More Bang For My Buck -- Suggestions Plz

[Robby682]

Sup people, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to computer hardware so I'm asking for a lil free advice.

I currently have :

NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 (64mb)
Pentium 4 --- 1.6 Ghz

I can only afford to upgrade one -- I'm pretty sure I'd benefit more if I upgraded the video card. So here's my situation:

I'm looking for the best performance card out there so I can have a better experiance on PS. My budget is 300 dollars max. I can over a bit if necessary. As many suggestions as possible would be awesome.

Also -- where is the best place to buy a video card? Any suggestions on that would also be great. Thnx.

[SC385]

get ram(more ram is always better :)) and a 128mb vid card

you can get both for under $300

[Robby682]

Ok I got plenty of RAM (trust me).

I need specifics on video cards and where I can get one for the best price. Not all video cards are made equal -- the more the better -- thanx.

[WickedDeus]

Sapphire ATI RADEON 9700 Atlantis PRO 128MB DDR (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?catalog=48&DEPA=1&submit=property&mfrcode=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=3048,3668) for $292.00 at www.newegg.com. Thats a nice card.

[Daleon]

For $292.00 I wouldn't go near a Sapphire 9700 Pro. Better off finding a retail ATI made 9700 Pro for same or cheaper price. You can usually find them retail at CompUsa or BB for $300.

If I were you though I'd either go the little extra and get a 9800 Pro, lowest I know of is $334 at gameve.com. Its not an ATI board, so don't know how good it actually is. There were plenty of issues with Saphire 9700's, I hear their 9800's are actually decent especially the 256'er.

The ATI 9800 Non-Pro can also be found in the $300 range. I like this board over the 9700 Pro. I think it performs just a little faster, has a newer much more stable core, and minor IQ improvements. Also can be clocked to 9800 Pro speeds well.

If you go NV.... I can only suggest you go all out for a 5900 Pro. Can be found in the $345 or so range.

Depending on the rest of your system though, it may be better to go half video and half processor. Like get a radeon 9500 Pro for $150 range, and a faster P4 if your MB supports it, like up to a 2.4/400 or something.

[skater_d]

try ebay you can find cool deals there all the time. you can get an ATI 9700 pro for around $250 easy and thats just an average price.i see them go for less. this is for brand new cards too.

[skater_d]

i just looked it up you can get a 9600 pro for $150 that way you could upgrade your vidcard and speed.