Recommend a graphics card for a friend.

[Scott Salisbury]

Recommend a graphics card for a friend

My mates Radeon 9800 Pro has just fried, so he is thinking about buying a new PCI-e motherboard and a new graphics card.

He has found the motherboard he wants, but we are unsure of the graphics card to settle for. He doesn’t want to spend more than £100 on a graphics card.

Are there any cards that are equivalent to a 9800 Pro in performance that are <£100?

Thanks in advance,
Scott.

 

[Minstadave]

If he can stretch his budget to £117 the BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) would be a great upgrade.

 

[Scott Salisbury]

Yeah that's not a bad card, unfortunately it is out of stock and he needs to order now.

What about the 'XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition 256MB'? Exactly on budget and I can't see much difference between the two.

 

[Stelly]

very nice card

Stelly

 

[Minstadave]

Yeah that's not a bad card, unfortunately it is out of stock and he needs to order now.

What about the 'XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition 256MB'? Exactly on budget and I can't see much difference between the two.

Much slower memory speed 900mhz vs 1400mhz, 500mhz vs 560mhz core plus the XFX is passive.

It should still be faster than his 9800 pro though, and will clock nicely if you put a decent cooler on it.

 

[Minstadave]

HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1600 XT ICEQ Turbo 256MB DDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

While not an amazing card, its great value with a good cooler:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1600_Series.html

 

[hp7909]

From here, either the Sapphire X800 GTO or Leadtek WinFast PCX6600GT-TDH

 

[Minstadave]

From here, either the Sapphire X800 GTO or Leadtek WinFast PCX6600GT-TDH

X800GTO is overpriced and lacks SM3 support, but its got 512mb memory

6600GT isn't a bad price, but I'd pay the extra and get the 7600GS for its overclocking potential.

 

[Darkwave]

I think it's best to buy second-hand if the budget is strict at £100 IMO, otherwise you won't get a card much better than a 9800 Pro at the moment as the good ones are of stock or over-budget and the others are on-par with a 6600GT, which wouldn't be an improvement anyway, just a decent replacement.

 

[silversurfer]

6600gt is a small improvement Ive found not a massive one but its surprisingly good.

If he wants a replacement not an improvement that is the one to get. It is slightly better spec with sm3, temp sensor and speed controllable fan

Mine overclocks by 10% easily and generally gives better fps. I can run BF2 at medium everything and high textures and its smooth.

Imo save the big money for next year's batch of gfx

 

[Raikiri]

256mb 7300GT available for £67 and is as fast as the the 7600GS plus it OCs very well

 

[ACESHIGH]

256mb 7300GT available for £67 and is as fast as the the 7600GS plus it OCs very well

the 7600GS is about as fast as a 6600GT, so that would mean the 7300GT is also about as fast, & the X800GT 256MB & X1600 cards are also about as fast. pretty much get any of those you find for the best price, imo.

 

[Raikiri]

the 7600GS is about as fast as a 6600GT, so that would mean the 7300GT is also about as fast, & the X800GT 256MB & X1600 cards are also about as fast. pretty much get any of those you find for the best price, imo.

The 7300GT is at least 50% faster than a 6600GT, check out some reviews on the DDR3 version.

Examples...

3Dmark03 @ 1280x1024 - 6600gt=6301 - 7300gt(640/1600)=9123
3Dmark05 @ 1280x1024 - 6600gt=3071 - 7300gt(640/1600)=4492
Half life 2 lost coast @ 1280x1024, 4xAA/8xAF - 6600gt=33fps - 7300gt(640/1600)=52fps
Quake 3 @ 2048x1536, 4xAA/8XAF - 6600gt=38fps - 7300gt(640/1600)=115fps

I think you get the point

 

[Angilion]

the 7600GS is about as fast as a 6600GT, so that would mean the 7300GT is also about as fast, & the X800GT 256MB & X1600 cards are also about as fast. pretty much get any of those you find for the best price, imo.

That depends on what GPU and memory speeds the 7300GT is running at. There are some wildly over-spec models that spank a 6600GT, but still sell for around £60. They support SLI, too. Selected GPUs and GDDR3 memory (just for the higher speed) do the trick. Midrange performance on a budget card.

 

[Darkwave]

6600gt is a small improvement Ive found not a massive one but its surprisingly good.

If he wants a replacement not an improvement that is the one to get. It is slightly better spec with sm3, temp sensor and speed controllable fan

Mine overclocks by 10% easily and generally gives better fps. I can run BF2 at medium everything and high textures and its smooth.

Imo save the big money for next year's batch of gfx

Aye, I went from a 9800 Pro to a 6600GT myself some time ago. It's a nice card with newer features, but it's no upgrade. Good replacement though for sure.