Graphics card advice

[Eejit]

I'm planning on getting a new card this summer and I'm open to suggestions since I'm not much of a graphics buff.
This computer has 512mb RAM and 2.6Ghz P4.

I just want to run HL2 nicely, I don't even expect to buy a fps (apart from other HL titles) for a long time, since I'm more into strategy games etc.

Also, if you could give a rough idea of cost with candidates I'd really appreciate it - there's a lot of things I need to buy, and graphics isn't top of the list

 

[CptStern]

get a 9800 pro, best bang for the buck

 

[Eejit]

Hmmm, less than £200 from a quick search... not bad.
Any other ideas, bearing in mind I probably won't even buy before end of summer/autumn - would any other cards have their prices lowered significatnly by then do you know?

 

[Maskirovka]

probably just the 9800 pro...i doubt anything better will be less than 200 before the end of the summer

 

[CptStern]

the 9800 xt may come down in price but I doubt it would come down to the price range of a 9800 pro...you can softmod a 9800 pro to XT speeds if you have proper cooling

btw 200 Pounds is a lot of money for a 9800 pro...I bought mine last month for $300 canadian...about 150 pounds

 

[Tarkus]

i'm waiting for the xt to go down... either that or winning the lottery and getting a 6800 instead