Reccomend me good budget card?

[thedarkdangerousshade]

I would prefer nVidia due to having an nForce board, being used to it, and I prefer to use SLi, but if someone can reccomend an ATi card that will vastly outperform what I am looking at for slightly more, less, or same price, I will get that.

I am currently considering this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150365

And yes, the bonuses have influenced my decision, XD

I am 15, and I get 20 bucks a week allowance, so I cannot get things extremely expensive, please keep prices below 150 USD, Also, my rigs specs:

Case: (irrelavent, but here it is anyway) Antec 300, plain, does what I need it to do
CPU: Intel C2Q 8200 (I know, not exactly a screamer, but it is easily overclockable, which I will do when I upgrade my ram)
RAM: Currently 2x Sticks of 800 MHz Corsair valueselect 1 GB each, plus 2 sticks of 667 MHz OCZ 2 GB each, totalling 6 GBs at 667 MHz, will be upgrading to 4 GB of 1066 MHz OCZ (2x 2GB sticks)
Graphics: 2x Chaintech 9500 GTs in SLi
Can't remember PSU atm, but its sufficient, 450 W I believe, multiple 12v rails, and I can upgrade if needed.
Mobo: XFX nForce 750i SLi Extreme Edition

I play mainly source-based games, and it handles them all fine max settings with 70-150 FPS (varies by game, etc, but never below 70) But I'd like to be able to get some newer games, or just max out some of my non-valve games.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ac3144]

What resolution do you game at?
AC

 

[thedarkdangerousshade]

Ahh, good question, forgot to mention, 19 inch monitor, 1440 x 900

 

[gkay09]

HD4870 1GB...
And would vastly outperform GTS250 @ that price range by a very good margin...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

But if you could get $20 more, then get this this card...
Not that it would outperform the HD 4870 1GB...but as you prefer nvidia and it has 2 Free games + Free Shipping + $15 Mail-In-rebate...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150329

 

[gkay09]

Just noticed that you have linked a card...
And seeing what you are upgrading from, the GTS250 is a very good option...

Though you would get better performance from a 4850 1GB, which is about $120, the 2 Free games are a good reason for going with that card...

 

[thedarkdangerousshade]

Oh yes, important detail I forgot to mention, I am running Windows 7 RC, as I already preordered my copy of Windows 7, so I guess ATi cards are okay, but there is no official support for win 7 from ATi yet, IIRC

 

[coozie7]

Exactly which PSU do you have? This is importaint.
The 9500 draws about 40W at maximum load but a single HD4870 can easily reach 120W, (10A@12v) or even more if overclocked or very heavily stressed and it needs 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors.
Whatever you decide to buy, look also at the cooler, a great many dump their heat into the case and, with summer getting warmer, this can lead to heating issues unless the case is well ventilated.

OFF TOPIC:
What other uses is the system put to? Your memory configuration seems a little odd for gaming, you might find things a little better with just the two 800MHz sticks installed.

 

[thedarkdangerousshade]

Exactly which PSU do you have? This is importaint.
The 9500 draws about 40W at maximum load but a single HD4870 can easily reach 120W, (10A@12v) or even more if overclocked or very heavily stressed and it needs 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors.
Whatever you decide to buy, look also at the cooler, a great many dump their heat into the case and, with summer getting warmer, this can lead to heating issues unless the case is well ventilated.

OFF TOPIC:
What other uses is the system put to? Your memory configuration seems a little odd for gaming, you might find things a little better with just the two 800MHz sticks installed.

If the HD4870 requires two pci-e, I may have to pass, I just don't need that kind of power being sucked. And aside from gaming and common tasks, media, email, internet, etc. I don't really have any extra uses for this, I have tried just the two 800 sticks, but it slows my system down too much, keep in mind 2 gb ram is the minimum to run 64 Bit Windows 7. Thats why I'm going to upgrade the ram soon, to two 2gb sticks of 1066 MHz, this old ram will be going into my server.

 

[gkay09]

Dont waste money on the DDR2 1066MHz RAM for the intel CPUs...The memory controller doesnt take advantage of speeds above 800MHz...
I think you can do with those 2x2GB DDR2 667MHz kit for now instead of again spending money on RAM...
And maybe better spend that for a better PSU...
And YES 4870/ GTX 260 would require 2x6Pin...

 

[coozie7]

^+!