Jeez I cant decide what to get!

[Cyber$nake]

Ok ive been going all over the place lookin for a mid-range card, willing to spend between 200-300 dollars, the less the better. I was lookin at the 9800 pro, then xt, then AIW, then BFG6800 oc and some other ones and I just cant really figure out what the heck I want. Do any of you have specific reccomendations for good cards in that pricerange? Thanks ahead.

 

[Subatomic]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268R&depa=0

If you don't mind refurbished, only 160 bucks for an awesome card!

 

[joule]

...Ever better:

LOOKY HERE!

 

[blahblahblah]

You have a bunch of choices. They depend on

1) What are your system specs?
2) How much *ideally* would you like to spend (specific number)?
3) Do you like to overclock, or soft-mod your card?

 

[Top Secret]

You have a bunch of choices. They depend on

1) What are your system specs?
2) How much *ideally* would you like to spend (specific number)?
3) Do you like to overclock, or soft-mod your card?

You all ready know what I'm going to suggest for "200-300" dollars. :E
6800 Non-Ultra

 

[Cyber$nake]

again 300 max. My specs are P4 2.53ghz proccesor, 512mb RDRAM, 80 gig HD, wtc. My current card is a Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti4200 64mb...
As for overclocking...the only kind I would do would be overdrive from ATI since it doesnt void the warrenty. If I was going serious I would OC anything, but I dont have good cooling for my comp so Im not risking it.


Hmm the BFG 6800 oc is lookin OK... can get it on ebay for 265...ooh and it comes w/ farcry...

 

[eish]

Don't trust ebay, there are simply just too many scammers on there.
If you are looking for a good stable graphics card that will handle HL2 great, get the 9800 PRO.
If you look at price vs performance, this is the card to get
If you can afford the 9800 XT, I would suggest you get that though.

 

[Cyber$nake]

Ive bought many things off ebay and I havnt had a single problem yet, plus the one I was looking at was being sold from a platinum dealer. Dont worry about that. The 9800xt would be nice w/ overdrive, temp. moniters and possibly a HL@ coupon, but thats 350 and I heard that overall its a rip. Still a possibility though, again its cheaper on ebay.

 

[Asus]

If you are not going to be using AA/AF then look up the 6800 NU. There are a few below 300$.

If you do use AA/AF or higher resolutions then drop the 6800NU and grab a 9800Pro. No reason to pay more for the same performance. :O

 

[poseyjmac]

If you are not going to be using AA/AF then look up the 6800 NU. There are a few below 300$.

If you do use AA/AF or higher resolutions then drop the 6800NU and grab a 9800Pro. No reason to pay more for the same performance. :O

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source_6.html

these benchmarks disagree with you.

 

[Asus]

You just picked one page of benchmarks instead of linking the begining of the review. And that's just CSS.

Look at the other pages and you see that the differences might not be worth it to someone for $100 additional cost.

 

[poseyjmac]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/cs-source.html

yea its just source engine, but thats the main reason people here are asking for upgrade advice. you should give the 6800nu more credit asus! how much is valve paying you? j/k

the 9800pro aint shabby by any means, but the geforce 6800nu is only $70 more, and includes sm 3.0(which isn't a huge deal, but still a small detail to consider). on pricewatch.com theres a 9800pro for $200 and, 6800nus start at $269 shipped

 

[Cyber$nake]

Ok thanks for the advice. Ill take that much higher into consideration- I hadn't before. Ive seen the BFG 6800 OC version, a little faster, for 275$ on ebay, that will probably be my choice. But not definately, as Ive also been interested recently in the TV funtions of the 9800 pro AIW.