What is the best Video Card today for $100??

[chris312]

Wow, that is a good find too. Thanks! I'm not interested in the Witcher, sadly, but for $65 after rebate for an overclocked card with GDDR4 (the amount doesn't bother me as I play at 1440x900) is a sweet deal.

Compared to the $120 - 40 rebate overclocked 8600GTS, it's tons better! And as much higher-end as the 1950 pro is, it only makes me think that the eBay deal is just too good to be true.

The Newegg reviews say it's really noisy - that doesn't bother me much since my X800GTO generates plenty of noise and it's not a problem. However, this card may find its place in a HTPC-like system in a year or so - do you think it's possible to underclock it down to reference card settings in order to reduce the noise?

 

[pauldh]

You really wouldn't have to underclock it if the case had decent airflow. If you don't mind a little moding, you can make/buy an adaptor so the stock fan could be hooked to a Zalman fanmate to control the fan voltage/speed. It's easy and cheap to knock the fan rpm down a bit and by using an adaptor instead of splicing wires, you can always just plug the fan back into the card and make it stock again. But if airflow is not good, the card could overheat. You could always add an aftermarket cooler to it if it ever goes into an HTPC. Or if noise is a concern, theirs the passive lower clocked GDDR3 2600xt http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127318

 

[hsetir]

borrow an extra 10.
Newegg has evga 8800gs @ $110 ar.