New Graphics Card

[mjstaib]

I'm considering doing a major system upgrade, but have a very low budget. What's the best graphics card I can get for ~$100?

P.S. I saw an ATI X1600XT on newegg for about this price. Should I get this, or is there a better deal on a similar card somewhere else?

 

[dougie_boy]

6600gt

its faster than the 1600pro.

or a 7300gt

very similar.

or ebay...

 

[mjstaib]

Hmm... 7300GT is slower, but more memory...which would be better for gaming? (I haven't kept up with the gaming world as much as I should. Last card I bought was the 9600XT I've still got)

 

[jaguarskx]

If you can deal with a $20 mail in rebate then I would consider the:

Sapphire X850XT 256MB - $116 + $6 Shipping - $20 Mail-In Rebate = $102

Checkout the following review:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/230/10

It is hard to describe Radeon X1600 XT since from our results it looks like a completely schizophrenic graphics chip. Let’s see.

It is faster than mid-range chips like GeForce 6600 GT, Radeon X600 XT and Radeon X700 Pro, but when compared to GeForce 6800 GT, Radeon X800 GT and Radeon X800 GTO it is a mess.

Naturally, the X850XT is faster than the X800GTO which would make it faster than the X1600XT. The biggest different between the older generation and current generation GPUs is that the X1600XT supports Shader Model 3.0. But is that worth the drop in performance?

I've upgraded from the 9800Pro to the X1900XT so I never really did any research on a Xxxx card like the X850XT.

 

[mjstaib]

Yeah, the X850XT looks promising, but I'm not going to able to make that upgrade for a few months, so things might change by the time I actually do upgrade my PC. Thanks guys.

 

[enforcerfx]

If you can deal with a $20 mail in rebate then I would consider the:

Sapphire X850XT 256MB - $116 + $6 Shipping - $20 Mail-In Rebate = $102

Checkout the following review:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/230/10


It is hard to describe Radeon X1600 XT since from our results it looks like a completely schizophrenic graphics chip. Let’s see.

It is faster than mid-range chips like GeForce 6600 GT, Radeon X600 XT and Radeon X700 Pro, but when compared to GeForce 6800 GT, Radeon X800 GT and Radeon X800 GTO it is a mess.

Naturally, the X850XT is faster than the X800GTO which would make it faster than the X1600XT. The biggest different between the older generation and current generation GPUs is that the X1600XT supports Shader Model 3.0. But is that worth the drop in performance?

I've upgraded from the 9800Pro to the X1900XT so I never really did any research on a Xxxx card like the X850XT.

Bargain! Lol. That x850xt will really tune up your computer specs and graphics. Beats a 6600GT and 7300GT in the longrun. If you cant find the x850, the x800GTO would probably be the next choice as well.

 

[melarcky]

the 6600gt is way better than the 7300gt... actually i have seen the regualar 6600 to out perform or be egual to the 7300gt.

 

[Czspray]

EBAY!

 

[blade47]

get the 6600 GT AGP .
wait for the DirectX10 cards to come out and do a major system upgrade.

 

[cleeve]

We're talking PCI express, right?

Sub $100 you can get an X800 GTO, which is great for the price. Will beat the X1600 PRO, 6600, and 7300 GT.

Slightly over $100, nothing will touch that X850 XT.

The problem is, in 6 months everything will change. So ask us again when it's time to buy...

 

[Anoobis]

Cleeve's right on with the X800GTO, but you can also consider the Leadtek 7300GT GDDR3 card. It has a higher clocked core and much faster GDDR3 memory than reference 7300GTs with DDR2. The GDDR3 versions have been shown to perform on par, if not better than a reference 7600GS cards and come in below your $100 mark. The card I linked to is cheaper than the 7300GT a previous poster linked to and it will also outperform itas well.

The $100 X850XTs are getting hard to find these days otherwise I'd say it was your best bet.