OT: Building a new computer, input on decent vid card pls

[N49ATV]

Hey guys, gonna build a new PC here (before my year end), and I havent been digging into hardware too much. Whats the best gaming card for say $200-$300.

I dont wanna buy a $500 card, even though its on the company, too much and they ask questions.

*edit*
My Current Rig Being Replaced:
P4 3.0C
Asus P4C800-DLX
Audigy 2
1GB of OCZ Platinum Edition DDR400
80GB WD Cavier, 160GB WD Cavier Hard drives
300W Enermax PSU
Lite-On CDRW
Benq DVD-RW (dead)
ATI Radeon X850 Pro, Flashed to X850XT PE
WinXP Pro

New one Im looking at:
Intel I7 920 Quad Core 2.66ghz
Asus Rampage II Gene mATX
G.Skill 6GB 3x2GB Triple Kit
WD 1TB HD (sata2)
Enermax 720 Modular PSU
NZXT Rouge SSF mATX Cube
Windows 7 Premium
Just not sure what to get for a vid card. I dont play a whole lot of games, and I dont need the craziest video card. But should I decide to buy a game, id like to be able to play it. I dont need 1920x1080, max AA, and AF, and 250FPS on any game. Just playable 100FPS on decent settings, and reasonable resolution.

 

[Spree]

I have this one it seam to work pretty good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

 

[ZeK'a]

I run a Quad 4 Intel on an ASUS at 2.44ghz - SLI vid with twin 9600 Nvidia's 512megs each with 4gig RAM and 700watt PS... 2 years old last October... No problems... Fast as heck. Nvida is the way to go hands down!

OS: Windows XP Pro

 

[Skylark SP]

It is not in the top notches for gaming, but I've been very happy with my ATI Radeon HD4870 1GB graphics card, particularly for the price point. I can run dual clients on Ultra settings in WoW at 1280X768 screen resolution and it performs fine. Movies and such look very nice.

-Skylark

 

[Sturdy]

I also have a 4970 1GB with a 920 etc etc. It is overkill for UO. I suggest you look into a 5770 (about $175) or a 5750 (about $150) These are great deals and will play just about anything.

These are the newer line and consume less power (and fit in more cases*) than the 4900 series. if you have a newer monitor make sure you get display port / HDMI on your card.


Make sure you check your clearance before purchasing a new GPU. Learn from my mistakes.

"Just playable 100FPS on decent settings"

Man, is that all

 

[Bruin]

Current best video card in the $250-300 range is the ATI 5850 series. Current best price for one is around $252 not including tax and discussion about it can be seen here: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1799167

Good review here: http://hothardware.com/Articles/AMD-ATI-Radeon-HD-5850-Performance-Review/?page=1

Basically, the video card hierarchy right now is:
NVIDIA GTX295 ($500)
ATI Radeon 5870 ($400)
NVIDIA GTX285 ($400)/ATI Radeon 5850 ($300)

I think the 5970 might be coming out to, but above your price range. The other benefit of the ATI 5000 series is much lower power consumption than the NVIDIA series.

If you want to take a step down, there's the ATI 4890 ($200) or ATI 5770 ($160).

 

[N49ATV]

...
"Just playable 100FPS on decent settings"

Man, is that all

LOL, I know that sounds crazy, but I dont run super high resolutions. I like to run the native resolution of the monitor. So that nothing is distored and image quality is nice.

My old comp with the 850XTPE, no overclocking on anything would run oblivion, morrowind, Fable, etc with about 120FPS on high settings (no ultra), at 1280x1024 (native lcd for my 19") just fine. Now I wont play games at 2600xyada with ultra settings. I just want a smooth gameplay. And the eye can see what 72fps. And old monitors were 60hz, and we all did fine there, so im sure 60 would be fine. But 60 isnt enough for a standard rate, id want that to be the low rate. Which means id need 90+ average. So I threw 100fps out there


And its not that cards are outside the price range, its just explaining to the accountant, why I needed a $600 Videocard in a computer used for my home office. I dont think I need DX11 etc to do excell spreadsheets, invoicing, and payroll lol. But something reasonable price, they wont bat an eye. I can do what I want, but gotta keep it reasonable lol

 

[Lorddog]

I got the geforce GTS 250 for about $150 and its great.
if your running multi monitors then make sure the card supports your connections.
i7 chipset is awesome
i love windows 7
i installed premium and found i couldnt run virtual pc and had trouble with the virtualbox. you have to have professional to run virtual pc using xp mode.
then when i had installed windows 64 bit (which allows over 4 megs ram) I found I could not run the virtual pc I wanted to and also could not install certain dvd burning programs. There was also problems with ie 64 bit running some things like flash.
so then i reinstalled 32 bit and got everything working as I wanted.

I had to get the windows anywhere to upgrade to prof but was doable.
also I also had bought tri-channel 6g's ram but now can only use 4g's

Lorddog

 

[N49ATV]

I have 32bit and 64bit IE on my laptop. 64bit IE doesnt have support for flash player yet. It will work now as they have flash 10 out.

 

[kelmo]

Build with an eye to the future. *nods*

 

[N49ATV]

Yeah, I always look forward. Why I got the latest socket for CPU, and a very high end mobo (mATX though). Cause that mobo limits what the PC can do. I have always been a big fan of getting one of the best mobos you can. Also getting ram that is at the limit of the board aswell. Since why bottleneck everything there.

My last PC (one above) started in 2001. 9 Years ago. It still plays almost any game. Sure it wont play the newest games at max resolutions and quality. But to get that many years out of a PC that is still playable, is pretty good IMO.

 

[Uvtha]

Build with an eye to the future. *nods*

Thats why I live in a zeppelin...

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

I got an Nvidia 9800GT 512mb pci-e 2.0. Probably spent around $100 on it and can play everything from EC/UO to Lineage/Atlantica/S.U.N./Fallen Earth/Darkfall/Guildwars and pretty much everything else I`ve tried and tested. All was on high settings and all looked great.

Tigerdirect FTW.

 

[N49ATV]

Meh, Im in canada, ill order from NCIX a canadian distributer. Or I pay out the arse in brokerage fees, and duty.

Think ill go with a 275

 

[Lorddog]

Thats why I live in a zeppelin...

oohhh that reminded me (com64)

 

[Sunchicken]

DUDE.... i got a dell about 5-6 years ago.

 

[Damien Softstep]

DUDE.... i got a dell about 5-6 years ago.

Emachine...7 years ago...

 

[Mr.StinkyPants]

DUDE.... i got a dell about 5-6 years ago.

heh that guy got ****canned for rocking gonj