Which video card?

[TDK1044]

Hi Guys,

I currently have my trusty 3 year old Geforce 7600 GT pci express X16 video card. It has served me well, and it runs this game fine in conjunction with my 2 gigs of ram and a mediocre P4 3.0 HT processor.

However, if I decided to purchase a new card with a budget of about $200, which card would you guys recommend?

My system runs XP as its OS and I have a 450W power supply. I was looking at the 8800GT and the 9800GT. Any good?

Also, does a pci express 2.0 video card run ok on a computer with pci-e X16?

Thanks for your input.

[Wolfehunter]

both choice are good TDK.

I would go with 9800GT

Now if its backward compatible I would suggest calling the company and asking quesiton about that.

Get the model numbers propose the question.

You may also want to call the company who made your mother board? They may also have that answer.

Try to update your motherboard firmware to the latest.. That could help alot.

[stabiz]

PCI-Xpress 2.0 works just fine on a x16. Both my 8800GT an HD 4870 have been run on a x16 motherboard.

[SUBMAN1]

ATI is where its at right now. NVidia is more expensive and slower comparatively. I'd shy away from them at the moment.

Best card for your price range - that's a tricky one. Anandtech has an article on the 4870, though it is slightly more than you may want to spend (You can get it maybe for what? $250?) One of the overclocked 4850's might be closer to what you are looking for though.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415

-S

The Radeon HD 4870 1GB: The Card to Get

With the launch of the Radeon HD 4870, AMD showed us that they are not only still in the game, but they are back. Their hardware either out performed or was on par with NVIDIA hardware priced significantly higher. As a result, NVIDIA was forced to significantly adjust their prices downward to remain competitive. And, currently, they are competitive in terms of pricing and performance

But in this business competitive isn't always good enough. AMD came out of the gate swinging for a knock out. And they did a good job of winning a significant amount of mindshare. They built a good product and priced it very aggressively at launch. While our concern is the current state of things, and our recommendation will be for the part that gives our reader the best value, that's not how every graphics card enthusiast sees it. The things companies do (like initially selling their hardware at way too high a price) can significantly affect the position of some enthusiasts....

[TDK1044]

Great input. Thanks, Guys.

[stabiz]

I have a Sapphire HD 4870 right now, and as good as the pure performance is, I am sending it back. I have had a string of nVidia cards since the 7600, and not ONE problem with any of them. My HD 4870 freezes my computer in certain games, forgets settings in the control panel, and sometimes just refuses to let me override FSAA and AF settings, and the fan goes berzerk.

A little googling tells me I am in no way alone, and it seems the ATI power saving thingy is the culprit. Anyway, to fix it I have to flash bios (I am not an engineer) and hack(!) fan settings. No way.