Which is < $100 US.

The ideal card should let me run Doom3, far Cry, and HL2 w/o too many slowdowns. I realize that 100 is not much of a budget for a card, but I have a finite ammount that I can allocate .


Here's one that i was thinking about:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=310996&pfp=BROWSE

(the model shown is the pci model, but i'm interested in the AGP model. other than that, no real difference)


Has anyone heard anything good/bad about this card? On the box it claims to outperform all other cards on benchmark tests, but each brand claims that to some extent, so I take that with a grain of salt.

Any recommendations?

I have an AGP slot, so theres no worry about that.


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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

[This message has been edited by Pagewizard_YKS (edited August 01, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by Pagewizard_YKS (edited August 01, 2004).]

You just linked to a PCI card. [edit] Sure fix your post and make me look stupid.

I'm sorry but I don't really follow American prices, being from up North and all I imagine you could probably get a 9200SE or something like that for that price, but I really don't have a clue. Take a look at newegg.com.

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

[This message has been edited by MaD CoW (edited August 01, 2004).]

Yeah, I've seen the 9200 for around $100 at Best Buy. But I wouldn't be surpised if you could find something better, you should look around.

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I bet you think that's funny, don't you.

nah that's basically what i have in my old computer... either save up for a Radeon 9600 or you could go 9200.. i saw those for ~$100 at circuit city when i was searching for a card

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LONG LIVE DREAMCAST!!!

Depends on how you want Doom 3/FC/etc. to LOOK while you play them... sub-$100 cards in the current generation honestly aren't even designed for games. They're for the misc. magical beige boxes which companies buy in droves.

You might be able to get a GeForce 4 or somesuch for under $100, but I wouldn't bet on it. Even then it probably wouldn't have enough horsepower to play those games with all the bells and whistles, but then again this hinges largely upon how picky you are about that stuff. The GeForce 4 line is actually quite good, its just that they're getting old in terms of hardware.

I can't say I'd recommend the GF4 MX cards at all, though. The Ti line was MUCH better but the GF4 MX cards were really just craptastic cards. Ask Jim, he used to have one.

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http://www.jedilegacy.net/gonk/

Damn dude, < $100. Not much to work with. If anything I would suggest save up, get a Radeon 9800, or something along the lines of a 9600XT. Those will get you further in the long run. Sure a 9200 will work for Doom 3 and HL2, but you will have to sacrifice a lot visually. I dont know about Nvidia prices, but you might try a FX 5700 also, since they are comprable to a Radeom 9600XT.

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ZGPC

[This message has been edited by finity5 (edited August 01, 2004).]

There are 9600s starting at about $100 at newegg

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

yeah... while they aren't exactly crap... they are crap for any games that don't run awsome on a GF2 because that's basically what the GF4MXs are... a GF2...

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LONG LIVE DREAMCAST!!!

so, a radeon is a better card than anything Nvidia makes currently?

And i'm willing to sacrifice graphic detail for good performance. I want my gameplay to be silky smooth.

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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

[This message has been edited by Pagewizard_YKS (edited August 01, 2004).]

The best Nvidia cards out now are a little more than $100. Your best bet is probably a Radeon, yes.

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I bet you think that's funny, don't you.

So spend $30 on a Radeon 7500, and play at 640x480 with all the details low. I don't think you'll be getting Doom 3 silky smooth for under $100 without crapping up the quality.

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

[This message has been edited by MaD CoW (edited August 01, 2004).]

hmmmmm.....sounds totally kickass by 1998 standards. However, I'm not willing to sacrifice THAT much.

800 x 600 doom3 with good framerate is not too much to ask for from $100, is it?

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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

I wouldn't know, I haven't played the game yet. Didn't someone post a hardware review for Doom 3 on another Doom 3 thread? There's too many of them for me to look through them.

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Doom 3 only runs on an Radeon 8500 or better. No 7500s.

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ZGPC

Actually it is. I have a Radeon 9800, and I plan on playing the game at 800*600 at med settings, possibly 1024*768 at low. For less than 100 you wont get far in games like doom. Sure cheap crap cards like the GF4 MX line can play it, but that is at something like 640*480, low quality.
Take a look at this.
Granted your processor is better, it will still give you a rough idea of where an MX card will take you in the game.




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ZGPC

I say get a radeon 9600. I got my 9200 for 100$c a few months ago, so you shouldn't have much trouble finding a 9600 for 100$USD

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WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!

Keep in mind that "silky smooth", regardless of details, also depends somewhat on how much RAM you have and how fast your CPU is. The video card is obviously the main determinant of your overall framerate, but the CPU and RAM also factor in.

Depending on your CPU's speed it may be a waste of cash to go for something like a 9800 Pro or somesuch, even if they were $100, simply because the CPU would be the bottleneck.

If you don't mind your games being *** -ugly then I suppose a GF4 Ti card would work for Doom 3/FC, etc. But.. yeah you could buy that, pop it in, and play and still get craptastic framerates because you're having to swap to a page file because you don't have enough RAM, or your CPU is bogging everything down.

Essentially what I'm asking for is system specs.

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http://www.jedilegacy.net/gonk/

Here's my recommendations.

1) Never ever ever buy a video card with 'MX' in the name.

2) If you don't want to save up much at all then at least shop around to find a 9600. Not much point upgrading IMO if you can't get that, because the others will soon be below minimum req and you'll be back to square one.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1, 2 & 3 | Gonk WoW Petition <- SIGN!
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

Fixed for ATI cards. ATI's "SE" cards are pretty crappy as well.

Yeah for Doom 3 and such I'd say a 9600 Pro/XT at the least. Again depends largely upon your system specs, but going for the lowest common denominator isn't gonna get you anywhere except Doom at some insanely low resolution with nothing to really do but stare at ugly, muddy textures. Hell, the Xbox version would probably be prettier.

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http://www.jedilegacy.net/gonk/

Blasphemy!!!



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ZGPC

Here are my specs:

- AMD Athlon XP 3000 2.15 GHZ
- 512 MB RAM
- 160 Gb Hard Drive
- 8 GB Hard Drive (linux)
- Piece of s*** Via chipset with even worse drivers that cause crashes, eventually leading to hard drive corruption with each crash.




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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

I saw a 9800 XT on newegg for like 169.

Maybe that would work.


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My Xanga

way too high. Thats almost double what I can spend. I would like a 9800 Xt, though.




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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

9600 Pro 128mb would probably do you nicely. Newegg has them for anywhere between $111 - $125.

I'd also look into investing in another 512mb stick of RAM sometime down the road.

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http://www.jedilegacy.net/gonk/

Simply put, for <$100 you aren't going to get a video card that will play the game above 800x600 low detail. It just won't happen.

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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...
Make Sorrowind Worthwhile... join it! http://sorrowind.net

What Gonk said. NEVER BUY COMPUTER PARTS AT COMPUSA (except maybe harddrives).

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There is no signature

I think you mean 9600 XT. 9800 XTs are still over 400$.


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ZGPC

My GF MX 5200 has been nice to me, except far cry looks like **** on it.

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In Tribute to Adam Sliger. Rest in Peace

10/7/85 - 12/9/03

169 for a 9800XT!! Where!

No, I'm sure it was a 9800. It might not have been on newegg but i remember my father saying. "hey look heres a 9800 XT for 160 somthing ( dont remember it was in the 60s im sure) do you want this one? it would save me alot of money. I said no I wanted the x800 and he said ok

Im sure it was a 9800.

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My Xanga

I must have been the 9600XT. New egg still sells the 9800 peo for ~200$ It's 9600XT is around 169$. Ok back ot the post. If you want a card for HL2 and Doom 3 with hardly any alow downs your dreaming. Unless you like 640x480 res. Or mabye 320x240 with medium detail. You could do 8x6 on high detail. :-p

Web design company fallen on hard times, eh?

It couldn't be if it were. Think about it, the 9800 XT was ATIs highest end card before the X800 came out, and that just came out a month or two ago. Since the 9800 XT was selling for more than 400 a few months ago, there is no way the release of the X800 bumped the price down to < 200$. Plus look at this...

[edit]link didnt work, just go to Newegg and look for yourself.

There are only a couple that are below 400$. Most are still a bit more than 400$. A 9800 XT for < 200 is unheard of.


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ZGPC

[This message has been edited by finity5 (edited August 02, 2004).]

well, I don't exactly have a money bin to swim around in.


I also have college stuff to buy this month.



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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

your dad might have misread it... my 9800Pro was $250 ...yeah i know i could have paid less to get it online but i was not going to suffer with a crappy video card while waiting for it to be shipped...


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LONG LIVE DREAMCAST!!!