Video Card around $250?

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Sayth

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Oct 7, 2001
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I plan on upgrading my entire machine, but right now my Radeon X-700 is nearly dead... fan is barely spinning and video flickers randomly.

So I am waiting until Christmas to upgrade, but need a video card to drop into my old and dying Athlon 64 3000+ in the mean time.

I haven't decided between AMD or Intel yet, but I used to like the AMD Chips and ATI cards, but have been looking at nVidia for Linux compatibility and the ease of following their model numbers. I don't even know where to begin with these HD### cards.

I do some moderate gaming. CSS, BF2, Will buy the new Diablo III and StarCraft II when they come out.

I'm thinking around $150 to $250 CAD mark. Was looking at the BFG 9800GT for $153 but I'm not sure about the 9000 series yet.

:confused:Ah I'm so lost. What do you guys recommend????
 
First of all, "ease of following [Nvidia] model numbers?!?!" You're insane. Sure the numbers are simple, but what about the goddamn letter?! GT GTS GTX GX2 WTFFFFF (the last one isn't Nvidia).

What's your monitor size and the native resolution?

Sayth said:
I plan on upgrading my entire machine, but right now my Radeon X-700 is nearly dead... fan is barely spinning and video flickers randomly.

So I am waiting until Christmas to upgrade, but need a video card to drop into my old and dying Athlon 64 3000+ in the mean time.

I haven't decided between AMD or Intel yet, but I used to like the AMD Chips and ATI cards, but have been looking at nVidia for Linux compatibility and the ease of following their model numbers. I don't even know where to begin with these HD### cards.

I do some moderate gaming. CSS, BF2, Will buy the new Diablo III and StarCraft II when they come out.

I'm thinking around $150 to $250 CAD mark. Was looking at the BFG 9800GT for $153 but I'm not sure about the 9000 series yet.

:confused:Ah I'm so lost. What do you guys recommend????
Click to expand...
 
Which resolution are you using for games? For anything at 1680x1050 (or 1600x1200) or below, the 9800GT or the HD4850 would work. (Both cards, I believe, can be found at under the $250CAD limit.)

For a quick, cheap stop-gap, though, you may want to consider either the 9600GT or the recently released HD4670. They're more suitable for a 1440x900 (or 1280x1024) or lower resolution.
 
Hah can't believe I forgot that...

1680X1050

Thanks for the recommendations so far guys!
 
ATI/AMD simplified their models by removing the suffixes, and NVIDIA has followed suit, somewhat, with their latest GPUs. With ATI, the higher the number, the better the card, typically. Same goes for NVIDIA, but they only have two models with the new naming convention, GTX260 & 280, yet have released previous gen cards afterwards (9800GT/GTX+/etc). Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. :p
 
Okay maybe I'll look a little closer at the ATI then. Maybe I'll go with one of those arachnid setups ;)

But what's the compatibility with Linux like nowa days? I know my radeon 9600 and this X700 are nearly impossible to get set up properly under linux due to no proper drivers and Open GL issues.

I know gaming and Linux don't go in the same sentence, but I'd like to dual boot.
 
well first off I would be concerned about bottlenecking with that older generation cpu? But if the other pros here have not said anything then you are probably fine. Here are a few to consider;

Open Box: ASUS EAH4870/HTDI/512M/A Radeon HD 4870 512MB $187.50

MSI N9800GT-T2D512-OC GeForce 9800 GT 512MB $99.99 after mir

Open Box: ASUS EN9800GT ULTIMATE/HTDP/512M GeForce 9800 GT 512MB $105

Also make sure your psu can handle this upgrade. The x700 needed almost no power and these new cards need quite a few amps on the 12v rails.
 
Hmm... For Linux, ATI hasn't been able to keep up with support as Nvidia has. Mostly, I think it is because ATI is new to the Linux compatibility game (ATI decided recently to have a go at trying to make their drivers Linux compatible).

Try this website/forums out. They seem to be really interested in ATI cards and Linux.

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19
 
Hmm looks like they're still working on it.
Thanks Alai.

Also does anyone know if NewEgg is shipping to Canada yet?
And is there really a big improvement if I do the spider setup with ATI over an Intel Cpu, nVidia GPU / Chipset?

And thanks hossdaddy, I'll look into those. But yeah I recently got a new 700 Watt PSU. Can't remember the name, but hopefully I still have enough juice. And again the GPU will only be in it till the end of December.
 
hey Sayth, yes www.newegg.ca but if you live in The GTA here in Canada you can get better deals due to not having to ship it. Also check this site www.shopbot.ca find the product you want and paste the model # in and see who has it here in Canada.
 
Sayth said:
And again the GPU will only be in it till the end of December.
Click to expand...

A two month lifespan for the video card? That doesn't seem like the most logical move considering how long you lived with your current x700. If you got the PSU you might as well buy a gpu now that can last past two more months. Sure a 9800GT and especially a HD4850 will be handicapped by the 3000+ but those are much better long term choices for when you step into whatever Dual or Quad core you can still use either of those cards
 
Thanks again hossdaddy, but I live 4.5 hour drive from Toronto so I think NCIX.com has some better deals. But I will check out that second site you recommended. Honestly CanadaComputers.ca has great prices but their shipping can really get you.

As for GonzoP, I'll be migrating the GPU into the new comp. I was going to buy a 20 dollar 7900 refurb or something but figured I may as well buy a decent card now and just use it in my new system when I build it. If the 9800GT isn't enough by then I may just buy a second and SLI it. We'll see.
 
Sayth said:
Thanks again hossdaddy, but I live 4.5 hour drive from Toronto so I think NCIX.com has some better deals. But I will check out that second site you recommended. Honestly CanadaComputers.ca has great prices but their shipping can really get you.

As for GonzoP, I'll be migrating the GPU into the new comp. I was going to buy a 20 dollar 7900 refurb or something but figured I may as well buy a decent card now and just use it in my new system when I build it. If the 9800GT isn't enough by then I may just buy a second and SLI it. We'll see.
Click to expand...

Its not that the 9800GT isn't enough but it is basically a 2 year old card and for the price of the 9800GT you're 3/4 of the way to a 4850 is all I'm implying
 
If you want a video card that you'll eventually transfer over to a new system, get the HD4850.

Right now, the motherboards to get for Intel-based systems use one of the Intel chipsets (P45,X38,X48) that support CrossFire. (I believe the the X58 chipset, for the upcoming Core i7 processors, also support CrossFire.) You could easily buy the HD4850 and a P45 board, and should you require CrossFire in the future (which is ideal for a 1920x1200 or greater resolution), you could add a second HD4850 later.

If Linux compatibility is a must-have, however, then I understand you wanting to get an NVIDIA-based card.
 
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