Price-Performance-quality

[pop-tart]

Hi, i've been silently manuvering these forums lately because im currently building my first pc...and i've found this site and forum to be the most help in answering my "what is this?" and "what are these?" questions, so for that i'd like to thank you guys...

To the point:

I need help sorting out which is the ultimate video card in terms of price to performance to quality.

Currently, my system consists of the following

-Gigabyte 8KNXP motherboard
-1 gig of corsair ram
-P4 3.0ghz 800mhz

like i said, my first computer (mcdonalds pays off see!!!) and just want something average that will run me a while enjoying fps's over the net.

I hope i laid that out clearly enough..thanks..

pop-tart.:)

[Hi Ho]

What is your budget? The best bang for the buck right now is the Radeon 9800 Pro. At around $200 it is half the price of the 9800 XT and the performance difference is negligable. I, along with many other people would recommend against the Nvidia FX series cards. They just aren't too good. Nvidia has released a promising next generation card but as far as I know it is not available in stores and it is extremely expensive. Basicly, it's down to your choice. Personally I would go with the 9800 Pro because it is so much cheaper and the only difference compared to the XT is a slightly lower clock speed.

[Redfallon]

second the 9800 pro, best value for performance card right now, look to the one on newegg.com made by sapphire tech. A little cheaper than a built by ATI card, but the performance is equal. ATI has better quality control over who they sell their GPU's too, IMHO, and it's harder to get a bad Radeon card than Nvidia. I think some 9800 pro's can even be flashed to 9800 XT bios (with some risk, of course! ;) ).

[ric449]

Nvidia are not budging with their prices, they just don't compare with ATI's offering. Another vote here for the 9800 pro.

[homer15]

i'd also recommend the 9800 pro. for the money, it's the best gaming card under 200
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-199&depa=1

[pop-tart]

My budget is limitless, i don't want to spend too much though, because im currently saving up for a new guitar amp.

I was told that the nvidia geforce 4800 ti was a nice card, is that all but being outclassed now? or was that person completley lost as to what they were talking about?

as for flashing, im not privvy to it, so i probablly won't be going at it...yet.;)

[imbest123]

The Geforce 4 TI4800 is a great card but lets just say there are better cards out right now. If you wanna svae money but want a kick butt system get teh 128mb Radeon 9800 Pro just like everyone is recomending, unless you have money to burn then get the Radeon 9800 XT.

[Hi Ho]

The Ti4800, though it is a good card, is outdated and outclassed by the new ATI cards. The Ti4800 does not support DX9 which is a big minus. If your budget is limitless then go with the 9800 Pro or XT. Still, I recommend the 9800 Pro.

[pop-tart]

I figured as much, thanks for the advice. seems like it's the 9800 pro. :)

[homer15]

if you double the price, you could get a 256 mb pro instead of the 128.

[Hi Ho]

There is no point in doing that. Current games do not utilize that much video memory and the price increase, although it isn't double, is not justified.