Best Graphics card ~$200? right now?

What is the best performing graphics card for around 200$ right now? Or what will be in two weeks...? I have a geforce 4 ti4200 64mb agp 8x, and I want more for the new stuff that's out, and coming out. I do NOT have pci express.

What are the best graphics cards around this value? any recommendations, if they include experiences with counter-strike: source, that's even better, since that's mostly what I'm playing right now.

TIF,
Spartan

 

Is there a definite answer to this?

 

Nvidia 6600gt or a plain 6800 if you can find one for $200

 

is that the best one for 200? does radeon have something competetive for same price? I'm just trying to find out as much as i can before i buy one

 

the 600xt or 700x I think are the performance equivalent,but nvidia has support for pixel shader 3.0 which there will be alot more of in up and coming games.

 

hands down the Nvidia 6600GT, or as rikky said, if you are lucky enough to find a 6800 for that price as well.

 

6800 is better than 6600gt, right? is the gt just overclocked already? because I would like the option of overclocking it myself.

Thanks a bunch for help so far

 

So would this be the best one to get for around ~200$? http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprodu...14-140-044&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=Video+Cards

because one of the reviewers said his 6600 gt was faster....probably not really though.

 

All components are essentially overclocked when you buy them they push them but leave a large saftey margin so there arn't alot of returns,that safety margin is usually always the same and is what overclockers tap into,so generally faster boards=more quality components.the 6800 you linked looks good it has less pixel pipelines than a 6800gt and slower memory and core in real world performance is only about 10-15 fps but is still much faster than the 6600gt

 

That's not a 6800, it's a 6800 LE, meaning Limited Edition. (usually a cut down version)

It's still a faster chip than the 6600 GT, but not as fast as a 6800. (There are other factors to take into account though like card design and components etc)

However, I doubt if there is that much difference in real use between them and they are all pretty good chips.

Personally I would be more worried about price, connectivity and bundled software.

BTW, he is not a reviewer, just someone who added his opinion via the internet.

Do yourself a favour and don't give much credit to some of these so called reviews.

 

What do you mean by connectivity?

So, disregarding price, the 6800 LE is better than the 6600GT, or 6600GT OC?

 

By connectivity I mean what sort of connections does the card offer, like VIVO, S-Video, Dual-Monitor, DVI etc.

As far as the GPU's themselves are concerned, the 6800 is better than the 6600, but other factors like card design and components used also make a difference.

It's very easy to be caught up in frame rates and what is faster or slower, but in everyday use there isn't much between them.

The 6800 LE is the slowest out of the 6800 range, but still faster than 6600's. (Again I'm generalising)

 

All I'll be doing connectivity-wise is plugging in my mx75 monitor

Would the 6800 LE from newegg be the best for me then? I run CS:source, and will probably run Battlefield 2, and am looking for highest settings possible for 200ish$. As for bundled software, that's not much of a concern, unless maybe it comes with something awesome like doom 3...

So best graphical performance would come from the 6800 Le?

 

For your price category then that is a very good card.

The best thing is to get a few more members opinions first.

 

I agree with insomniac get some opinions first,alot comes down to the system the card is plugged into you have a P42.5 which won't make the most of either cards,but the upgrade is still worth it and in MHO Doom 3 is crap ,it looks O.K but I don't see the appeal of walking down dark corridors waiting for something to jump out at you,I traded my copy in after about an hour of playtime.

 

Yeah, I don't know if I could handle Doom 3 either I played it for like 15 minutes at a friends house...very very creepy and kept my heart beating. I think I'll probably go with the 6800 LE, thanks a bunch guys!

 

WAIIIT!!!

the 6800LE is stripped down to 8 pixel pipelines!!! thats the same as the 6600GT. (the 6800 has 12, and the 6800GT and Ultra have 16)

in the reviews I have seen, the 6800LE gets matched or beaten by a 9800xt (except in pixel shading, becuase the 6800 has the new pixel shader)

IMO the 6800LE is not worth the money. either buck up the extra $20 for a 6800 like this one

or grab a 6600GT for $149 after rebate with the same performance. http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...ode=M&Product_Code=190327&Category_Code=VC-NV

 

Thanks a bunch, I didn't know that one existed and thanks for the tip, that extra 20$ will just be a little bit more, and hopefully very worth it. This is a birthday present I'm buying myself...

Thanks a bunch, everyone!

 

So im guessing there is a better card then this :
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102290
for 200$?

That is a Radeon 9800 Pro 256mB 256bit for 189$

 

Oh and...

Those nVidia cards that you guys are displaying are only 128bit, and that just seems to make it a lot slower. Having a 256bit link seems to be better then a 128bit link. Even if there is a 200mHz+ differance, it seems like the bigger link would be better. Seems like you would want to go for 256bit then upgrade the clockrate to allow low latency with high bandwidth. Or is latency alot better then bandwidth? I dont know much about video cards :\.

 

The memory feeds the GPU the higher the MHZ the better as long as the GPU has the bandwidth to support it i.e balance,but the 256mb mem is only used in really high resolutions with alot of textures. Like we said get a few other members opinions,as there may not be much to split this from a 6600gt.

Good call In years to come!!

 

haha Just glad I could help--in my experience if you are looking for performance, 'LE' should throw up serious red flags.

yes, 9800 pro is from the last generation of ATi cards and has an older core, while it still performs decently well in todays games, the newer generation of cards like the nvidia 6 series and the ATi X series blows it out of the water.

to be fair, comparing either of the cards we had linked previously to a 9800 Pro is a little off--they're more compared to a 9600xt or a 9800 non-pro (or pro 128MB) which were also 128-bit.

the NEXT step up, the 6800GT and the 6800Ultra are both 256-bit and very high performance cards.