looking for a $300 - $400 Video Card

[Bigtom]

I am looking for a decent video card.

It has to be a PCI- Express and I am looking to spend $300-400

I do not really know what to look for. I am not a Big Gamer, just an occasional one.

I am not sure whether to go with Radeon or Geforce.

Can someone please Suggest something for me


Thanks In Advance.

 

[bront]

The Geforce 7800 GT is under $300 at the moment and a very good value.

Comparable would be the ATI 1800XL, which is close to the same price.

From the reveiws I've seen, the 7800 GT runs a bit faster, but it's fairly negligable and arguable either way. Meanwhile, the 1800XL supports HDR and AA at the same time. The ATI coolers are supposedly notorious for being a bit on the loud side, at least the reference ones, though again, the GeForce ones aren't that much better.

Personaly, having just purchased an XFX 7800 GT, I'd go with the 7800 GT, probably from EVGA, as they have a nicer cooler standard (Copper base, and quieter). However, I liked the ATI drivers and some of their extra features, so I can't say anything bad about that route either.

 

[zyzplasmaz]

for a casual gamer 300-400 is alot since you can get almost top of line graphics card at that price and the new 7900gtx is rumoured to be 399 and 7900gt at 299 (which is what i plan to get or a x1800gto) when they come out in the next few weeks or you can get a x1800xl around that price now, but i recommend you wait a week or 2 seeing as the next round of cards are coming out and if anything prices on old card should drop.
since you only game casual, the better question i guess is what resolution do you want to play at, what games you currently play, what game you plan to play and do you care about the image quality? i.e. you want 4x,8x AA on etc etc
me personally, i dont care if it's a nvidia or ati card, i go for what is more cost efficient but i do tend to prefer ATI atm because they seem to currently have a better roadmap for where they're going with their gpus and they do tend to update their drivers more often.

 

[Bigtom]

I was either considering the

ALL-IN-WONDER X1800 XL $320 After $30 Rebate from Zipzoomfly

or the

ATI Radeon X1800 XT $429 after $50 Rebate from Zipzoomfly

is the x1800xt worth 100 more?

Would it be ok to just get the All In Wonder??

 

[bront]

You don't need the All-In-Wonder, that's the card with the built in tuner and other such stuff. In general, those cards tend to be underclocked a bit (Unless things have changed).

Here's an 1800 XT for $350
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161171

the XT is faster than the XL.


On the other end.

EVGA 7800 GT for $285 with a $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256

7800 GTX for $409
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141014

OCed 7800 GTX for $434
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130254

I used Newegg because they've got a better search function (by GPU), but you can compare those anywhere else to find your best price.

 

[Bigtom]

Thanks for the info... The only reason I prefer zipzoomfly is because I am in New Jersey And I have to pay ridiculas tax and shipping charges from Newegg

 

[rodney_ws]

Just how ridiculous is the tax in New Jersey?

 

[Bigtom]

6% on $350 is 21 bucks plus 5 for ground shipping... I would rather order from Zipzoomfly no tax and free 2nd day shipping

 

[bront]

I understand completely. I usually don't order from Tiger Direct for the same reason, though since I can drive to their outlet store 5 minutes from here, it's more an issue of buying large items than anything else.

Anyway, that should give you a good starting point for things to look for, and as I said, you should be able to find those elsewhere. Also try THG's price scanner, which is generaly usefull.

 

[cleeve]

You don't need the XT version, especially if you're a casual gamer.

The X1800 XL's are clocked the exact same as a regular X1800 XL, so if it's cheaper, get it. They overclock well.

I've got an X1800 XL ( as you can see in my sig). very happy with it.

But yeah, if you get the XL, you might want to invest in an aftermarket cooler for $30 or so... the stock cooler is kind of loud, and not quite up to the task.

A 7800 GT is also a great option, although Nvidia should be releasing their new 7900 GT in a week or so, it supposed to be $299 and is as fast as the old 7800 GTX's... that would be an excellent card for the price.

 

[pauldh]

6% on $350 is 21 bucks plus 5 for ground shipping... I would rather order from Zipzoomfly no tax and free 2nd day shipping

I'm from NJ too and Newegg lost alot of my business when they started charging NJ sales tax. It's rare now if Newegg can match Zipzooms prices for us. Buy.com and Ewiz are also good no tax sites to check out. One nice thing with Newegg is if they ship it UPS ground out of Edison NJ, I can place an order in the morning and get it the next day.

 

[pauldh]

I don't know, for a casual gamer a $165 X850XT would get my vote, unless he is running a big LCD like a 24" Dell.

 

[spookz]

In my opinion, it would be your best interest to get a x850xt as stated above. It's really the best steal right now. In ranking order I would say: 1) x850xt 2)7800gt 3)6800gs or the x1600xt suiting for your needs.

 

[bront]

X1800XL or 7800GT would probably be the best cards for you. Even for an occasional gamer, a 7800GT or X1800XL is a good thing to have.

As a casual gamer (I upgraded last month from a Radeon 8500), I'd have to agree. The 7800 GT has been a lot of fun. I could kick myself for the 7900 GT coming out so soon after, but if you keep waiting you never get anything, and there were other time issues.