Which Video Card to Buy

Ok, im new here and my question is this.......

ive been researching video cards for the last couple weeks and i cant decide on what to buy...and i want to spend between 200-300 on a card

Comp Specs:

AMD 64 3000+
1gig DDR 400
500 watt power supply

i think thats all u need to know.........

i just want a card that will get me good FPS on doom3 and HL2 and CS.S and far cry........... so far ive looked at the 6600GT, 6800, 9800 pro



whats your imput?

 

the 6800GT is by far the best, but seem to be out of your price range.

the next best thing is a 6800. you can grab one of them for around $260-$300 and they are FAR better than a 9800XT (even the 6600GT is better than a 9800XT).

additionally, a 6800 can be unlocked to be very similar to a 6800GT, just with less quality RAM. even stock, the 6800 is your pick though.

 

Yes but........ the 6600GT has a much fast memory clock and memory processing speed....... but the 6800 is newer

 

speed isn't everything ... an nVidia 5700 has a faster clock speed than my 9800pro but I'm sure anybody will tell you the 9800pro is the superior card

 

backin up what ~Pyrate~ said, the 6800 might be clocked slower, it has 12 pixel pipelines compared to the 6600GT's 8 pipelines. this alone gives it a large performance increase, AND the extra 4 pipelines can be unlocked, boosting performance to near 6800GT level.

 

hi, just thought I'd give you some input. I just got a 6800GT by EVGA and it runs Doom 3 and FarCry at high settings with great frame rates. I think this card is pretty awesome. But I dont think you could say you went wrong if you went for the considerably less expensive 6600GT either, it is a great card.
I am running an Athlon 64 FX55/Asus SLI mobo/6800GT.

 

The higher Mhz dont really mean everything in a way. Just like how a 2.2 GHz athlon can run on par/if not better than a 3.2 GHz intel. Correct me if im wrong, but i believe that the 6600gt and the 6800 series cards run on different GPUs. So you cant really compare the MHz as they dont mean the same speed in this case. I'd agree with InYearsToCome. the 6800 is your best bet.

 

well i went with the 6800.... didnt like it, so i bought the ULTRA. coming tommarow, we shall see how it runs

 

the ULTRA is better than the GT (350/1000 for the GT vs 400/1100 Ultra), however the GT clocks to ultra speeds 90% of the time with stock cooling.

if you have the money, ultra is good, but i stuck with a GT running 400/1100.