Help me with a video card that's under $200.

[kxm9976]

Thanks everyone beforehand.

I have ordered all the components for my system but the video card. It all should be here tomorrow.
The system is going to be used for video editing, day to day stuff (word,excell, explorer), watching DVD's, and some gaming (not a lot though). I wanna get something decent, cause I am going to keep this compputer for about 4yrs and I want this thing to last that long.

Now, I originally was going to get the ATI 9800PRO (retail with 3yr warranty and 256bit) but it seems to be around $230. That's a little too much as I am already overbudget, so I was looking at some other options. Here they are, what do you think about them?

9600PRO(128bit)- $135
9600XT(Gygabyte, Retail, 128bit)- $150
9800SE (Powercolor, Retail, 256bit) -$175
9800Pro(powercolor, OEM, 256bit-$200
9800PRO(ATI, Retail, 256bit)-$230

Also, I checked out the Nvidia chipset ones, and they seem to be better priced compared to the ATI chipset. What do you think about them compard to the ATI?

Chaintech 5900XT(Retail, 256bit) -$174
MSI 5900XT (Retail, 256bit) - $185

So what would you guys suggest me? Is the 9800Pro worth the extra money? Or the 9800SE with 256Bit should be fine for $55 less. Or maybe that already too much and the regular 9600PRO is enough. In any case, I need your help. Please help.

Thank You

 

[imported_JeReMY]

9800 PRO is really worth the extra money.

 

[kxm9976]

Originally posted by: JeReMY
9800 PRO is really worth the extra money.

how does the 9800SE Powercolor (256bit) compare to it?

thanks

 

[Cawchy87]

4 pipes vs. 8 pipes.

If it softmods alright it will be close to as good as a 9800 pro (not as good as an over clock)

If it doesn't soft mod, basicly you have a card = to a 9600xt

 

[xclusivex]

If your looking for under 200.. id say get the 5900xt.. its pretty comparable to the 9800 pro and 60 bux cheaper?

 

[kxm9976]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
4 pipes vs. 8 pipes.

If it softmods alright it will be close to as good as a 9800 pro (not as good as an over clock)

If it doesn't soft mod, basicly you have a card = to a 9600xt

Well the model is R98SE-C3 and I read the reviews on Newegg and it seems like people were able to get it up to 8 pipes.

Thanks

 

[jimmy43]

The 9800 pro will crush any of these other cards. If you really want your system to last, spend the extra 20 bucks and get yourself a nice card that can actually play doom3 and half life 2 etc... Trust me it's worth it.

 

[kxm9976]

Originally posted by: jimmy43
The 9800 pro will crush any of these other cards. If you really want your system to last, spend the extra 20 bucks and get yourself a nice card that can actually play doom3 and half life 2 etc... Trust me it's worth it.

Well, in that case would you suggest the ATI Retail 9800PRO, or the Sapphire or the Powercolor are just as good (taking sapphire and powercolor are the 256bit)?

Thanks

 

[jimmy43]

OEM just means it wont come in a pretty little box and it will have no bundled games. This is why it is a little bit cheaper. Overall I would go with the Sapphire 9800 Pro OEM then, it is a quality card which is just as good as ATI's if not better. Lots of good reviews for it, and it will fit nicely into your budget.

 

[kxm9976]

Originally posted by: jimmy43
OEM just means it wont come in a pretty little box and it will have no bundled games. This is why it is a little bit cheaper. Overall I would go with the Sapphire 9800 Pro OEM then, it is a quality card which is just as good as ATI's if not better. Lots of good reviews for it, and it will fit nicely into your budget.

I can't find it in the 256bit version though.
Thanks

 

[kxm9976]

Hey guys, what do you think abou the MSI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-127-127&depa=1

versus the ATI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-102-286&depa=1

ZipZoomFly has them both for $230.
I like the MSI package though as it has few games with it. I don't think ATI does, does it?

Thanks all

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: kxm9976
Hey guys, what do you think abou the MSI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-127-127&depa=1

versus the ATI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-102-286&depa=1

ZipZoomFly has them both for $230.
I like the MSI package though as it has few games with it. I don't think ATI does, does it?

Thanks all

Well, at one point, the ATI cards were shipping with a HL2 coupon. Might want to check into that if you are planning on playing it.

 

[Paratus]

Originally posted by: kxm9976
Hey guys, what do you think abou the MSI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-127-127&depa=1

versus the ATI one?
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-102-286&depa=1

ZipZoomFly has them both for $230.
I like the MSI package though as it has few games with it. I don't think ATI does, does it?

Thanks all

The MSI one is a full fledged 9800 PRO it should be fine. I recommended it to a friend 2 months ago and he loves it.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

msi one will oc like a charm wen u need that little extra kick later on down the road

 

[amheck]

I believe the MSI 9800 Pro should also have the R360 core. With a BIOS flash (or something like that) I believe you can have a 128meg 9800XT.

Another option would be to wait a month (hopefully) and get a 6600GT in AGP when they're available.

 

[BenSkywalker]

6800LE for $260

Not sure what your price cap is, but with how long you are planning to hold on to the board I'd say you may want to consider something with a bit more power then the R9800Pro(which is already showing its age).

 

[Uhtrinity]

Don't forget the 9700pro, withing a few percentage points of the 9800 for less money.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
Don't forget the 9700pro, withing a few percentage points of the 9800 for less money.

If you're willing to go used, the 9700Pro or 9800NP (which perform pretty much identically, and both can be found for ~$150) are a pretty good deal.

For ~$200, new, you should be able to find a 128MB 256-bit 9800Pro (although newegg seems to be out of stock of a lot of the models; they only have the Powercolor right now). The only thing the ATI ("BBA") model offers over the others is a 3-year warranty, and a different software bundle. If you don't care about the warranty (such as if you plan on overclocking/modding the card), an OEM card (like a Sapphire, PowerColor, or MSI) will be fine.

I would not recommend the 5900XT for the ~$20 difference -- it's really, really bad at running DX9 shaders, and worse with AA/AF than the 9800Pro (although it's very competitive at older games). And with the 9800SE you're taking a chance that it will softmod. It doesn't seem worth the risk to save $25.

Obviously, if you're willing to spend more, you can get more performance. The 6800NU is ~30% faster overall than the 9800Pro (and significantly better than that at Doom3), but of course they run around $250-300.

 

[mikelish]

Originally posted by: amheck

Another option would be to wait a month (hopefully) and get a 6600GT in AGP when they're available.

Will this have all the same technologies as the 6800gt, just be a slower clockspeed? (ie pixel shader 3.0?)

 

[amheck]

Yes, I believe so, but I'll let the experts comment. I believe it only has 8 pipes, but uses some pretty fast GDDR3. 128-bit, too, but it definitely keeps up with or surpases the 9800 series, plus has the new features of the 6800 series. I also think it has some video stuff that even the 6800 won't have.

Seems to be the new $200 card that everyone is waiting for.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: mikelish

Originally posted by: amheck

Another option would be to wait a month (hopefully) and get a 6600GT in AGP when they're available.

Will this have all the same technologies as the 6800gt, just be a slower clockspeed? (ie pixel shader 3.0?)

6600gt =

8x1 design
fixed video processor that can do the WMV9 properly (so can the 6200) unlike the 6800's
500mhz core
1000mhz (effective) GDDR3
128bit memory bus (128-256mb configs?)
yes to shadermodel 3

ie its a 6800 cut in half, on a lower fab process with a higher core speed and a working VPU

tho 2 6600gts in sli = 1 6800gt

 

[kxm9976]

Thanks everyone for the input.

I'd like to wait for that new card, but don't have the time.
The MSI card I believe is the 360core (as it is the green one and it's $20 more then the red one on ZipZoom, plus the model number proves that it is the 360). Moreover, I have got few questions for you.

1) I can get this ATI 9800PRO on ebay prettty cheap. The guy claims that it is brand new and the buyer will get the 3yr warranty. he is going to include the invoice in the package.
IS he/she correct about the warranty?

2) When you overclock the cards, does the warranty get waived or it is still good?

3) Also, with the stock heatsink and fan how save it is to overclock?

4) Lastly, I am a newbie to the whole oc'ing seen and was just wondering how easy is it to oc?

THanks all

P.S. Seems like Powercolor has the same 3yr warranty on OEM, BULK, and retail models. Also MSI offers the 3yr warranty too.

 

[mikelish]

sorry to hijack your thread


two people have said that the 6600gt's will have 128bit... they will still outperform the 256bit 9800pros tho right?

thanks

 

[amheck]

If you can bump it up to $250, Outpost occassionally has the BFG 6800NU for $249, I believe. I would also guess there might be some nice Black Friday deals coming up.

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: mikelish
sorry to hijack your thread


two people have said that the 6600gt's will have 128bit... they will still outperform the 256bit 9800pros tho right?

thanks

I think the extra 128 bit in the 9800 pro helps when you bump up the AA and AF. That's when the 6600GT starts to falter a little, as far as I can tell. But at low or no AA and AF, the 6600GT should be faster.