New Video Card
 

Im looking into upgrading my video card, and im curious as to the price vs. performance as im sure a lot of people do. Any recommendations, Im looking at either a high end Geforce4, or a low end GeforceFX. Im not sure about the ATI equivalents, ive always stuck with nividia. Anyone care to share what they think? I've between $150 and $200. Thx in advance.

Take a walk on the wild side....Radeon 9800 or Pro

Honest injun, you aren't going to find a NVidia equivalent for an ATI price.

Its just the way things are right now. For your price range, an ATI 9500, 9600, or 9700 will all do you well and stay within your price range.

However, ATI's recent decision to not support Linux may keep you on the NVidia side of the fence.

The fx cards are complete junk. Hence why their price is so low. The 9800 radeon easily outperforms the highest fx card.

the 9500 is a surefire bet for best price/performance ratio.

Odd...Ati not support linux? Isn't it the linux group that always go crap happy that they can make their own drivers and not have to depend on the man?

For a card between $150 and $200 I'd get the 9500 PRO.

Not quite true. The FX cards *were* junk, but now seem to become better. The recent Geforce FX 5900 is a true beast, and the FX 5900 Ultra will be even faster.

But no where's near his price range!

FX aren't as bad as some folks think, especially the new ones. That said, whatever you get, make sure it supports DX9 - or you'll be left out in the cold when the next round of games comes out (Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Deus Ex 2, etc.)

The GeForce4 line does not support DX9. nVidia FX and the 9500 do.

yeah, i ended up going with the FX 5600 w/ 256mb ddr on board. the 256 is what sold me, and one of my friends has one and likes it a lot, thanks a ton for all your opinions!

Problem is, even the different between the 9800 Pro 128 and 9800 Pro 256 is nearly non-existant unless you play games higher than 2048 resolution.

unless you use other programs that use more RAM, like a CAD program or a 3d modeling program

Buy online...Radeon 9700 for 200. Great price for killer performance.