Best video card under $200
 

I'm making a new computer, and i would like a video card that can handle HL2, but I dont know if this is possible w/ a card this cheap. I prefer GeForce cards, but if theres an ATI that is a lot better than i will take that one. Any suggestions?

you can find a radeon 9700 pro for that cheep, maybe a 9800 pro, but wither way, if you want to play HL2 you need a nice card.

Depends on how far under $200 you want to be. If your fine with it being 199 or a flat 200, get the Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb. Or, you could wait for a sale at a major supplier, and get the ATI Radeon for that price, though its usually right about 250 i think. The ATI one will probably even come with a cd-key for HL2 when (if) it comes out. 2 birds with one stone.

The Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB is the best bet. It's right at $200. I wouldn't spend money on anything else if you want to spend around $200. NVIDIA's competition to the 9800 Pro is the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, but it's around $300 because there's only a 256 MB version.

-Lasereth

definetly a 9800pro 128mb.

set my vote in stone for the sapphire 9800 pro, you simply DONT get a better buy for 200$, anything else and you are just being a cheapskate :P (no offense)

Fry's is selling the 9800 pro for $199.

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3628345

Jericho:

I don't THINK that's a built by ATI card.

And I can't find who actually DOES make that card, so I wouldn't trust it. If it is in fact an ATI built card, that's a good deal. If it's not, then it's not. $200 is what you pay for a Sapphire 9800 pro anywhere. And if it's not ATI or Sapphire... you shouldn't be paying $200 for it.



Edit: I forgot to respond to the initial post. Just listen to Lasereth and Peryn. They agree with me, so they must be right. :lol:

Jericho links to an ATI card. It's fully legit! What a deal.

-Lasereth

alright well you all seem to agree 9800 pro. thanks for the input, thats prolly what ill get:)

Oh, right. I didn't see the "ATI Technologies" right under the card name. My bad =P

And I took a quick look at pricewatch.com... a couple of places there are offering it for $200, as well. FTIcomputer.com and FuturePowerPC.com

I bought a hard drive (I think) from FuturePowerPC once, and I had no trouble with it, and they seem to be a pretty respectable company too. Yeah, so the deal is out there.

And sorry for doubtign you Jericho :p

Edit: just read your signature. I've changed my mind, I'm not sorry. :lol:

Newegg's selling the core 325,
mem 580, sapphire for $175.

The 380/680 for $209.

Link.

(it's down towards the bottom of that page)
If you've not shopped w/newegg, they are beyond rock solid. I bought almost every part for my box from them. Not one glitch, not one problem, and I most certainly didn't see a better price.
That, and I don't think many sites get as many positive reivews as the egg.

Don't buy the $175 one, it has a 128 bit memory bus. May as well buy a 9600 XT or something. :(

-Lasereth