best video card at 200$?

[Shl122]

hey all

i need to upgrade my video card and i want to know what is the best video card i can buy at 200$ more or less.....??
i've GigaByte Geforce 2 Pro 64Mb ddr, what is ur suggestions ?
10x alot

 

[pelikan]

Radeon 9700 oem. Check pricewatch.com.

 

[Electric Amish]

Radeon 9500 Pro

amish

 

[Shl122]

is it matter if it's oem or retail ?
and which brand name u recommend ?

 

[human2k]

I dunno where you gonna find a 9700 from a reliable vendor for $200, but if you can get it! The 9500 PRO 128mb OEM from mwave.com is only $172,worth checking out.

 

[pelikan]

I have some opinions about this because I am currently thinking about my next video card.
Well you said $200. more or less. NewEgg has an FIC 9700 . for $229. shipped. For me the extra performance over the 9500 pro is worth the extra $. And the 9700 gpu can easily be run at 9700 pro speeds.
I have a Ti4600 and used to have a 9500 pro. These cards are great for the current games. You can run them with high detail and resolution. I am under the impression that later this year new games will require a faster card if you don't want to sacrifice visuals. And since you are upgrading from a GF2 it sounds like you don't buy new cards very often. I would personally get the 9700.
My $.02

 

[Gage8]

you might consider a refurbished 9700 Pro from NewEgg for $159.00

Never ordered refurbished but this is really tempting!

Gage

 

[EddNog]

Purchase a Radeon 9500 128MB NONPro card with the RAM in an L configuration (Approx. $160 online at New Egg, try this link: Click Here the first item, the black card, has the I configuration and WILL NOT WORK. The second card on the page, the red one, WILL work as it has the L configurationand thus the requisite 256-bit memory bus PCB, identical to Radein 9700/9700 Pro). This will allow you to unlock its clocks and 256-bit memory bus using a BIOS flash and then using RivaTuner and SoftMOD, you can enable the 4 extra pipes. Overclock it a little and you have card that's far faster tha na stock 9700 Pro. I did this and I am getting over 3500 in Code Creatures. First remember that the 9500 must be a 128MB, not a 64MB. The 64MB model does not have any memory attached to the extra 128-bits worth of memory bus so it wouldn't work. Also, make sure the card has its RAM in an L shape configuration. The I shape configuration, or the card that has its memory in a single line, has the 9500 Pro's PCB, which physically no longer has the 256-bit memory bus.

-Ed

PS: E-mail me if you have any questions. CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED ARTICLE ON THE MOD!!! and CLICK HERE FOR ANOTHER ARTICLE ON IT!!!

 

[pelikan]

Originally posted by: EddNog
Purchase a Radeon 9500 128MB NONPro card with the RAM in an L configuration (Approx. $160 online at New Egg, try this link: Click Here the first item, the black card, has the I configuration and WILL NOT WORK. The second card on the page, the red one, WILL work as it has the L configurationand thus the requisite 256-bit memory bus PCB, identical to Radein 9700/9700 Pro). This will allow you to unlock its clocks and 256-bit memory bus using a BIOS flash and then using RivaTuner and SoftMOD, you can enable the 4 extra pipes. Overclock it a little and you have card that's far faster tha na stock 9700 Pro. I did this and I am getting over 3500 in Code Creatures. First remember that the 9500 must be a 128MB, not a 64MB. The 64MB model does not have any memory attached to the extra 128-bits worth of memory bus so it wouldn't work. Also, make sure the card has its RAM in an L shape configuration. The I shape configuration, or the card that has its memory in a single line, has the 9500 Pro's PCB, which physically no longer has the 256-bit memory bus.

-Ed

PS: E-mail me if you have any questions. CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED ARTICLE ON THE MOD!!! and CLICK HERE FOR ANOTHER ARTICLE ON IT!!!

Sounds like the mod worked for you. That's great. From what I have read it's about a 50/50 chance.

 

[MarkHark]

Yes, looks like some of those 9500s just don't have all 8 pipelines in fully funcitonal condition. If you try to enable the defective ones, you'll get artifacts on the screen (the infamous checkerboard pattern)

 

[MarkHark]

9500 pro is the way in my opinion...
O/C it a little and it should perform *almost* as well as 9700 Pro, except in severely bandwidth limited games/resolutions.

 

[bluemax]

Another vote for the 9500 Pro.... but look around for an OEM 9700 NON-pro which should be very close to $200 and definately worth the move!

 

[aman74]

Pelikan is right on the money. I bought a 9500PRO and returned it because I started thinking exactly what he was saying. 9500PRO is a great price/performance value at this moment, but I want to try and get as close to 2 years out of a card and be able to turn the settings up. If you don't need to run at max settings the 9500PRO should do you well, but you can have a 9700 non-pro in the 220-230 range, buyer beware on some of those really low prices on pricewatch.com, always check resellerratings.com first. The best places seem to be newegg and mwave and others have said that googlegear, directron, and dealsonic are decent too. Personally I went with the Sapphire 9700 non-pro OEM for 132, it came very complete with all adapters and cables and drivers and PowerDVD which is nice.

 

[MarkHark]

Where did you find a Sapphire 9700 non-pro for 132 bucks???

I want one too

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Radeon 9500 Pro

amish

 

[Merethrond]

Can someone please tell me what OEM stands for? I have been hearing this abbreviation quite a lot lately and I would really like to know what it stands for.

 

[murphy55d]

OEm means you just get the card and a driver disk... no fancy retail box, or packaged software(sometimes you get free games or apps with video cards).

It'll come in a plain box, with just the standard driver disk. There is a reduced warranty as well. Don't know the exacts of it though.

 

[Corporate Thug]

wait til the 9600 pro comes out. it should be around $180 and that thing oc's like mad. prolly will be the best performance to $ ratio

 

[Jeff7181]

OEM = Origional Equipment Manufacturer

Those parts go to system builders who don't need a pretty box, 42 different cables, and 17 pieces of useless software with the part. So it comes in a plain brown or white box, hardly any (if any) documentation, and maybe drivers. It also doesn't come with a manufacturer's warranty... with OEM products, the warranty is left up to the seller or system builder. Most places will give you 30-90 days to make sure you don't get a dead piece right away.

 

[aman74]

It was at newegg. The Sapphire one, it goes in and out of stock alot, just chooses auto-notify if they're out of it and they should get some in pretty quick.

 

[bluemax]

I noticed that ATI is selling 9600 Pros off the webpage, and the MSRP of the 9600 is $100 Canadian less than the 9500 Pro! Very nice! Count me in!

 

[akshtray]

Hello:

I seem to think that nobody has anything good to say about any Geforce 4 cards. Why is that. Are the Radeons so overpowering. I am pretty much in the same situation and need a new video card for under $200. My current card is also a geforce2 pro.

Do let me know.

Thanks
Akshtray

 

[Ralidan]

Livedistortion,
would you mid giving me a link to that site? A nice cheap card that is fresh off the press is always nice! post or PM would be appreciated!

-Ralidan

 

[Jeff7181]

There's pleanty of good GF4's... however, ATI doesn't have as big a name as nVidia, so you get either equal performance for a little less money... or better performance for the same money.

 

[akshtray]

Ok .. I guess I will go for the Radeon series ..

The 9500 pro or the 9600 pro. Not that much of a price difference between the 2??

Suggestions ??
akshtray