Best Nvidia card for $100?

[nx02nx02]

Best Nvidia PCI-E card for $100?

Best Nvidia PCI-E card for $50?


I need a new video card for my older computer. I am going to put a Nvidia in this one.

So im wondering. What is the very best Nvidia card for $100 or less? And $50 or less?

I am actually going to go ahead and get a new power supply for this computer as well.
So any card will be ok.

This card is going to go into an older computer and I think the CPU will bottleneck it somewhat but that's ok I might upgrade the rest of the computer later but for now I need
the very best performing card for $100.

Also what is the very best Nvidia PCI-E card for $50?


I sure appreciate any replies and the reason im asking this question is I am going to
get one or the other, a $50 card or a $100 card. Just not sure yet how much im going to spend on the card either $50 or $100.

 

[yh125d]

For $50 you could get a 9500GT

You can find GTS250's for right around $100 AR


But for the $50 range you'd be better off to try and find an ATI 4670 for ~$55 AR. Though of these three choices I'd go for the GTS250

 

[nx02nx02]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

 

[Schmide]

You can often find 9600gso (s) for under $50 AR. I think they would be a bit better than a 9500gt, a bit less than an 9600gt.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

if you already know your cpu is going to be bottleneck then why get more gpu than you can use especially since you only said you might upgrade later? if you arent going to upgrade in the next few months then why throw money down the drain? a $100 card will perform no better than $50 in a crappy system. so what cpu and how much memory do you even have in that pc you are getting a $100 card for?

 

[nx02nx02]

Originally posted by: Schmide
You can often find 9600gso (s) for under $50 AR. I think they would be a bit better than a 9500gt, a bit less than an 9600gt.

I was thinking of getting that one in hot deals forum for $35 AR but it is Out of stock.

That is an awesome deal though.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: nx02nx02

Originally posted by: Schmide
You can often find 9600gso (s) for under $50 AR. I think they would be a bit better than a 9500gt, a bit less than an 9600gt.

I was thinking of getting that one in hot deals forum for $35 AR but it is Out of stock.

That is an awesome deal though.

Search and you will find (Credit to proro1974 SD)

PNY Verto GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB Video Card $46AR

 

[nx02nx02]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

if you already know your cpu is going to be bottleneck then why get more gpu than you can use especially since you only said you might upgrade later? if you arent going to upgrade in the next few months then why throw money down the drain? a $100 card will perform no better than $50 in a crappy system. so what cpu and how much memory do you even have in that pc you are getting a $100 card for?

Well I imagine it would bottleneck somewhat but maybe not too bad. The computer does need a new video card for sure though because the old one quit working.

That's kind of why I wanted to know the best card for $100 and best for $50. I am still not sure what I want to put in it. Just looking at some options.


The comp specs:
Asus A8NVM
1 gig pc3200 DDR Corsair
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4 ghz
Pioneer DVDRW
(A new power supply )

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: nx02nx02

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

if you already know your cpu is going to be bottleneck then why get more gpu than you can use especially since you only said you might upgrade later? if you arent going to upgrade in the next few months then why throw money down the drain? a $100 card will perform no better than $50 in a crappy system. so what cpu and how much memory do you even have in that pc you are getting a $100 card for?

Well I imagine it would bottleneck somewhat but maybe not too bad. The computer does need a new video card for sure though because the old one quit working.

That's kind of why I wanted to know the best card for $100 and best for $50. I am still not sure what I want to put in it. Just looking at some options.


The comp specs:
Asus A8NVM
1 gig pc3200 DDR Corsair
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4 ghz
Pioneer DVDRW
(A new power supply )

I absolutely would not put a decent card in a system with a single core cpu and 1 gig of ram. no gpu is going make up for those shortcomings in newer games. a gts250 would not even be used to 50% of its potential with that cpu not to mention many games wouldnt even be playable with only 1 gig of ram.

 

[nx02nx02]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

if you already know your cpu is going to be bottleneck then why get more gpu than you can use especially since you only said you might upgrade later? if you arent going to upgrade in the next few months then why throw money down the drain? a $100 card will perform no better than $50 in a crappy system. so what cpu and how much memory do you even have in that pc you are getting a $100 card for?

Well I imagine it would bottleneck somewhat but maybe not too bad. The computer does need a new video card for sure though because the old one quit working.

That's kind of why I wanted to know the best card for $100 and best for $50. I am still not sure what I want to put in it. Just looking at some options.


The comp specs:
Asus A8NVM
1 gig pc3200 DDR Corsair
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4 ghz
Pioneer DVDRW
(A new power supply )

I absolutely would not put a decent card in a system with a single core cpu and 1 gig of ram. no gpu is going make up for those shortcomings in newer games.

The 1 gig of ram is temporary I am going to upgrade the ram for sure but are you saying that a GTS250 or higher end card is going to perform exactly the same as a low end card in this system?

I am not saying your wrong but if you are correct about this I need to know because I agree, it would be a waste of money.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: nx02nx02

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Hi, thanks for the reply. Do you have a link for a GTS250 for around $100?

That seems like a really good price I just might have to get that.

Thanks again.

if you already know your cpu is going to be bottleneck then why get more gpu than you can use especially since you only said you might upgrade later? if you arent going to upgrade in the next few months then why throw money down the drain? a $100 card will perform no better than $50 in a crappy system. so what cpu and how much memory do you even have in that pc you are getting a $100 card for?

Well I imagine it would bottleneck somewhat but maybe not too bad. The computer does need a new video card for sure though because the old one quit working.

That's kind of why I wanted to know the best card for $100 and best for $50. I am still not sure what I want to put in it. Just looking at some options.


The comp specs:
Asus A8NVM
1 gig pc3200 DDR Corsair
Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4 ghz
Pioneer DVDRW
(A new power supply )

I absolutely would not put a decent card in a system with a single core cpu and 1 gig of ram. no gpu is going make up for those shortcomings in newer games.

The 1 gig of ram is temporary I am going to upgrade the ram for sure but are you saying that a GTS250 or higher end card is going to perform exactly the same as a low end card in this system?

I am not saying your wrong but if you are correct about this I need to know because I agree, it would be a waste of money.

I ran some benchmarks last week for someone with a 4000 A64 single core. even at 1920 you would get only 35-40% of what a gts250 could do in most newer games. older games wouldnt be so bad but then you wouldnt need a gts250 for those anyway.

 

[nx02nx02]

Well you bring up an interesting point. hmmm.. I wasn't expecting that big of a bottleneck.

I might need to change my upgrade ideas here somewhat.

The thing is, is this computer needs a new video card for sure, (old 7600GT that was in it quit working)
and I do need to get some more use out of this computer before fully upgrading it. Im not really worried about the
memory i was planning on upgrading the memory soon.

I dont play games at high resolutions and max settings on this computer. This is a secondary computer This ones just for lower resolutions and mid settings in games
but it does need to be able to play newer games.


So what would be the best thing to do? Just put a really cheap card in it? I cant put anything less then what was in it before
(7600GT)

 

[toyota]

this is with a 192sp gtx260. even at a very gpu limited 1920 setting with 4x AA and very settings a cpu like yours can only deliver 40% of what a gtx260 is capable of is capable of with an E8500..

Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 1920x1080 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(4x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Very High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Very High), Terrain(Very High), Geometry(Very High), Post FX(High), Texture(Very High), Shadow(Very High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

E8500 at 3.16
Total Frames: 2752, Total Time: 51.01s
Average Framerate: 53.95
Max. Framerate: 81.93 (Frame:401, 6.16s)
Min. Framerate: 38.94 (Frame:1837, 34.13s)

E8500 at 1.8 with one core disabled equal to or better than a 3800 A64
Total Frames: 1156, Total Time: 51.02s
Average Framerate: 22.66
Max. Framerate: 34.17 (Frame:173, 6.39s)
Min. Framerate: 15.98 (Frame:794, 34.66s)




For Warhead I used all high DX9 settings. your cpu alone would make the game almost unplayable as the minimums are only 50% of what the gtx260 is capable of with an E8500.

Benchmark information
Demo: Train
Quality: High
Renderer mode: DirectX 9
Antialising mode: Off
Filtering mode: None
MultiGPU support: Disabled
Boost renderer: Disabled
Use Custom Config File: No
Random .exe: Disabled

E8500 at 3.16
Resolution: 1920×1080 (HD WideScreen)
Result(1): Minimum= 25 FPS Average= 35 FPS Max= 45 FPS

E8500 at 1.8 with one core disabled equal to or better than a 3800 A64
Resolution: 1920×1080 (HD WideScreen)
Result(1): Minimum= 12 FPS Average= 21 FPS Max= 29 FPS



at lower resolutions the gap would be much larger and your cpu would look even worse. at lower resolutions you would be getting only 30-35% of what gtx260 can do or likely about 40-45% of what a gts250 can do.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: nx02nx02
Well you bring up an interesting point. hmmm.. I wasn't expecting that big of a bottleneck.

I might need to change my upgrade ideas here somewhat.

The thing is, is this computer needs a new video card for sure, (old 7600GT that was in it quit working)
and I do need to get some more use out of this computer before fully upgrading it. Im not really worried about the
memory i was planning on upgrading the memory soon.

I dont play games at high resolutions and max settings on this computer. This is a secondary computer This ones just for lower resolutions and mid settings in games
but it does need to be able to play newer games.


So what would be the best thing to do? Just put a really cheap card in it? I cant put anything less then what was in it before
(7600GT)

at lower res is where you are going to be even more cpu limited. yes I would just grab the cheapest you can get if you cant upgrade the cpu and memory now.

 

[Keysplayr]

OP, without going through all the bottleneck commentary, just do this:
If your platform upgrade isn't going to be for a long while, get the 9600GSO/9600GT. If your upgrade is soon, get the GTS250.