Some quick questions for new system

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TimothyB

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I'm building my Conroe computer and I can't move over my current AGP 6800nu since the new mobo is PCI express. So now a I need a new card. I'm not gaming much at all since I use a 360 at the moment, but I still want a quality card with dual monitor support (dual dvi?) and great picture quality for graphics work in Photoshop and Illustrator.

So far I think I've heard an x1300 is a good choice if not gaming. But is there maybe a PCI Express card for around $100 that's just as good as a 6800nu? And when it comes to future use with Windows Vista, what matters most, the GPU perfomance or the amount of ram on the card to do Vista's special effects?

Oh, I'm also fed up with my TV tuner card with glitches and lack of updates, maybe I should kill two birds with one stone by getting a AIW X1300, anyone have good exprience with it?
 
The x1600pro is certainly not a gamer's card but it is in your price range and its fairly close in terms of performance to your vanilla 6800. There are several dual dvi models to choose from
 
x800 GTO can be had for under $100....and it good if not better than 6800nu
 
Marvelous said:
x800 GTO can be had for under $100....and it good if not better than 6800nu
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I agree. If you're looking for a card thats just a little better or on the same level as the 6800, the GTO is it. Looks to be right on your price range as well.
 
An X1300 seems to be a poor choice even if you don't game much....a 7300GT would be a better value imo.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Geforce 7 Series doesn't have dual dual-link DVI does it? I thought only ATI's 1K Series did. If he wants dual-monitor support, I would go with an X1300. That is, assuming that I'm right. :)
 
quadnad said:
That is, if you're bumping up your budget that would be a good choice....it's out of the $100 budget.
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Oh no! I meant 7600GS! I think it can be had for $110 or so. But if the budget is strict, I'd get the best ATI like someone said earlier.
 
Bona Fide said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Geforce 7 Series doesn't have dual dual-link DVI does it? I thought only ATI's 1K Series did. If he wants dual-monitor support, I would go with an X1300. That is, assuming that I'm right. :)
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corrected (you are wrong)

my 7900GT has dual DVI
 
hmm... I'd say X800GTO for raw power, 7600GS for tech, or maybe a 7300GT if you really want to save some money. I've got a friend with an X1300Pro... not the best choice he's made. Overpriced for the performance he gets. The X800GTO would be sitting at the top of your list. PowerColor X800GTO 256Mb GDDR3 would be the model i think. it's on newegg.
 
Man, who knew it would be so tough to pick a card when stuck in the in the spot of low cost yet decent performance.

Thanks for all your help. I've been looking into the cards you all have mentioned

The x1600pro seems like a decent card. Has new tech like Smart Shader 3.0, which I think would help newer games. But anything based on the Doom engine would probably not fair well on it.

This PowerColor X1600pro 256mb has dual DVI for $109.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131318
But I'm worried about a comment about being noisy

There's a GECUBE RX1600pro dual DVI for $109.99:
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814241004
Anyone know what the R in the RX1600pro means compared to others? On user commented this was full fledged X1600pro, what did that mean?

As a las choice, Gigabyte (same brand as mobo I'm getting) not dual dvi, but it has passive cooling $96.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125021


Now the X800GTO. Seems like a pretty good card, but lacks new shaders, but will that really matter to me for the life of the card for how little I play games. Newegg only has one dual dvi and that's $139 except for an OEM for $99

This PowerColor X800GTO for $89.99 look like a great deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131007


Then someone mentioned the 7300 GT, probably not the fastest, falls a little behind the 1600pro in most games but beat it in some tests like Doom 3 engines that I saw in this x1600pro versus 7300gt article posted last week:
http://www.techspot.com/review/7-nvidia_geforce_7300gt_vs_ati_radeon_x1600pro/page1.html

Is XFX a good brand, they have a 7300GT with dual dvi and passive cooling for $85.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150162

I also have to keep in mind my Xbox 360 has a hardware failure right now and warranty is gone and will probably cost me that standard $130 to repair, which kills me. I haven't launched a game on my computer since I've had the 360, so that 7300gt with dual dvi and passive cooling looks like a great option for the price. Or a little more you get a X1600pro that performanes overall better with dual dvi but no passive cooling. I'll be using a Antec p180 case which I think has good cooling for passive. The X800GTO for $90 is a good deal, but not dual dvi, so I'm wondering if I end up not playing games much I'd waste that performance that I could have traded off for dual dvi with a 7300gt.

Who knew this would get so complicated :)
 
gobBobo said:
corrected (you are wrong)

my 7900GT has dual DVI
Click to expand...

There's a difference between dual-link DVI and dual DVI. Dual-link DVI has twice the bandwidth of single-link, and is thus suitable to powering resolutions such as 2560x1600. I think the 7900GTX/7950GX2 are the only nVidia cards with dual-link DVI, but again, I may be wrong.
 
I'd up the budget by $60 and get a 7600GT. You can get them for around $160 and then EVGA has a $30MIR. Probably the best bang for your buck card you can get around that price range.
 
I picked the POWERCOLOR X1600PRO 256MB Dual DVI for the $109.99 price. It seems to be a good overall card, not perfect, but it does have dual dvi and a decent price. I see no reason now to find anything faster when I probably won't play games that much on PC while I have a 360. Though, maybe I'll look for a new video card when Vista is out, plus DX10 cards and games are out that make the 360 look like childs play.

Thanks for your help
 
I've heard a lot of stuff about the X1600Pro being a pretty bad card. But since you're not doing much gaming, i guess it's okay.
 
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