Last message on previous page:
All of those are fine for 1024x1280 but the HD 4850 is the best between those

Trying to decide between the many choices here. I will be running 1680x1050, and I'd like to have a 2nd monitor running at 1280x1024 if possible.

A) 2x 4850
B) 2x 8800
C) 1x 4870
D) 1x 9800

Obviously I will need to change motherboards based on some of these. With (A) I'll go with an X38/X48, (B) I'll go with an nForce SLI 750i. The other 2 I'm undecided.

I'm trying to stay in the under-$425 range (preferably less) for whichever I go with.

Thanks,
CF

Two 4850's are the clear choice.

Yeah, at 1680x1050 or above, you're better with Crossfired 4850s than the other choices; they should also be by far the best at handling AA.

And the fact that you'd like a second monitor running pretty much says you should get two cards rather than one. While one card might be fine for driving two displays with just the basic GUI running, I think you'd start to notice a difference if you're running some media-heavy apps, such as playing high-definition video on one (or both!) screens.

maziar, you are a 4850 whore.

lol,i'm just talking about the facts not fanboys here

yeah, the 4850 is a good card actually. I prefer nvidia cards, but I'm tempted by that one because of the price/performance ratio ($200 + better performance than an nvidia 9800 gtx = pretty frickin sweet).

edit: although, nvidia may have some price cuts coming in response

Yep,if NVIDIA drops the price of 9800GTX,then it will be a good buy because the difference between 9800GTX and HD 4850 isn't much.

lol, is there a way to delete a part of this thread (it is 860 posts long!)

Come to think of it, is this the longest thread on the forum?

*Edit* corrected my post to reflected actual number of posts

I think this may be the longest thread on the forum; I remember when it was first put up, heh. As for the page-count, you should perhaps change to have more posts per page.

Though in reality, all that really matter is the first post and the last page or two, so you can safely ignore the rest of the posts given how old they are; no need to delete them.

^^ lol I just realized that, I corrected it now

Speaking of which the first page needs to be updated, no biggie though, the best value card are still up on tom's main page...

this is a sticky so of course it will be long, now the pc vs ps3 thread that was still being resurrected after over a year, that was a long thread had to be closed otherwise it would still be on going.

The short and sweet of it is I'm building an entirely new system and I've allowed myself 400ish dollars for video card(s). From what I've gathered most people think that the 8800gts(g92) is a better deal than the 9800gtx because of the price and fairly similar preformance. However, this is all gathered from older posts and since then I've seen people talking about price drops so I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight. As it stands I can get a 8800 gts(g92) off newegg for 159.99 after a $30 mail in rebate or a 9800 gtx for 209.99. Like I said I've got about 400 dollars I can spend on this but I'm a college student so if there's no big difference I'll gladly keep a little more money in my pocket. That said if anyone feels strongly about any other card(s) I'd appreciate your opinion, either a single card or sli works for me. As I'm sure it will make some difference, I'm making this as a gaming computer so I plan to play the newest games on the highest settings . Again any input is appreciated.

^^ get a 4870, end of story

+1 More for HD 4870

I was looking to upgrade my graphic card and the first place i came to research was here. But I dont understand why you guys dont have much with the 9800 gtx. The price has substantially dropped and w/rebate you can get it for 180 right now. TigerDirect has the BFG 9800GTX for 179.99. Whenever I look at price comparison charts of it up against other cards the 9800 gtx always does best or second best . Like in cod4 the charts show the 9800 gtx is better in performance compared to the 8800 ultra by 5fps w/out AA.

Is the 9800 gtx the best graphic card for price right now?
Or is there a flaw with the 9800 gtx im not aware of making it not that valuable.

thanks,
Greg

No,9800GTX cant beat 8800GTX/8800ULTRA in very high resolutions and when AA and AF is enabled because 8800GTX/ULTRA are 768MB and and 384bit.

Although I know Cleeve is busy, I'm still a little disappointed to see the list here neglected for so long, and even to find the "official" list article posted on the main page has not quite updated as much as it should; it covered the launch of the Radeon 4800 series, but neglected to cover any of the price re-arrangements that occured immediately thereafter. As such, out of boredom I took the liberty to go and see what's happened... To find that perhaps on the terms of the price-performance scale, nVidia's doing even worse than I thought, as three of their cards have been effectively "bumped off" the list by virtue of holding their price as the next-up tier dropped down to reach them.

BEST GAMING VIDEOCARDS FOR THE MONEY:
PCI-E video cards, Late July, 2008

Best PCI-e card for under $80US:

• Radeon 2600 XT - Prices of this have fallen hard, hitting as low as the $60-65US range. While sold out, I also spotted that Newegg has the 256MB Sapphire version for only $40US. At this range, I feel that 256MB should be enough memory, making this an utter steal if it could be gotten.
• Removed: GeForce 8600GT GDDR3 - Due to the price of this not falling as much as the 2600 XT, I really can't say it could be recommended when it tends to cost some 20-25% more ($75-80US) for comparable performance; at that level, it winds up about as close to the next higher tier than it does to the 2600XT.

Best PCI-e card for ~$100US:

• Radeon 3850 512MB - Consistently, it appears a few of these are standing at around $100US in purchase price, though a number are running up as high as $140-150US, liable price stragglers to the price drops. (as well as price-dropped AGP versions)
• GeForce 9600 GSO - Be warned, there is a version out there that has only a 128-bit memory interface, (link) making it weaker, so do not be fooled by a version with 512MB of VRAM. Aside from that, the normal 192-bit, 384MB versions follow roughly the same price scaling as the 3850.
• Removed: GeForce 8600GTS - While previously the "best PCI-e card for under $100US," its price hasn't dropped much, leaving it very close in price to the considerably superior 3850 and 9600GSO.

Best PCI-e card for ~$120US:

• GeForce 9600GT - On average, these cards actually cling a bit closer to the $120US mark than the 3870, though as noted, in non-AA situations (which at $120US, is a distinct possibility) it tends to trail the 3870.
• Radeon 3870 - Generally, this seems to be a few dollars more, though in some situations it holds an edge over the 9600GT.

Best PCI-e card for ~$150US:

• GeForce 8800GT 512MB - As with others, the price has dropped further here. For a while, there was a $100US sale on a 256MB version, though that has ended.

Best PCI-e card for ~$180US:

• Radeon 4850 - Even though at the $200US MSRP, the card was killer, it seems that while AMD doesn't need to compete harder, the vendors and retailers themselves do, resulting in prices for the 4850 already being cut, as low as $175US. (link) This makes it hard to argue for any other card against this.
• GeForce 9800GTX - These cards are pricing in, on average, some $10US above the 4850. Coupled with how the Radeon holds a slight-yet-consistent edge across the board, it would favor that instead of this, though perhaps not by a margin that this couldn't ever be recommended.
• Removed: GeForce 8800GTS 512MB - As prices for the 9800GTX and 4850 have actually fallen a little, this has remained close to the same, making this card not really recommended anymore as you can buy either of the above two superior cards for the exact same price range.

Best PCI-e card for ~$290US:

• Radeon 4870 - Yes, even though places could reasonably charge more, there is cutthroat competition to sell these cards, particularly between different brands; Diamond seems to offer the lowest prices, as low as $275, (link) with Sapphire a few dollars behind. Given that the GTX 260 is quite demonstrably weaker across the board, and doesn't regularly come less than $300US right now, it would not be recommended.

Best PCI-e card for ~$360US:

• Two Radeon 4850s in Crossfire - The only cards that could claim to be more potent than a 4870 are the 9800GX2 and GTX 280... The former starting at some $380US, the latter at $450US, both offering only marginally more performance. For less than that amount, a pair of 4850s in CrossFire handily beat them.
• Two GeForce 9800GTX in SLi - While price and performance-wise, the 4850 Crossfire solution may be superior, it relies upon you actually having a Crossfire motherboard. For those with an SLi motherboard, there's no sane reason to throw it out if they have their eye on a dual-card setup; a pair of 9800GTXs isn't anything to scoff at.

Best PCI-e card for ~$580US:

• Two Radeon 4870s in Crossfire - Quite possibly rather gratuitous, with some speculation that AMD may bump the price of the 4870X2 as high as $550US, coupled with the fact that it's not out yet, provide possible reason to get a pair of 4870s. After all, word of the 4850X2 hasn't damped cheerful recommendations for 4850 Crossfire. Admitedly, the 4870X2 is coming in a month or two, while no one has officially announced their plans for a 4850X2 as of yet.

BEST GAMING VIDEOCARDS FOR THE MONEY:
AGP video cards, Late July, 2008

I only saw one real change, and that is that it appears the price on AGP 3850s have dropped to roughly $140-150US, from $160-170US. Much smaller price drops were seen on the 2600pro and XT cards, though overall their respective descriptions of "under $100" and "approximately $100" still fit.