calling all video card experts

[Rajinn]

last i checked ati did not support linux at all, but this was a close to a year ago.

sad, 200$ and gigabyte has a 256mb 8800GT for 205$ :-D

you COULD just watch for an open box 8800GT.

[dangerpaki]

The Radeon 3850 at ~$170 will be the best choice in my opinion.

Here again it depends on the resolutions you will play at but in the $200 price range I'd recommend looking at reviews of both 256 and 512 versions of the radeon 3850 certainly when comparing the 8600 cards.

agree with both gentlemen here. go for the ati 3850. they are much better then the 8600gts even and are cheaper. you are thinking about a 8600gt not gts even. so spend the extra bucks on the ati 3850 and 256 mb should be more than enough

[FACEST0MPER]

Someone asked what my price limit is - well I said I didn't want a higher priced card and the highest priced 8600GT is $200.00, so I guess I would say no higher than that. The cheapest 8800 is $220.00. I don't wanna go over $200.00 even if it's only by $20.00, I'm a little over budget as it is. Maybe I will consider an ATI, the ones in the same price range got better specs. I was gonna stick with nVidia cause I might make a Linux partiton and I heard many times that nVidia cards are much more Linux friendly. But I'm starting to change my mind.

This card here looks interesting

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102717

Go put in a little extra time at work or rake/mow/snow shovel (depending on geographic location) the neighbors yard for the extra $20... if you don't have a job and are too lazy to do some manual labor, go sell some blood... it will be more than worth it.

If you are allready working extra, doing yard work, and selling blood to come up with the 200 bucks then I would say get a 79xx nvidia or an ATI card.

[speedjunkie92]

1: the ATi Radeon 3000 series doesnt work with UT3 from what ive heard
2: tbh i would go with what im doing its Under £100 (in my sig) from HIS from the reviews ive read its a very good card and runs UT3 very wel...

[stalepriest]

The 8600, while DX10 capable, is not a heavy hitter. There was an earlier poster who mentioned that the higher end 7- series is significantly faster.

I am currently running a x1950pro 256 mb. I run the game at maximum graphics and have at least 30 fps the entire time. What's more, I usually play against 31 bots, even in the smaller levels. No slow down.

The card I have right this second can be picked up for around 140$ at newegg.com

DON'T limit your selction!

Thats nuts, what cpu do you have? I have 1950pro 512mb and get 30-40 fps at 1440x900 at 3-4 for Textures/world detail.

I find the user made maps run 100% better than the game maps though easily 20fps better.

[cel4145]

Go with the 8600GTS over the 8600GT. I've had experience with an Asus reference design 8600GTS with 256mb (no factory OC--it's in my son's computer) and the MSI 8600GT OC edition 256 (we put one in my nephew's computer after testing it in my son's computer) with UT3. The 8600GTS reference easily beats the 8600GT OC. Stays mostly in the high/mid 40's/low 50's FPS at 1400x1050 with 4/4 world/texture settings on an AMD 4200+. Also, the 512MB boards for the 8600 series will give you little--if any--performance gains. See my previous post about the 8800GT 256MB vs 512MB where, even with those better cards, performance tests are showing that at only very high resolutions is the 512MB helping out. It's a marketing ploy--so many people always think that more RAM is better. GPU and memory clock speeds are more important.

Of course, as the other posters are pointing out, the 8800GT 256MB (I have the EVGA--see my sig) clearly is much better than the 8600 series. However, what people fail to tell you is that you need a much, much better PSU to run the 8800GT over the 8600GTS series. That can significantly add to your cost. If you don't have at least a solid 450w (500w or more is better) with high 12v rail amps, the 8800GT will cost you $220 + $70-$80 (or more) for a new PSU.

[Stemnin]

Don't some of the 8600GTs come with GDDR2 memory? (if that is the case, stay away from it and go GDDR3).

[Làámßø]

Here are my votes;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130311

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229

Unless your going to watch HDTV then go with a 512 mb cards.

Go, Go, Go!

[Làámßø]

Hey everyone.

.......
p.s. please don't recommend a more expensive card unless you want to send the money for it , it's not within the budget.

It's funny how ppl just don't pay attention!

I feel your pain Bro!

[Drew]

just get dual sli 512mb video cards youl be fine...but 700$ in the hole :/

[froze]

I can't believe some people in this thread are even seriously considering 8600GT or GTS when the budget of the original poster is 200$.

This test says it all: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=8

Avoid 8600 series. Get HD3850. It's way under 200$.

[member]

It's funny how ppl just don't pay attention!

I feel your pain Bro!

And I was gonna say earlier "I wish I had a dollar for every time a responder just totally ignored everything the original poster said" but I thought if I came across sounding hostile people might think I was an *******. Really it was partly my fault I didn't give a dollar amount, more expensive could've meant $125 or $250 when talking about that card.

[member]

words

Dude I live in the same town as you. Actually I'm in Kentwood but it's cool to see someone from GR on a forum I don't think I ever have before.

[crossfireUT3]

also, i hope you are aware of your power supply because you could run into a much bigger problem than what card you are going to get if you don't have enough power for the card

[Mr Evil]

also, i hope you are aware of your power supply because you could run into a much bigger problem than what card you are going to get if you don't have enough power for the card

8600's are pretty low-power (40-50W as I recall). The GT doesn't even have the extra power connector. Shouldn't be a problem for any PSU.

EDIT: Oooo, 555 posts. I suppose I'll have to aim for 741 posts next.