New video card under $150 US
 

A friend of mine asked me to pick out a video card for his PC. He's aiming at a price range under $200 Canadian (around $150 US). He mainly uses his PC for gaming, and ripping/copying DVDs. The video in/video out stuff would be cool, but ifs gonna cost a big drop in gaming performance, he says he can do without it.

From the local stores, here is what I found:


ASUS V9520 GEFORCE FX 5200 128MB VIVO $159.99

XFX GeForce FX5200 128MB $139.95

GAINWARD ULTRA/760 GEFORCE FX 5600XT 128MB $159.99

ATI Radeon 9200 128MB $149.99

ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB $169.99



Anyone have any experience with any of these?

I used to keep up with the latest and greatest, but I fell out of the loop. The companies number systems are crazy, and I cant pick no sense out of any of it.

All of those cards are shitcans.

For $150 USD, I'd hit up an ATI Radeon 9600 XT or GeForce FX 5700 Ultra for around $150. Make sure they are the exact models I listed; a Radeon 9600LE isn't the same as a 9600 XT. A GeForce FX 5700 isn't the same as a GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, either!

A Radeon 9500 Pro will do good, but good luck finding one (they're discontinued). Any GeForce 4 TI series is a good deal for under $150 USD, but the aformentioned cards are a small margin better.

For about $20-$25 USD more, you can find the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128-bit, 128 MB version for $175. It's not a whole lot better than what I mentioned, but it is a performance gain. Around the same $175 USD mark is GeForce FX 5900 XT's which are also really powerful. Another choice would be a Radeon 9700 non-Pro.

For $200 USD (trust me, the extra money is worth it) you can get an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256-bit 128 MB. It's the best deal on the market right now, but it is around $200.

PS: these are all priced from www.newegg.com . Never buy a videocard from a retail store unless you have a huge, huge discount.

-Lasereth

They don't ship to Canada :(

Well, ATI is Canada, so look around.
Try Price Watch , Price Grabber and eBay .

Re: New video card under $150 US
 

woah....where did you find this price? Im from NY and theres this community center near where i live that has computer shows every week. Well, my friend was able to buy that thing fo $50 flat. xD

http://www.ncix.com/ is the best place to buy parts in canada, get a radeon 9600PRO or 9600XT.