What video card would be good for me?

[R4_M9]

Well oddly enough my radeon 8500 is slow dying on me. I get little pink lines chasing each other and my 3d games start to frag out beyond belief. so my question is what would be the next step up. It can be another brand as i am not too thrilled that this card is biting it after a little over a year of use. Keep in mind my wife is going to get the final say so, so the cheaper the better, but as always looking for some bang for my bucks. I only play one game and its star wars galaxies so as long as it has 128mb it will be good enough to use. I also play the CSI games but they require less than star wars so..... Make your suggestions please.

p.s. what do you think of this video card: http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-10266&qp=0&oid=81896&m=0

[saphalline]

First I would check and see if your 8500 is still under warranty. That would be the best route since you wouldn't have to pay anything! :D

If no warranty, then what's your budget? That Circuit City link goes to a Radeon 9200 SE, which is worse than what you have now! It's only $50, but still! If you want a step up then I would suggest a GF FX 5700 or Radeon 9600. Both are less than $150 and would be a good improvement over what you have now (DX9 parts!!).

Oh, and no more Circuit City, please. Painful prices!! Go to Newegg (www.newegg.com/)!

[R4_M9]

sorry to scare you with CC, saphalline. I am a loyal newegg shopper for about 2 years now. I'm pretty good with computers just not video cards. SO the 9200 is worse than my 8500. I heard from a buddy of mine that the 9600 is worse than my 8500 also. I was looking for a Video card around $100 or less. Hmmmm.

[R4_M9]

I think i might go with SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ATLANTIS RADEON 9600" from newegg. Does anyone have experience with this card or any ideas if it would work with what i need for my star wars galaxies gaming? heres a link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-320&depa=1

also not knowing much about DVI connectors is this the connector i can get $15 convertor to vga or is this the one that costs the big bucks to switch. thanks

[rond36]

It is the one that can be converted with the $5 converter. (http://buy.ati.com/shopati/product.asp?category=AA&part%5Fno=ACC+DVI%2DI+TO+VGA+US&find%5Fcategory=AA&find%5Fdescription=Accessories&find%5Fpart%5Fdesc=&country=USA) The converter should come with the card.

http://buy.ati.com/shopati/assets/product_images/ACC%20DVI-I%20TO%20VGA%20US.jpg

[saphalline]

The converter usually comes with the card, but it's not in any of the pics on Newegg. And if Newegg doesn't show a pic of it, it's not included. I also wouldn't recommend Saphire as a maker of high quality vid cards - they tend to use components that are just barely able to operate at stock speeds (meaning they tend to overheat easily).

If you really only have $100 budgeted for a new vid card, take a look at the regular 9200's and FX 5200's. Gigabyte has a good 128MB Radeon 9200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-111&depa=1) for $75 (and it comes with the converter). Chaintech has a nice 256MB version FX 5200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-054&depa=1) for $85.

If you want something a little better, Chaintech also has an inexpensive FX 5700 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-071&depa=1) for only $126. That's difficult to pass up given the fact that it's only slightly over $100, but that's up to you.

[R4_M9]

well i went with the Sapphire 256 mb 128 bit radeon9600. I have 4 extra fans in my case to hopefully keep that heatsink cool. And you were right about newegg, i didnt come with the convertor. THat $5 convertor on Ati.com has a $10 shipping cost which seems awful pricey for such a small light object. I think i will keep looking around for cheaper ones. If anyone has an idea where i can get one cheaper than $15 shipped please let me know.

[Bullman]

You might try your local Radio Shack, it seems that I saw something like that the other day when I went in. It's worth a try.

[Bumstedmans]

I would have to reccommend wither the ATI radeon 9800Pro ($166 us at newegg.com here (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268R&depa=1) , or the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra ($180 us at newegg.com here (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-050&depa=1))

They are both solid cards with good preformance. I'm trying to figure out now which one i should buy.

-The Bumstedman

[Halter101]

I have just installed a ATI Radeon 9600XT 256mb DDR9600 AGP8X w/ CRT, TVO, & DVI into a friends computer I just built. This card outperformed a 9800Pro and no adaptors necassary for most applications. Here is the link for the card for $152.00 from buyextremegear.com,http://www.buyxtremegear.com/r9600xt256oem.html, it is an OEM but who needs a pretty box.:p This is a Excellant Card and priced well.

I'm sure this will bring on some opinionated post's but that's what we are here for.:D

[JustAnotherTech]

I have a Chaintech GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 128MB and I am completely satisfied with this card. I bought the 128MB model because I too was on a "budget" of sorts. :D

[inflame]

My bro has a 9600XT 256 and its overclocked adn wow is that card great it better then my cousins 9800