Best £150 Graphics Card (PCI-E)

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:14

Pref nVidia as itll be running along side a PCI FX5200 for Tri/Quad Monitors so no driver conflicts.

Should be ok for gaming but not ground breaking (obviously for the price)

Was looking at BFG GeForce 7600 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-019-BG)

Oh also Dual DVI

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:19

Leadtek 7600GT, overclocks better, mine both run at 655/835 without any trouble and don't break a sweat

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:19

Gashman said:
Leadtek 7600GT, overclocks better, mine both run at 655/835 without any trouble and don't break a sweat

there actually shockingly powerful for how much they are, they even demolish the 6800 ultra

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:25

is it dual DVI also?

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:27

Extreme or Normal? as Extreme is out atm - is it worth waiting for stock or Normal ok?

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:40

i have two normal ones, yeah dual DVI, i think all GTs have that, i got two normal ones and fitted zalman FS-V7 fatal1ty on each one

Edit: to be honest i haven't seen much about the extreme so i don't know if its good, apparently has faster 1.2ns ram that can potentially reach 1800mhz+ or something

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:41

whats your performance like with the Source Engine (HL2 / CSS)?

If you was just running 1 i mean.

(this will be running with a conroe + 2gb system, hopefully)

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:42

i don't have HL2, but i borrowed it off me friend before and performance was good, no slowdown or anything, nice and smooth

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:46

Spank-U kindly Sir

uk_sam · 11 Jul 2006 at 12:55

The leadtek with 1.2ns RAM is about £135 which is not a bad price. I have seen an Asus 7600GT for £105 so you have to decide whether its worth the extra cost. I'm surprised by how cheap the 7600GT is becoming and there doesn't really seem to be any cards in the £140-£170 price bracket from nvidia.

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 14:07

they don't need a card in that price range, the 7600GT is brilliant card

Darkwave · 11 Jul 2006 at 14:44

I don't know how tight your budget is, but if it is strictly £150 then a 7600GT will be a great card. If you can stretch £10 over though, go for this: -

Connect3D ATi Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI
Price: £136.95 (£160.92 Including VAT at 17.5%)

This card rocks the socks off even a 7900GT unless you pencil-mod them, you cannot beat it for the price.

t31os · 11 Jul 2006 at 14:48

Úlfhednar said:
I don't know how tight your budget is, but if it is strictly £150 then a 7600GT will be a great card. If you can stretch £10 over though, go for this: -

Connect3D ATi Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI
Price: £136.95 (£160.92 Including VAT at 17.5%)

This card rocks the socks off even a 7900GT unless you pencil-mod them, you cannot beat it for the price.

Best thing for that price range. Thats why i have one..... love it......

I understand the Nvidia recommends though, much nicer cards to work with, but ATI's the better choice in this instance.

Darkwave · 11 Jul 2006 at 14:50

t31os said:
Best thing for that price range. Thats why i have one..... love it......

I understand the Nvidia recommends though, much nicer cards to work with, but ATI's the better choice in this instance.

Yup, the Nvidia cards are great apart from the huge failure rates they are suffering at the moment (mostly the factory-overclocked ones though), but due to ATi partners getting so aggressive with prices (X1800XT for £160 and X1900XT for £260) it's just pretty hard for me to suggest Nvidia as of late.

I bought my X1800XT for £190 and I still think it's the best value-for-money card I ever bought.

sanofi · 11 Jul 2006 at 15:37

I would recommend that x1800 as well especially if you can stretch that budget to about £170 (which includes the shipping).

Gashman · 11 Jul 2006 at 16:01

yeah for the price there nothing to touch them, same with HIS X1800GTO as it can reach 700! on core

t31os · 11 Jul 2006 at 17:17

Úlfhednar said:
Yup, the Nvidia cards are great apart from the huge failure rates they are suffering at the moment (mostly the factory-overclocked ones though), but due to ATi partners getting so aggressive with prices (X1800XT for £160 and X1900XT for £260) it's just pretty hard for me to suggest Nvidia as of late.

I bought my X1800XT for £190 and I still think it's the best value-for-money card I ever bought.

Mine was £186 at the time.......... i'd happily pay it again for the card.

£140 - £150 is a bargain if you ask me, because Nvidia's cards at that price just can't compare. Even if you push upto £190 you still won't find something as fast from Nvidia.

Darkwave · 11 Jul 2006 at 17:18

t31os said:
Mine was £186 at the time.......... i'd happily pay it again for the card.

£140 - £150 is a bargain if you ask me, because Nvidia's cards at that price just can't compare. Even if you push upto £190 you still won't find something as fast from Nvidia.

Completely agree, ATi parner prices (particularly from Connect3D and Sapphire) are just insane at the moment.

McDaniel · 11 Jul 2006 at 17:44

Problem is itll be running with another nVidia card to power the multi-mons.

ATI and nVidia drivers will cause a few issues.

I will getting a more powerful GFX setup in the new year anyway - as long as CS:S will run without probs, and new games at a medium style setting then fair do's - i have a 360 for my main gaming purposes

Martnewy · 11 Jul 2006 at 18:34

What are the graphics like for the X1800 XT? I was going to get one at the end of the month,But i dont know how much of a differance they make.