Building a new comp... opinion on video cards needed

[ACLeroK212]

So I'm in the process of picking out parts for a new computer me and a friend will be building in a few weeks (gearing up for the hl2 release, whenever the hell that is). I've pretty much got the whole system picked but I'm unsure of my video card selection.

For the MB/CPU I pretty much set on getting this (along with a gig of RAM):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=770441&sku=MBM-CK8D-3000

What I need is a good gaming video card for around $150-200 that compliments my MB/CPU selection well. I've been thinking about getting this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=716809&sku=P450-8511

Is that card a good buy for my system? Or would it be worth it to look into something a little bit better?

Basically, considering the MB/CPU/RAM specs above, you've got around $200 to spend on a video card for a gaming system. What would you buy?

 

[blahblahblah]

Try to find a 9800 Pro (256 bit version only), the performance increase over everything else is substantial (in that price range).

Here is one for $205 at newegg (free shipping too).

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

For video cards, check out the 9800 series cards or 9700 cards, well nvidia, is well too damn expensive still with there top of the line FX cards, anything below 5900 is shitty from fx, so stay away from them.

 

[ACLeroK212]

will the ATI chipsets work as well with my MB? someone was telling me that with that MB an nVidia chipset would probably be the better choice.

 

[dream431ca]

Everyone says ATI! because VALVE uses it too. That's like saying, I wear this shirt because it says NIKE!! Look for the greatest specs you can find (for a resonable price) and don't go buying an ATI card just because Valve promotes it. But of course the more expensive the better. You get what you pay for my friend. :cheers:

 

[neil7]

For video cards, check out the 9800 series cards or 9700 cards, well nvidia, is well too damn expensive still with there top of the line FX cards, anything below 5900 is shitty from fx, so stay away from them.

There is nothing wrong with creative cards from 5200 upwards.
I have got a 5200 fx ultra , It is a very capable card. I am not just saying this, but you cant give all cards a bad name. and creative is a good brand and they have obviously have improved the card. I have played half-life on my card and the graphics were amazing and that was on a celeron 1.3GHz with half a gig of ram. I am shortly getting an XP athlon setup and it should help my card as it will be moving from an 4x agp slot to an 8x agp slot.

Oh and i am not biased about the card as now that ati 9800 pro's have came down to 150-160 I would get one of them.- I payed 150 for my Creative 3d blaster 5 5200 fx ultra a year ago today!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bosox188]

Everyone says ATI! because VALVE uses it too. That's like saying, I wear this shirt because it says NIKE!! Look for the greatest specs you can find (for a resonable price) and don't go buying an ATI card just because Valve promotes it. But of course the more expensive the better. You get what you pay for my friend. :cheers:

I wasted $130 on my Geforce 5200, I didn't get what I paid for ;( . lol

 

[blahblahblah]

Everyone says ATI! because VALVE uses it too. That's like saying, I wear this shirt because it says NIKE!! Look for the greatest specs you can find (for a resonable price) and don't go buying an ATI card just because Valve promotes it. But of course the more expensive the better. You get what you pay for my friend. :cheers:

No, the FX series underperforms by a great deal when you compare them to respective ATI Radeon cards. The Nvidia FX series had a horrible implementation of DX 9.0 which makes them worthless for upcoming (and current) DX 9.0 games.

I still recommend the 9800 Pro (the 256 bit version). It is one of the best price/performance deals that you can buy right now.

 

[ACLeroK212]

So i guess i should have just started an nVidia vs. ATI thread then....

I guess what i really want to know then is since the MB i'm getting is an nVidia nForce 3 chipset is there any type of compatibility advantages/issues in getting either an nVidia/ATI video card, respectively?

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

There is nothing wrong with creative cards from 5200 upwards.
I have got a 5200 fx ultra , It is a very capable card.

Capable of not running DX9 things right, I have a FX5600, they suck with DX9.

 

[blahblahblah]

So i guess i should have just started an nVidia vs. ATI thread then....

I guess what i really want to know then is since the MB i'm getting is an nVidia nForce 3 chipset is there any type of compatibility advantages/issues in getting either an nVidia/ATI video card, respectively?

Nope

I have a Nforce 2 chipset and it works perfectly with my ATI Radeon 9600 Pro. Granted, I have never updated my motherboard (or soundstorm) drivers. You will have no problems at all if you mix an Nvidia chipset with an ATI video card.