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An 8400 GS will play any game you put in it, as long as you only put in 2+ year old games.

Crysis, anyone?

I'm going to be honest and tell you I hate reading through all of these posts so this may question was most likely asked about 40 times.

If you were to buy a sub-$200 DX-10 card today what is your one and only choice?

Aside from any extras is there any reason NOT to save money with a lesser expensive card (i.e. BFG vs. EVGA for the same clock speed and memory)?

Is there REALLY that much of a NOTICEABLE difference between a $125 card and a $190 card?

Lastly, are the ATI cards still running hot, or has that been addressed with the newer cards?

Thanks!

Eddie G

8800 GT for a sub 200 dollar card

The absolute best you can get under $200 is the 8800 GT 512MB (unless you can find an 8800 GTS 512MB on sale under $200)

Only the warranty support, and perhaps the trade-up policy.

Yes. huge. The real difference occurs between $100 and $150 - in that small price difference there's the 8600 GTS, 9600 GSO, Radeon 3850, and 9600 GT. Of these, the 9600 GT is the only one that can handle some 1920x1200 gaming.

After $150 your money makes less of a difference. The 8600 GT 512MB is better than the 9600 GT 512MB, but not like the massive performance difference between the 8600 GTS and 9600 GT. The difference between the 8800 GT and 8800 GTS is even smaller, and trakes you over the $200 barrier.

The Radeon 3800 cards run very cool, not at all like the 2900 series. The 3870 is a good alternative to the 9600 GT, if you can find it at the same price. Usually it's at least $15 more (the last time I looked anyway)

I dissagree with that the 8600GTS is a good buy.I think that 3650 should be on that list too.And 3850 is better ,,bang for buck,, in DDR3 256MB mode.

You're welcome to disagree, but what's your justification?

The 8600 GTS will put a real hurt on the 3650. Even the 2600 XT is better than the 3650, usually for the same price.

An 8800 GS or 9600 GSO will also put the hurt on a 3850 256MB card.

Hey question for cleeve,Heh looked at your sig and simular vid cards. I just pulled the trigger on a Zotac 8800 gtx for $209. already have a 2900 pro also.At that price couldnt resist for my quad core build. whats your opinion?
http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-ZT-8 [...] 16277.html

My opinion is that it's a ridiculously good deal. Nice find dude!

Thanks cleeve,by the way your doing a great job here.well respected in many forums.Along with G.G.A.
Yeah the funny thing is I have with ATI since the glory days of the 9800 pro.AHH what have I done?!Heh.

Hi, sorry if this has already been addressed. I noted that the 9800 GTX isn't included.
I'm currently looking at the £180/190 price range. Currently you recomend SLI 9600 GT's, which i can get for £180. But I've also found a single 9800GTX, for £190, and I'm struggling to decide.
On one hand, the SLI option has twice as much memory. on the other, the 9800 has the same total number of shaders, and everything is at higher clocks, plus SLI dosn't generally scale exactly.

Thanks for any help.

1. SLI doesn't fuinctionally have twice as much memory, because each GPU uses half of it.

2. A 9800 GTX is a mite faster than an 8800 GTS 512MB, which is much, much cheaper. The 8800 GT 512MB is also almost as fast, also for much cheaper.

Basically, if you're playing at 1920x1200 or above, get the SLI setup. If you're playing below 1920x1200, a single 8800 GT or 8800 GTS is great. The 9800 GTX is a waste of money, for the most part.

nvidia geforce 8800gts 512 I payed $179 for mine
plays crysis 1280x720 2xAA all setting on high

I was looking at the same thing, sub 200 card that will perform well. When the 8-series from nVidia was first coming out I snatched up an 8600GTS. Now, I'm not getting the performance I want out of it.

I was looking at two different cards, as I can't find a sub 200 8800GTS (btw, as far as preference goes I'd like to stick with nVidia, I've been having better luck with than as opposed to ATI/AMD)

Here's what I've found that's peaked my interest in short time I spent perusing on newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121233

Or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150280

I keep wanting to give ATI another chance, any thoughts? Mind you, I'm not playing on super high resolutions which is why I'm not saving up for a much nicer card.

EDIT:
Sorry if this is the wrong place, but all in all I'm just looking for the best sub-200 dollar card. I would assume an 8800GTS if you can find one but I can't find one on newegg? Maybe my searching skills suck...

To the OP... The links in your post don't work.

Also The post says that the 2600PRO is the best for under 100 bucks, but the article written about the same time says that x1650PRO is the best right now. Which one is right? and what are the pros and cons of each cause they both are around the same price on newegg. Thank you

The 2600 PRO will always kill the X1650 PRO.

What article are you talking about? Nobody would write an article saying the X1650 PRO is better than a 2600 PRO.

Question: If I am playing on a 19" or 22" monitor (I LOVE EYE CANDY), Would I be best suited for:
A.) 9600 GT
B.) 8800 GT 512
C.) 8800 GTS 512

22" LCDs would cap out at 1650x1080 or so. Any of those cards would work fine, the more expensive you go the more AA you can add though.

I agree with cleeve here, excellent find!

I was looking at the price and noticed the warranty "Lifetime with registration" I think that's great!

I've never looked at video card warranties before until my 8600GTS crapped out on me. Now it's a big factor into what I buy. Too bad it's out of stock, I'll have to keep my eye on that one! Thanks for the find!