Help me pick a video card!!!!

[nikolasmor]

Everything I've decided on is below. I just purchased a DELL
UltraSharp 2005FPW 20.1-inch Widescreen LCD

I am now looking for a good/decent video card looking to spend around 200-250 and I will probably be upgrading to Vista. I don't mind overclocking the card. Don't do ANY gaming. Just a TON video encoding and DVD burning. DVd Shrink is running for hours every day. I already have an ATI TV Wonder Elite for recording my TV shows and etc.

Any question please ask away. Thanks in advance for all your help

Below are the specs. Needs to be compaitalbe with this LCD's native resolution


Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight: 18.6" x 9" x 15.3" to 22.4" / 17.64 lbs
Dot Pitch: 0.258 mm (Pixel Pitch)
Enclosure Color: Midnight Gray
Image Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Image Brightness: 300 cd/m²
Image Contrast Ratio: 600:1
Max Resolution: 1680x1050 Pixels
Max Sync Rate (V x H): 75 Hz x 83 kHz
Port(s) Total ( Free ) / Connector Type: VGA / DVI-D / S-video / Composite / 4 x USB 2.0
Power Consumption Operational: 75 W (maximum), 55 W (typical)
Warranty: 3-Year
Diagonal Size / Viewable Size: 20.1" / 20.1"
Compatibility: PC

CPU:Opteron 165
MOBO:DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D
PSU:Fortron Blue Storm 500W
CASEAntec P180

 

[vanilla_guerilla]

the 7800 gt is around $275 now, prob be $250 or less in a couple days. there are no x18/1900 series cards for that price, but newegg had x850xt for $170 the other day. good card. little better than 6800u, not as good as 7800gt.

 

[sabrewolf732]

hmm, I would go with a x850xt for $154 after rebate, actually performs quite close to a 7800gt:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/games-2005.html

If you really want sm3, go with a 7600gt at around $190

 

[ChronicTrees]

X1800XT is 299 on newegg, and like the other poster mentioned, 7800GT's are getting cheap.

 

[nikolasmor]

I can wait a few days, no big rush. So it's looking like if they drop the price of the 7800GT some more that would be a great card and an awesome bang for the buck? Right?

 

[nikolasmor]

The 7800GT's are still hovering right around $300, any idea how long this drop will take now that the 7900's are out.

 

[sabrewolf732]

7800's aren't being produced any more, hence there won't be any official price drop