Recommendations For A New Video Card

I have 200$-300$ to spend, i'm looking for the best card i can get for that price. ATM im using a 6800GS and i run Call of Duty 4 on Medium settings, id like to play it maxed out. If possible provide links to both ATI & Nvidia. I will give whoever helps + rep, thanks in advance!

 

Here are a couple of nice Nvidia cards, all of which use PCI express by the way. I'm afraid I don't know much about ATIs, sorry.

• XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
• XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
• EVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0

 

Thank you Shig, all of those are in my price range. Question about the third one, it says PCI-E 2.0 . Im currently using a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131096 which accepts PCI-E X16, will it also accept PCI-E 2.0? Thanks

 

Yes.

 

GTS's are outperformed by the GT's but GT's are incredibly hard to find.
8600's suck so don't even consider one.

3870 is really your only ATI choice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161212

So if you're willing to wait for actual stock on an 8800GT and can find it sub 300 then it would be the way to go. However the 3870 is a damn good card for the money, if you factor in taxes/shipping it'd likely fit better into your budget.

As far as playing COD4 on max settings we'd need to know your CPU/RAM as well, those will significantly impact performance.

 

Currently i am using:

AMD 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz
2GB of DDR2 800 RAM

Thanks for the responses!

 

GeForce 8800GT
HD 3870

two best cards for you to be looking into. Both are of about equal bang/$. At your price range, there really aren't any other cards worth considering. Personally I'd go for the 8800... IF you can find one. That's a big IF though, and often they're 'overpriced' if in stock since there is a major shortage of them

the radeon is quieter and uses less power though.


for less $$$(100-120), try the following
x1950pro, x1950gt, x1900gt
7900GS

anything else isn't worth it. The 8600s are a complete joke, the 2600s are even worse, and well lets just say that's all there is to it.

the "x16" "x8" "x4" etc. is the number of PCI-e lanes available. TO be blunt in most cases past 8 lanes you get diminishings returns, on the ATi side PCI-e x4 is within 3% of x16. on the nVidia side pre Gforce 8 the margin was even lower. GF8 is a bit more demanding and likes PCI-e bandwidth, but aside form that, no big deal.

the 2.0, 1.0 etc. part is the revision of PCI-e.
basically all revisions are forwards/backwards compatible, so no worries there.

 

OMG, I got two... 3 weeks ago! ZOMGROFLCOPTER!

PCI-E 2.0 is marketing lies. Ignore it.

 

no PCI-e 2.0 is a legitimate feature and will be well appreciated within a decade
it's just that here and today(and quite a few months from now) it doesn't matter in the least.

 

Yes, but it's the same with anything in PC's.

If it doesn't currently provide a benefit, it's not worth thinking about.

 

I'm going to have to say that's questionable when used as an umbrella statement, though it is true more often than not.

just playing devils advocate here. I'm agreeing with you on the fact that PCI-e 2.0 isn't something to really think about here and today.

 

Right now i narrowed it down between 2 cards :

3870 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102713

8800 GT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130303

They both look like great cards, but i think i'm going to pay the extra $40 for the 8800 GT while its in stock and since i prefer Nvidia over ATI.

 

Alright guys thanks for all the help, i have given you +rep for your support. Ordered the last 8800GT newegg had in stock this morning

 

I don't want to sound an ass, but preferring company A over company B is an easy way to end up with a GeForce FX5800 over a 9800pro,
or a Pentium Extreme edition over an athlon x2
or an athlon x2 over a core 2 duo.

company loyalty is a joke when there is a tangible diference.

now in this case, you're not exaclty going to suffer or anything since the 8800 IS a good card, but I'm just making a point. We the consumer benefit from market competition.

 

Go with the 8800GT if its availible.