$150 or under

[boldgamer]

What is the best Video Card to get for $150 or less?

 

[Crashman]

The Radeon 8500 Retail goes for as little as $140 if you look hard enough.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

the Gainward GeForce3 Golden Sample Ti200 128MB is on newegg.com for $155. I just ordered one a couple of hours ago. The Ti200 is at the low-end of the GeForce3 line, but this paticular card is reportedly easily overclockable to near-Ti500 (the best one) levels! not to mention 128MB instead of 64 - kinda overkill but at least it won't get outdated as fast. THG had a review with it and they liked it also. Raedon is cool but i will never buy ATI again because of too many bad experiences.

 

[bdaley]

R8500 is the way to go for under $150.

"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks"

 

[endless_n00b]

"...not to mention 128MB instead of 64 - kinda overkill but at least it won't get outdated as fast. "

Is next month or so too fast? Sorry to tell you, but the GF4 Ti4200 outperforms that card by a good margin, and the MSRP is 179 for a 64meg and 199 for a 128. And thats msrp, expect better deals in the 150-175 range after a few weeks.

If you have to get a card right now (can't wait) for about 150 bucks I'd second the recommendation for a Radeon 8500.

----
A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

 

[AMD_Man]

Sorry to tell you, but the GF4 Ti4200 outperforms that card by a good margin

That's wrong!!! Give me proof otherwise with 6043 or later drivers!

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[endless_n00b]

chill AMD_Man, I was talking about his Ti200.

I know how you feel about the 8500 and the the latest drivers and I too am dying to see a comparison. Now if ATI would only officially release them we'd see some new benchmarks and some REAL competition.

----
A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

 

[boldgamer]

Do the 8500 and the G3 both support DX8?

 

[bront]

Both are DX8 cards. The 8500 is DX8.1, but that's not a big deal (It's a slightly faster pixel or vertex shader if supported, but no big difference).

The 8500 retail will outperform the GF3 TI200 easily, and can be overclocked pretty far (almost 10%, more with the newer ones.) It also has dual display support, DVI output, and S-video outs (Any 2 of VGA, DVI (Can use converter to go to VGA), and/or Svideo). Most GF3s will have the S-video, but not all will have the DVI, and none will have the dual display support.

If you can wait, wait till 2 weeks after the GF4 TI4200s hit the market (That SHOULD be Mid-May). That will drop the GF3 and 8500's prices down, and you might find a GF4 TI4200 in that price range as well to give you a third choice.

The Windows Gods demand money to appease the BSOD! - Rev. Bill Gates

 

[boldgamer]

Thanks for all the help. I have an ATI Xpert 128 and it still play some of the newer games without any problems. So, I think that I will stick with ATI and get the 8500.

 

[phsstpok]

I'd say the burden of proof is on you.

Show us the 8500 with the newer drivers outscore the Ti4200. At least show us how much better the 8500 performs with the newer drivers vs the 6037 drivers.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>

 

[AMD_Man]

That's going to be impossible to do myself. I don't have a Ti4200, and my system doesn't match that of Tom's Hardware's.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[phsstpok]

I didn't mean you personally. What I meant is if the results of reviews mentioned don't have an outcome you like it is not up to anyone to show YOU better reviews. If you have a differing opinion, it's up to you to show US a counterpoint review. If you don't have one then show a link to benchmarks using old and new ATI drivers. All you need to show is that the 6043 drivers are actually an improvement. That would at least provide evidence to you claims.

I was leaning toward an 8500 for myself so I'd like to see better scores to help me decide. If two cards are close in performance then I'd choose the one then is cheapest. If they are also close in price then I'd choose the one which has the better features.

From my point of view, the TI4200 is looking like the better performer. Of course price does matter. If the street price matches the that of the 8500, right now, I would choose the Ti4200. If I saw better performance from the 8500 I would lean the other way. For either card I am still waiting for the price to drop. I'd like to see them at $125. I'm hoping competition will force the prices to reach this level.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>