Best Value For $230

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Stu55

[H]ard|Gawd
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What's the best card I can get for $230, considering things like if you can flash the bios to make it better or anything. I am an nVidia fan fyi. ( My 6600GT is getting pummled by todays games :( )
Thanks
 
Stu55 said:
What's the best card I can get for $230, considering things like if you can flash the bios to make it better or anything. I am an nVidia fan fyi. ( My 6600GT is getting pummled by todays games :( )
Thanks
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Id hit the FS/FT forums and get a 6800GT.
 
Stu55 said:
I would rather get something from newegg or zzf etc.
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Well then you wont find anything that would be a HUGE difference jumping up to with that money, at least not nvidia, a 6800NU would be the only choice.
 
u can do like i did and buy the ati x850pro(12pipeline) and flash the bios to the Xt(16pipeline) and reflash back to x850 pro mem/core settings so no temp problems.
and/or add a different cooling and overclock the cards core/mem settings until u find artifacting.

card was only $250 bought at compusa pricematched bestbuy, and buy warranty for $30-$60 and u can take card back in within year and get *Credit* towards another card so pci-express could be a option then. and /or just buy the x850xt and overclock it.

Fear plays great, and Bf2 with textures on high and 6x aa and af on HIGH,Pariah cool game, plays awesome.and DOD:s and CS:s.

ive already seen a good jump in Frames per second. benched in Cs:s test 150+ on aa 6x antisoptric 8x throughout test but final was 125fps,but this on a amd64 2800+cpu, so maybe if cpu was faster id get more fps, not sure.

i did switch the anisoptric to 16x and got 1fps less as final result.
u can get bootdisk for Xp pro or any windows at www.bootdisk.com

Here's what I did:

Downloaded ATIflash 3.09 and saved the EXE to the hard drive

Downloaded X850 XT BIOS (AGP, non Platinum) and renamed that long filename to "xt.bin"

Uninstalled all ATI software

Boot disk to DOS and run ATIflash

BACKUP OLD BIOS:
atiflash -s 0 oldbios.bin

FLASH TO NEW BIOS AND OVERWRITE ALL SETTINGS:
atiflash -p 0 xt.bin -f -newbios

FLASH TO OLD BIOS AND RETAIN PIPELINES:
atiflash -p 0 oldbios.bin -f

Reboot, install Catalyst drivers

Check pipelines using ATITool
all you have to do is flash your old bios back onto the card with atiflash:

atiflash -f -p 0 oldbios.bin

this should flash ur old bios back but leave the 16 pipes in the rom settings.

to flash back to 12 pipes completely, you would use:

atiflash -f -newbios -p 0 oldbios.bin

the only difference is the -newbios option which lets u flash basically the same way flashrom does
 
I did the same as dwilson041781. But I flashed to XT PE, and put on an ATI Silencer. I have zero heat issues, and it's fast :D I can play any of the newer games (fear, cod2, quake4, dod:s). Even Lost Coast runs good on my machine. My LCD tops out at 1280x1024, so I really don't need more than what I have right now.

specs in sig.
 
I see that you can flash an X800GTO2 can flash to an X850XTPE? correct me if i'm wrong.
 
Does that $230 include money you could get from selling your current card? If not, get the extra funds and score a 7800gt.
 
I don't want to go through the trouble of checking all the combos but read this thread and see if anything is still active: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=970370

$399
- $90 Sell the board on eBay
- $50 EVGA Rebate
- $30 Sell COD2 on Half.com
$230 for a 7800 GT!!

At least that's what I'm going to end up having spent for it. :D
 
X800GT02 is the absolute best value you can possibly get in that price range. Unlocks to a X850XT-PE with 100% success rating.
 
Cali3350 said:
X800GT02 is the absolute best value you can possibly get in that price range. Unlocks to a X850XT-PE with 100% success rating.
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except its over $230
allstar has them for $262 shipped. still worth considering. but you can always keep adding money to the pot and get a better card ... $330 for a 7800gt? - rebates $300 :p
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&ad=pwatch x800gto2
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1549681&CatId=1560 7800gt

My vote styill goes for the 3dconnect x800gto for ~$185. 90% of the performance of a x850xt when unlocked. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142052

PS. mayhs he is pic-e
 
ClearM4 said:
except its over $230
allstar has them for $262 shipped. still worth considering. but you can always keep adding money to the pot and get a better card ... $330 for a 7800gt? - rebates $300 :p
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&ad=pwatch x800gto2
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1549681&CatId=1560 7800gt

My vote styill goes for the 3dconnect x800gto for ~$185. 90% of the performance of a x850xt when unlocked. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142052

PS. mayhs he is pic-e
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Still $240 from excaliber (newegg is the most expensive, i doubt that surprises anyone:)rolleyes: ). Still though it is above $230. I dont know the 3dconnect but if you say its good ill trust ya. Pull the trigger on it/.
 
Cali3350 said:
Still $240 from excaliber (newegg is the most expensive, i doubt that surprises anyone:)rolleyes: ). Still though it is above $230. I dont know the 3dconnect but if you say its good ill trust ya. Pull the trigger on it/.
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First customer review on newegg cracks me up lol
quote: "First off The memory clock listed here is wrong the memory clock is stock at 490MHz not 980."

Anyway I was going to say just read the customer reviews on the card at newegg or in previous posted link where as of oct. 28th 45 out of 46 have been able to unlock. Has copper heatsink (better then the gto2's alum. HS)

Although $240 for the gto2 is good :)

Edit: The GTO2 is sold out at excaliberpc.com. 262 @ allstar :p
 
Hvatum said:
In that case you would be crazy not to get the below deal. Assuming of course you understand how to sell things on Ebay and are capable of addressing, licking and stamping envelops:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238
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I know I am seriously thinking it over, I have a 6600GT right now, I could sell that to my friend for $140, sell the board to my friend possibly for $120 (maybe less or sell it on ebay if he doesn't want it). So yes very tempting, but I am getting a hard drive soon too. Hmm, lets see. 399-140= 259-120= $139 + COD2, hmm, very very very tempting.
 
oh sry my mistake...thought u were agp.

seeing as your pci-e then id get that 7800gt deal
 
But I am selling my 6600GT I am using right now for $140 so...My friend is being a weenie and won't buy the mobo even though he needs a mobo for his new pc and I would sell it to him for $110, so any one know a place to sell it for maximum amount of $?
 
Stu55,

Your selling your FRIEND a $140 USED 6600gt and want to pawn a USED $110 mobo on him?

Wouldn't want to be your friend :D
 
Stu55 said:
What's the best card I can get for $230, considering things like if you can flash the bios to make it better or anything. I am an nVidia fan fyi. ( My 6600GT is getting pummled by todays games :( )
Thanks
Click to expand...

id wait for this year's black friday deals :D
 
JimmyHa said:
Stu55,

Your selling your FRIEND a $140 USED 6600gt and want to pawn a USED $110 mobo on him?

Wouldn't want to be your friend :D
Click to expand...
Especially when you can get it new for the same price or less. :)
 
I don't really have anyone to sell that mobo too so that deal isn't really for me, not enough $. What is Black Friday, should I wait for that or should I get the 3D Fuzion 7800GT for $299 at TigerDirect?
 
Stu55 said:
I don't really have anyone to sell that mobo too so that deal isn't really for me, not enough $. What is Black Friday, should I wait for that or should I get the 3D Fuzion 7800GT for $299 at TigerDirect?
Click to expand...

wikipedia has a definition for it :eek:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

basically thats the day when a lot of electronics go on sale and people camp outside the stores at 12am to be the first in the store to grab all these good deals. last year for example there was a pny 6800 for 199 AR. there should be similar (if not better) deals this year but its hard to tell what will go on sale so youll just have to wait to find out. if you do camp out i suggest you wear thick clothing as youll need the extra armor.. err warmth. if you dont feel like taking a gamble on the black friday deals the 3dfuzion 7800gt at TD is pretty cheap.
 
Doh, should have read the wikipedia, sry. I think I will hold off for this sale, hopefully good 7800GT prices :)
 
Stu55 said:
Doh, should have read the wikipedia, sry. I think I will hold off for this sale, hopefully good 7800GT prices :)
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well just letting you know its a gamble because its hard to tell what kind of stuff will go sale. the chances of the 7800gt is pretty slim since its so new and all but we'll just have to see :cool:
 
:( I don't know then, I'll see when my friend has enough coin to buy my 6600GT and see where the prices are then, hopefully there will be a sale.
 
Stu55 said:
:( I don't know then, I'll see when my friend has enough coin to buy my 6600GT and see where the prices are then, hopefully there will be a sale.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at this point I would wait. The only especially good deal around was that 7800 GT/Motherboard/COD2/Rebate combination. Black Friday might offer some nice deals though.
 
If you insist on going Nvidia the only real good deal is the $300 7800GT. I wouldnt count on Black Friday getting you much better then that, as the margins have to already be very nearly non-existant at that price.
 
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