latest software deals.

I wouldn't buy a 8800GT simply to spite the company for making the same dang card under a different name, as I think some people are inclined to do. There are actual reasons to be found in taking the 9800GT over the 8800GT, small they may be. I.E., latest BIOS, latest board revision, latest software bundle (in some cases), higher potential of more extras included like adapters and whatnot.
 
If you get lucky you can find a good deal on the HD4850 for that price range.

Last week I bought an HD4850 from Fry's for under $100 after MIR.
 
Just an FYI. There is always a margin of error in any test that is taken. I would assume at least 5% unless specified so if something is within that margin then you can consider them to effectively be the same.
 
damn, i cant remember where now but I saw today somebody had a 8800gtx for like $140
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top