Buying video card. Need help

[Ignacio49]

Hello. I am building a system based on Core 2 Duo E6300 or 6400, and Gigabyte 965P-DS3. I am looking at GeForce 6600/6800/7600 series, with price in the $100-130 range. No noise/low noise is a must. Big size could be a problem due to case.

I am considering the XFX PVT42ENDE3 Geforce 6800XT 128MB GDDR3 (256 bit and $99.99)

Also ASUS EN7600GS SILENT/HTD/256M Geforce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 and XFX PVT73PUDJ3 Geforce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2

I would do occasional gaming.

What would be your suggestions / comments?
Thank you.

 

[prozac26]

6800XT is a total PoS. Go for the 7600GS. If the 6800XT is a lot cheaper, and you rarely game, then you can give the 6800XT a consideration.

 

[Ignacio49]

What about the 6600GT ?

 

[sojrner]

look here. This is on the top of the grahics card forum here. Should have taken minimal effort to look. Says everything that we all would say on this anyway. Also look at the "sub-$200" article on the front page of Tom's. It is a nice supplement for that forum link.

rock on.

 

[Ignacio49]

quote="sojrner"]look here. This is on the top of the grahics card forum here. ....

Yes, I saw it but I felt like it was sort of "advertisement" for Radeon. I have a couple of friends that work in a computer store and told me about Geforce being better that almost any Radeon, both same price level.
Will read again, this time at the answers

I am finding the next post, "Graphics Card Buyers' Guide", more informative and interesting. Have to "digest" it.


Quote:
" Also look at the "sub-$200" article on the front page of Tom's. It is a nice supplement for that forum link".
Unquote-

Where is it? Can't find it.

 

[raven_87]

I have a couple of friends that work in a computer store and told me about Geforce being better that almost any Radeon.....

My, what smart friends you have :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I could go on a semi-off topic rant about "computer stores" ---but I'll let this one slide.

 

[sojrner]

the sub $200 article is here and may or may not have info for ya.

The short list is not an ati ad, just that the market swings both ways from green to red many times. The ati camp has had supremacy before, and so has Nv. Currently in most cases the x1k cards are better in many ways. Of course some of that dominance comes from cards like the x1800xt. Less then a year ago it was the top dog for ati that went toe-to-toe w/ the 7800gtx. Now it is around that $200 mark. (close to it anyway) so that just stomps the 7600s that are also at that price. Ati seems to have more "trickle down" effects right now while the Nv cards stay up there in price. It is not that the Nv cards are better, in fact it is hard to determine a clear winner w/ the 1800xt and 7800gtx but ati has the HDR+AA over it and is cheaper so...

anyway, fanbois like your "friends" just stick w/ a maker simply b/c it is green (or whatever) and that is not good advice. Go w/ the best at the time. That can be either one at any time. Nv has some great cards out now, and they are not that far behind. In fact in "raw performance" (IQ aside) the Nv 7950 gx2 is the fastest card around right now.

 

[sojrner]

I have a couple of friends that work in a computer store and told me about Geforce being better that almost any Radeon.....

My, what smart friends you have :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I could go on a semi-off topic rant about "computer stores" ---but I'll let this one slide.

8O :lol: 8)

 

[lovebat]

You can get a 7600GT for under $150 at newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049

 

[Ignacio49]

Thank you for your comments/info

Best,
Ignacio

 

[cleeve]

I am finding the next post, "Graphics Card Buyers' Guide", more informative and interesting. Have to "digest" it.

The graphics card buyers guide' is very old and hasn't been updated in a year or so, maybe more, so you might not get that much milage out of it.

Yes, I saw it but I felt like it was sort of "advertisement" for Radeon. I have a couple of friends that work in a computer store and told me about Geforce being better that almost any Radeon, both same price level.
Will read again, this time at the answers

I'll take a bit of offense to that.

The 'best cards for the money thread' lists both Geforces and Radeons at the price points they perform best at. IN many cases there are ties between the Radeons and Geforces at the same price point.

The list changes often, at this very second Ati's prices are low so they have taken up alot of the list. If you think it's biased, do google searches on reviews of the recommended cards and see if it's marketing BS. It's not.

I wrote the list. I'm also a writer for Toms and I get to try Radeons and Geforces all the time. Both are excellent gaming cards, the only thing you have to worry about is price/performance - who has the best card at a certain price - and that changes all the time because they're constantly lowring prices and introducing new cards to undermine each other.

If you looked at the list a coouple of months ago it was dominated by the 7600 GT and 7800 GT. Things change all the time...

 

[Ignacio49]

I'll take a bit of offense to that.
quote]

Cleeve, no intention to offend you.

I didn't mean that it was advertisement. I now recognize that it was not the best choice of words. I apologize for that.

A final comment: I've been reading about video cards in several forums. In the back of my mind I got the idea that Geforce is a better buy than Radeon on a performance/cost ratio. Obviously there are exceptions, and obviously this is a constantly changing situation due to price changes, as you already pointed out.
I have read again some of the reviews and post which I found more informative (at least to me). I came out with the same conclusion: buy Geforce to -hopefully- be on the safe side. This coming from a newbie who is not into overclocking (at least not for the time being) and who is looking for a troublefree, smooth working videocard, and who at the same time hopes to make a smart buy.

Again, apologize for my unfortunate comment.

 

[cleeve]

This coming from a newbie who is not into overclocking (at least not for the time being) and who is looking for a troublefree, smooth working videocard, and who at the same time hopes to make a smart buy.

Smart buys are made based on price/performance, not brand loyalty.

There's nothing wrong with buying a Geforce, but if you're going to ignore the competition, at least buy a geforce with good price/performance... the 7600 GT is still a great deal. And if you can find a reasonably priced 7900 GT with 512mb of RAM, those are good too.

The ~$200 X1800 XT 256 will perform almost as well as the 7900 GT (if not better) mind you, which is why I am loath to see people get the 7900 GT lately. But it's your money.

 

[pauldh]

I have a couple of friends that work in a computer store and told me about Geforce being better that almost any Radeon.....

My, what smart friends you have :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I could go on a semi-off topic rant about "computer stores" ---but I'll let this one slide.

LOL, you should have. It would be fun and informative to those who may be getting duped by such "knowledgable" folks. It's amazing what totally fanbois I have come in contact with just because they want to stick to a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it (reguardless of what is currently best)" attitude.

I have plenty of NV and ATI stories, but just a couple weeks ago I spoke to someone at a local Mom and Pop shop. They do custom systems basically like I do, but they are full time not just on the side. There's a big difference, They do it for a living and I make little money at it, but I research constantly and want my word of mouth customers to get the best for their dollar, and they just want to make money with little effort. Anyway, an Intersting claim he made that a large percentage of builds are gamers. Yet, they only build Intel systems. When I asked him to clarify that they have not been using any A64's for gaming, he said basically "people ask for them, but I just tell them that we have found Intel is better and that many games have issues and do not work on AMD rigs". :roll: I was sure tempted to tell him he was a crazy fanboy who's customers missed out on the best gaming performance for no reason. Sounds like he is living in a non-sse2 Tbird days. :roll: Oh well, Intel's got the lead again anyway now, but I'd hate to be his past customers. Ok, I did a little rant since you didn't.

 

[AndyAldrich]

1) If you're creating a core 2 duo based system (as you are) then I would advise against dragging the system down because of a poor graphics card.

2) ATi have released some new/different/renamed graphics cards which are in the same price range as the nVidia 7600GT. Please investigate these before limiting your options.

3) Avoid getting cards which are already a generation behind because your processor is this generation. I would advise strongly against:

6600/6800
X800/X850

4) ATi's X1600 cards are poop so don't consider them.

Ok, so that's all I have to say for the moment as regards your purchasing question.

As for the rant above, I love to see people bitching about computer shops. The only semi-decent places to buy stuff from are online. Computer shops are owned by people who have spent too much time messing with hardware but don't encourage fun, value-for-money or any opinion other than their own.

Because computer shops have relatively low sales compared to online merchants they are less likely to run low on stock and therefore replenish their shelves with up-to-date parts. Because they are high-street based merchants their real-estate is a premium and therefore don't have large warehouses, so they don't have bulk buying power and therefore their prices are too high.

Because computer shops' equipment is outdated, so is their advice. Basically, your local computer shop isn't pants, it's not just poopy pants, it's the bacteria that eats the skid-marks on your granny's huge pants.

 

[Anoobis]

If you're in the U.S., you can find 7600GTs on Newegg in your price range after a rebate. If you can wait a bit longer, 7600GTs will start showing up in the $130.00 price range without rebates.

 

[PIPA]

Hello,

i am wanting to purchase a gamingPC - tower/hardrive for my son, who is the ultimate gamer.
We have the screen, key board et.....
Can anybody suggest to me a awesome graphics card that will run all the new latest games without lagging etc... he want awesome graphics and smooth picture quality. :

I was advised to purchase a g/byte GTX275 869MB.
Can someone tell me if this would be suitable or please advise me of other options that may be a better choice.

Hoping some-one can help as i have no idea, very confusing when your not computer knowldgable.


Thanks so much.
PIPA