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So I just got me that nice deal on the Intel Q6600 + ECS motherboard combo at Fry's, and now I'm stuck with integrated graphics. These are better than my old Radeon 8500, but I'd like a little more gaming potential, and I'd also like to be able to use both of my monitors again.
So I want a PCI-Express video card. But I also want to keep it on a budget because I don't play a whole ton of computer games anymore and I'll probably upgrade the entire motherboard/video card some time next year. That said, if something's junk, I don't want it.
I'd like to spend under $100 at the max, but preferably $50-75ish. There are a lot of 6600GTs and 6800GTs floating around for those prices, but those are oldish and I can probably do better with the budget. There are also 8600GTs for ~$90-120 that are mighty tempting but again, I don't know that I want to spend so much.
So can, say, a 6800GT hold me down with decent graphics performance for another year or two? I'm looking to run older games (yes, I still play an occasional round of Counter-Strike) at high levels, middlish games (HL2 - I'm a Valve fan) at pretty good levels, and new games at more or less any level, though it would be nice if they ran well. I'd also like two outputs if that were possible, but if it's not I've got my integrated graphics to hold down the fort.
I know it's asking a lot for very little money, but is there any card that can do this? And also, I haven't been keeping up with ATI developments--anything promising on that front?
Thanks in advance.
So I want a PCI-Express video card. But I also want to keep it on a budget because I don't play a whole ton of computer games anymore and I'll probably upgrade the entire motherboard/video card some time next year. That said, if something's junk, I don't want it.
I'd like to spend under $100 at the max, but preferably $50-75ish. There are a lot of 6600GTs and 6800GTs floating around for those prices, but those are oldish and I can probably do better with the budget. There are also 8600GTs for ~$90-120 that are mighty tempting but again, I don't know that I want to spend so much.
So can, say, a 6800GT hold me down with decent graphics performance for another year or two? I'm looking to run older games (yes, I still play an occasional round of Counter-Strike) at high levels, middlish games (HL2 - I'm a Valve fan) at pretty good levels, and new games at more or less any level, though it would be nice if they ran well. I'd also like two outputs if that were possible, but if it's not I've got my integrated graphics to hold down the fort.
I know it's asking a lot for very little money, but is there any card that can do this? And also, I haven't been keeping up with ATI developments--anything promising on that front?
Thanks in advance.