Bang for your buck?

[SquirrelMan]

What is the card right now that gives the most "bang for your buck?" As in: what's the best deal, but also will not get outdated that fast... and how do I find out if it is compatible with my system?

Thanks for the help

[dscytherulez]

Didn't I tell you this already? Geforce FX 5600 Ultra.

Edit: Or a Radeon 9600 Pro/XT, but thats not QUITE as good.

[Vitter]

128 mb Radeon 9700 or 9800

It'll last you a number of years. I recomend Saphire for your supplier.

[SquirrelMan]

Originally Posted by dscytherulez

Didn't I tell you this already? Geforce FX 5600 Ultra.

Edit: Or a Radeon 9600 Pro/XT, but thats not QUITE as good.

well, what's the best card available that isn't EXCESSIVE. Like not ridiculously expensive, but not cheap either. Sorta like between mid-range to high price.

[dscytherulez]

The ones I gave you are the best I can think of. If you want something cheaper go with a 5200 Ultra. But anything below the 5600 isn't "great". A radeon 9000 Pro works pretty good if your in a really cheap mood.

[Cyanide]

I recommend the 9800 pro. The nVidia cards mentioned above are decent too. I never recommend buying the cheap versions of the cards because they don't last nearly as long. It's best to buy whatever is 2nd from the top of the line. Right now the 9800 XT 256mb is top of the line. So I would go with a 9800 pro 128mb (about $200 on newegg.com). I don't know your financial situation, but I were you and I didn't have enough money for something like a 9800 pro I would save up some more cash until I did. Besides, both ATI and nVidia will be releasing new cards pretty soon. When that happens the 9800 cards will drop in price.

One thing to keep in mind is that it would be pointless to buy a card that does not support DirectX 9. The new games comming out now and for the next 2 years or more will be DirectX 9 based, and if the card you get now doesn't support it, you'll be wanting a new card by the end of this year. So make sure the card you get supports DirectX 9.

If you want help with dertimining weather the card will be compatible with your computer or not, you'll have to give us more information about the computer. I.E. the brand and model number of the computer, or the brand and model number of the motherboard.

[teratravp]

It's a tough call. Honestly there are no great values in video cards, so you got to just decide where you'll bite the bullet.

$100 range - shitty graphics, but you can still crank these things basically up to framerates of $200 range because you're using fast settings, say 25-55 fps average varying on game of course, newer=slower, no anti aliasing (everything will have jaggies), no ani filtering (textures will not retain sharpness over distance, blur instead) and 800x600 is usually the top reasonable screen res for these cards

$200 range - this will get you average framerates in games 30-60 lets say because it varies a lot depending on what game... but it will give much better image quality with anti aliasing and ani filtering for basically no frame hit (this is mainly ati cards hallmark i don't know much about mid range nvidia) and here you can probably run at a better resolution of 1024x768 no prob most games. but is $200 worth it? well I sprung from it and I still have mixed feelings... playing older games at high quality settings and fast like bf 1942 is AMAZING... but newer games will fastly eclipse your ability to use extras and your performance so that with newer games you're basically getting what the $100 card gives you cause you have to turn everything lower. That's the thing to remember about vid cards... THEY ARE WAY BETTER RETROACTIVELY then they are at handling new stuff.

$300-bazillion range - Now these cards are the motherfuckers of 3d graphics, but they are so expensive that most people can't justify the purchase, me included. Maybe if I ever save a burning orphanage or something I'll reward myself, but cripes. anyway try 60-100 fps at high settings, high res, high everything. you'll be one enviable but poor jerk buying a card like this... oh and you might loose your mind if you run into lots of driver and technical issues, lack of support the normal in games... except multiply that frustration by I SPENT A LOT OF FUCKING MONEY AND IT DOESNT WORK!@$!%$!#@

[teratravp]

Originally Posted by teratravp

It's a tough call. Honestly there are no great values in video cards, so you got to just decide where you'll bite the bullet.

$100 range - shitty graphics, but you can still crank these things basically up to framerates of $200 range because you're using fast settings, say 25-55 fps average varying on game of course, newer=slower, no anti aliasing (everything will have jaggies), no ani filtering (textures will not retain sharpness over distance, blur instead) and 800x600 is usually the top reasonable screen res for these cards

$200 range - this will get you average framerates in games 30-60 lets say because it varies a lot depending on what game... but it will give much better image quality with anti aliasing and ani filtering for basically no frame hit (this is mainly ati cards hallmark i don't know much about mid range nvidia) and here you can probably run at a better resolution of 1024x768 no prob most games. but is $200 worth it? well I sprung from it and I still have mixed feelings... playing older games at high quality settings and fast like bf 1942 is AMAZING... but newer games will fastly eclipse your ability to use extras and your performance so that with newer games you're basically getting what the $100 card gives you cause you have to turn everything lower. That's the thing to remember about vid cards... THEY ARE WAY BETTER RETROACTIVELY then they are at handling new stuff.

$300-bazillion range - Now these cards are the motherfuckers of 3d graphics, but they are so expensive that most people can't justify the purchase, me included. Maybe if I ever save a burning orphanage or something I'll reward myself, but cripes. anyway try 60-100 fps at high settings, high res, high everything. you'll be one enviable but poor jerk buying a card like this... oh and you might loose your mind if you run into lots of driver and technical issues, lack of support the normal in games... except multiply that frustration by I SPENT A LOT OF FUCKING MONEY AND IT DOESNT WORK!@$!%$!#@

and p.s. the 9800 pro at newegg right now is about as good a deal as you will see. I have a 9500 pro and paid the same price. I DOUBT 9800 pro's will stay $200 though, I'm almost positive they will be back to $300... $250 lowest. So if you're spending $200, do get the 9800 pro BY ALL MEANS. (That's not a full endorsement, read through all the troubles of graphics card I just mentioned )

[dscytherulez]

Yeah, I have a radeon pro and its nice. But it sounds like he wants something cheap. I'd recommend the radeon pro myself if you got the $.

[Electrofreak]

In my opinion, the best bang for your buck right now is a Radeon 9700. Its pretty cheap, and can easily be flashed into a Radeon 9800.

[SquirrelMan]

Alrighty, a 9800 pro.


I have a dell Dimension 8250, I think 533 FSB. Not sure what the model numbers are, where can I find them?

[SquirrelMan]

alrighty, at Tom's Hardware at www.tomshardware.com I found these four cards at the lowest prices:


Radeon 9600 XT: $162
Radeon 9800 Pro: $195
GeForce FX 5900: $229
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra: $170

3 questions:
1) Do you know of somewhere with lower prices for these?
2) Which one is the best value?
3) How do I find out if I can install these cards in my computer?

Thanks for the help

[worldvengence]

it all depends on HOW cheap u are, i would say, cheap but good would be a 9600...but if ur going uber cheap and still want a good card, i have a 9200 and i cant complain, also the Gforce FX is a good card, but u have to keep drivers updated

[Cyanide]

According to Dell's website your computer does have an AGP slot, so it is compatible with any of the cards mentioned in this thread. I still think the 9800 pro is the best card to get right now. It will give you better image quality than the nVidia cards (because ATI cards work well with anti-aliasing and nVidia cards don't do so well with AA) and the price difference between it and the 9600XT is neglegable. If you look at the tomshardware benchmarks for all the major VGA cards (located here), you will see that the 9800 pro and 9800XT are always at the top of the list.

[SquirrelMan]

alright. It's decided. I'm gonna get a Radeon 9800 Pro. Thanks for the help you guys :-)