recommend a good graphics card on a budget of about €100

eoinf

got a new pc which has no graphics card only the onboard intel thingy. got a few games like halflife halo and brothers in arms and needless to say i cant play them without a graphics card .so could anyone recommend a graphics card for around €100 or should i spend a little extra to get something better

Mutant_Fruit

Ideally you'd get a 6600gt. At the 200euro mark, its double what you originally wanted to spend, but its a damn good card. Its a bit faster than the 9800pro, 10% ish. So its up to you what you want to get. A 9800pro or faster is what i'd say as a min, providing you want a future proofed graphics card.

Lydesia

eoinf wrote:

got a new pc which has no graphics card only the onboard intel thingy. got a few games like halflife halo and brothers in arms and needless to say i cant play them without a graphics card .so could anyone recommend a graphics card for around €100 or should i spend a little extra to get something better

The 9800Pro or more. I have it and it plays all my games fantastically well, thats with a great system behind it though, AMD 64 3500+. HL2 runs very smoothly with everything on highest

Ciaran500

9600pro for around €100 or the 9800Pro for about €150 if you can stretch.

You check your motherboard take AGP?

aaf

Try to pick up a 2nd hand 9800 PRO for about €100 or as is suggested, splash out on a 6600GT.

eoinf

there is an AGP slot .excuse my ignorance but is that all i need .
its a p4 3 GHZ with 512 ram is there any other upgrade i need

RicardoSmith

If any knows where you can get a 9800pro for €100 please let me know. You can get a 9600XT for about 70-80 2nd hand on the forums every so often. after that you are looking at a 9800Pro or 6600GT for around €150-200

aaf

RicardoSmith wrote:

If any knows where you can get a 9800pro for €100 please let me know. You can get a 9600XT for about 70-80 2nd hand on the forums every so often. after that you are looking at a 9800Pro or 6600GT for around €150-200

2nd hand 9800 PRO sold here on boards at the start of this month for €100!

zod

any good?
http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307933&cks=SPK

RicardoSmith

aaf wrote:

2nd hand 9800 PRO sold here on boards at the start of this month for €100!

So are saying they all go for that? Find me another two at that price. Thats was lower than normal. And if you look here...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=239163

you'll see hes now selling it for €170 since he flashed it and added a Zalman too it.

RicardoSmith

zod wrote:

any good?
http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307933&cks=SPK

Too expensive, that cards only worth 50-60 max.

aaf

RicardoSmith wrote:

So are saying they all go for that? Find me another two at that price. Thats was lower than normal. And if you look here...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=239163

you'll see hes now selling it for €170 since he flashed it and added a Zalman too it.

I'm just saying that a 9800 PRO can be got for €100. I missed out that time and haven't seen one for sale for that cheap since but it's possible. I've decided to upgrade my own machine since then so I'm gonna go with a 6600GT PCI-E.

Ciaran500

9800Pro are €170 on komplett. I think this dropped recently, so you should see a drop in price of second hand ones.

RicardoSmith

aaf wrote:

I'm just saying that a 9800 PRO can be got for €100. I missed out that time and haven't seen one for sale for that cheap since but it's possible. I've decided to upgrade my own machine since then so I'm gonna go with a 6600GT PCI-E.

Anything is possible I suppose. Best I've seen is 130-140 from stores. OcUK have a few like that in their B grade section.

Mutant_Fruit

I got have a 9600pro, but that struggles on Doom3. Its not that smooth. I definately would not recommend it to someone who's trying to future proof their computer. A year ago, it was a great buy. It was the best card for performance/price, but nowadays its more of a budget card.

RicardoSmith

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

I got have a 9600pro, but that struggles on Doom3. Its not that smooth. I definately would not recommend it to someone who's trying to future proof their computer. A year ago, it was a great buy. It was the best card for performance/price, but nowadays its more of a budget card.

But you have to bear in mind that Doom3 is the most demanding game ever. So only the latest cards are going to run that beast (not a fan of the game myself) whereas something like HL2 runs much better on lesser hardware.

Mutant_Fruit

RicardoSmith wrote:

But you have to bear in mind that Doom3 is the most demanding game ever. So only the latest cards are going to run that beast (not a fan of the game myself) whereas something like HL2 runs much better on lesser hardware.

Thats my point. Currently doom3 really stresses the card. And things are unlikely to get much more demanding than doom3 for a while, but things will get tweaked. So if you get something better than a 9600pro, you'll have no problem with doom3, and no problem with future games (even ones that are slightly more demanding)... for a while anyway

EDIT: Not a fan of it either, but its a good game to use as a comparison for choosing a new GFX card.

unkel

Yes I got a good deal

@OP, as all posters said. Stick to your budget and you might buy a new 9600pro or pick up a used 9600XT here. As for performance:

9600pro<9600XT<<9800pro<6600GT<9800XT

From my experience to play the current games, a 9800pro would just about cut it. With a 6600GT or a 9800XT you'd be fine, although they obviously don't have the same performance as the top current gen cards

I've got a very quiet 9800XT for sale atm

RicardoSmith

unkel wrote:

Yes I got a good deal

@OP, as all posters said. Stick to your budget and you might buy a new 9600pro or pick up a used 9600XT here. As for performance:

9600pro<9600XT<<9800pro<6600GT<9800XT

From my experience to play the current games, a 9800pro would just about cut it. With a 6600GT or a 9800XT you'd be fine, although they obviously don't have the same performance as the top current gen cards

I've got a very quiet 9800XT for sale atm

You sure did!!! But a 9800XT isn't better than a 6600GT.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce6600g-games_28.html
"GeForce 6600 GT wins 22 tests out of 32 in 1280x1024 resolution and 25 tests out of 32 in 1600x1200"

RicardoSmith

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Thats my point. Currently doom3 really stresses the card. And things are unlikely to get much more demanding than doom3 for a while, but things will get tweaked. So if you get something better than a 9600pro, you'll have no problem with doom3, and no problem with future games (even ones that are slightly more demanding)... for a while anyway

EDIT: Not a fan of it either, but its a good game to use as a comparison for choosing a new GFX card.

1) you can never future proof a PC
2) on a budget of 100 you'll get a 9600XT or for a bit more a 9800Pro 2nd hand.

unkel

RicardoSmith wrote:

But a 9800XT isn't better than a 6600GT.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce6600g-games_28.html
"GeForce 6600 GT wins 22 tests out of 32 in 1280x1024 resolution and 25 tests out of 32 in 1600x1200"

I know I should but I can't bear reading all those pages - my bad

What I do know without reading them all that is that a 9800pro / 9800xt has a 256 bit interface* - a 6600gt is only 128 bit. A 6600gt is a mighty fine card, but already overclocked to the max - you won't get much more out of it. Many a 9800pro / 9800xt have some space to go

*well apart from them crippled cards that they tried to sell us late last year

RicardoSmith wrote:

you can never future proof a PC

True words. Anyone thinking they can are fooling themselves

RicardoSmith

unkel wrote:

...a 9800pro / 9800xt has a 256 bit interface* - a 6600gt is only 128 bit. ....

...only one thing is important. The 6600GT is faster...

unkel

You're healthy - I'm overcome with the must-overclock bug

As admitted the 6600gt beats the bog standard 9800XT. Now let's turn up the heat and see who'll win

Nukem

Good cheap 6600gt here - 100 quid is a budget and a half. Would stretch it if ya can,you wont regret it when playing games

RicardoSmith

unkel wrote:

You're healthy - I'm overcome with the must-overclock bug

As admitted the 6600gt beats the bog standard 9800XT. Now let's turn up the heat and see who'll win

...Yes well...

unkel wrote:

...originally sold as a 9800 pro) running (flashed) at 9800XT default - never overclocked...

...ummm...

aaf

RicardoSmith wrote:

Anything is possible I suppose. Best I've seen is 130-140 from stores. OcUK have a few like that in their B grade section.

I see you just got yourself a 9800 PRO for €100!! :eek: Told ya

RicardoSmith

aaf wrote:

I see you just got yourself a 9800 PRO for €100!! :eek: Told ya

Its gone over 100 now