• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Building on a budget

L

locutus24

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 13, 2004
Messages
1,642
Im building a budget comp, was wondering if anybody had a suggestion to what a good budget card would be. Im willing to spend around $200, if thats enough to get a descent card that will be able to play D3, HL2, etc.... AGP 8x of course
Thanks for your time
 
I have a ati 9800pro minorly overclocked, and i play cs source at 129-x1024 and all anti aliasing and antistropic filtering on at max 6/16 and it runs around 42 fps, pretty decent for me, i can get around 60 if i turn all it off or switch to 1024. I also play world of warcraft with everything turned on and it runs flawlessly. Its around 140-150 for a 9800pro. that would be my pick
 
Was considering a 9600xt with 256mb, a 9800 sounds like it may be a better option since the ram and video processing speeds would be a lil' bitty faster.
 
I just got the XFX 6600 GT AGP Video Card from New Egg. I spent right at $200 including tax and shipping. I was running a FX 5700LE 256 MSI AGP on a P4 3.0E with 1 GB Ram. My 3DMark03 score on the card was something like 2450. Once I put in the 6600 card my score went to 6568. If the numbers mean nothing to you, take my word that once I played D3, UT2004, Riddick, and NWN I could see a major differance. I have always liked the 9800 Pro and am running two on different systems. The 6600 GT blows them away though. Hope this helps. :)
 
locutus24, the 9800 also has 8 pipes the 9600xt only has 4, 9800 is better, and the 6600gt would be better still.
 
BFG 6600GT OC would be a decent buy. You can play D3 @ 1600x1200 high quality with everything maxed out (save for anti-aliasing though) and still get 30-60 fps.
 
If you're sure you'll overclock the card then I'd read a few reviews and see which 6600gt's features you like the best. Otherwise I'd go for one that has the same stock speed as the PCI-E versions, such as an XFX or BFG.



[Edit:] Oh, and I bought an MSI one. I was running out of games(NWN gets boring when you have no more modules) and it came with a couple good ones, and was reportedly quiet. Pretty happy with it so far, although mine came underclocked, so I suppose i'll have to fix that :)
 
Its around 140-150 for a 9800pro
Click to expand...

Where do you think they are selling the 9800 Pro for $140-$150?

From what I can see the 9800 Pro is going from $220 and up on various websites. Even on EBay the 9800 Pro isn't $150.
 
Like I said, I have used the 9800 Pro card alot. I have built 15 computers with that card in it. I like it. However, this month I have built 7 computers with the 6600 GT (1 AGP 6 PCI-E). The 6600GT is notably better. You can see the difference on the screen. It is cheaper than the 9800 also. $220 is what I was paying for the 9800 Pro. $180 to $190 is what the 6600 GT is costing me. Just make sure you get the 6600 GT 128, not the other 6600 cards. The GT is nicer than them. The XFX 6600 GT 128 AGP is what I am using on my Ecube box and it is playing UT2004, and D3 like a charm. I bought mine cards from New Egg and Monarch Computers. What board are you putting this card into?
 
I would get a 6600GT. Get (if you want dual DVI) the XFX. I would suggest the EVGA becasause of the step up program
 
Well im going to soon be getting an actual job (finally), then i was just going to get w/e is the ownage card. I was thinking of getting the 3D Labs 512mb Vid card, would it be worth it cause that would be fun to have. :cool:
 
locutus24 said:
Well im going to soon be getting an actual job (finally), then i was just going to get w/e is the ownage card. I was thinking of getting the 3D Labs 512mb Vid card, would it be worth it cause that would be fun to have. :cool:
Click to expand...

Nah man, that card has extremely weak DX9 hardware acceleration (for DX/OGL games). 512mb is useless in games if the card's VPU ain't cutting the mustard. If you actually buy that card and tell people you game on it, you're gonna get laughed at ;)
 
kirbyrj said:
No brainer...$200 6600GT
Click to expand...
Yea was planning to get the 6600gt, looks to have the best specs for under $200. Planning to get it soon. Thanks everybody for your valued opinions
 
hahaha :p oh yeah, just got excited there.....uh, buy one! ask for another for xmas!
 
well refurb usually means no warrenty. If u wanna save money, buy refurb. Just dont break your stuff by oc'ing it by 2 billion mhz cuz u cant have it replaced.
 
man there are some nice deals on that refub section at around 130-160$ range. AGP 6600GT's for 150- thats a deal.
 
locutus24 said:
Refurbished i dont trust for anything over $50 :eek:
Click to expand...

Ive bought lots of stuff refurbed. My current system is all refurbed. I have never had any problems, Refurbed means that the company refurbed it, not the store. So newegg doesn't refurbish the product, say it's an BBA X800XT, it gets sent to ATI, who refurbish things themselves.

So ya, if you wanna save money, then bu refurbished.

Also, for the guy talking about warranty, I was under the assumption OCing destroyed our warranty? or are you one of the punks who send in broken cards for RMA?
 
Also, for the guy talking about warranty, I was under the assumption OCing destroyed our warranty? or are you one of the punks who send in broken cards for RMA?
Click to expand...
Hahaha :D
NO. Do people do that??!!? :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top