Best All-Round Video Card under $200 ?

[patriot]

I've finalized my build ($800 Tax In) and ordered my parts. This is what it looks like (BTW I'm not a heavy gamer);

Processor - BX80562Q6600 - BOXED CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4 2X4M 1066 EM64T S775
MoBo - P35 NEO2-FR - P35 LGA775 DC 8GMB DDR2 ATX 2PCIE16 2PCI GB RAID
Mem - KVR800D2N5/1G - 1GB 800MHZ DDR2 AM2 NON-ECC CL5 DIMM 1 MOD - 2 sticks
HDD - ST3250410AS - 250GB SATA 3.5GB 7200 RPM 16MB CACHE 7200.10 NCQ
Case - RC-534 - Cooler Master Centurian 534 Plus
PS - ATX2PW550PRO - POWER SUPPLY W/PCI EXPRES
Video - NX8500GT-TD512EH - GEFORCE 8500GT PCIE 512MB DVI TVOUT VGA FANLESS
DVD - GSA-H62N (BLACK) - SUPERMULTI 18X BLACK SATA

[bokep]

what are you going to be using this pc for?

[patriot]

what are you going to be using this pc for?

Digital Picture/Video editing, internet, home office, gaming.

BTW the Operating system will be WinXP Pro SP2 ... which will upgrade to Vista once all the bugs are worked out of it.

[McLaren__F1]

Digital Picture/Video editing, internet, home office, gaming.

BTW the Operating system will be WinXP Pro SP2 ... which will upgrade to Vista once all the bugs are worked out of it.

Might Want to consider 2GB RAM

[sickcars]

Digital Picture/Video editing, internet, home office, gaming.

BTW the Operating system will be WinXP Pro SP2 ... which will upgrade to Vista once all the bugs are worked out of it.

you wont be playing any good games on that computer with that low end video card. If Possible I suggest you upgrade that for sure.

Ram I would upgrade to 2gb for sure also.

What PSU is that? What brand name?

[patriot]

you wont be playing any good games on that computer with that low end video card. If Possible I suggest you upgrade that for sure.

Can do in the future, but as stated gaming isn't a priority now.


Ram I would upgrade to 2gb for sure also.

I am building with 2gb of memory


What PSU is that? What brand name?

It's a StarTek 550W PS

[sickcars]

Can do in the future, but as stated gaming isn't a priority now.



I am building with 2gb of memory



It's a StarTek 550W PS


Ahh sorry did not notice the "2 sticks" for the ram.

StarTek PSU? Never heard of it. Sounds like one of those Generic PSU's which is usually low quality build and so on. I personally would of gone with a brand name that is known for quality like Corsair or OCZ etc

But you may get lucky and it could be a good PSU, either way good luck

[Riflem@n]

If Possible,

Corsair 520W
ATI 3850
Coolermaster 690

[patriot]

Corsair 520W

I took the 550W StarTek due to the amount of Sata plugins available and it was good value. I'll do some digging and see who OEM's StarTek's PSU's


ATI 3850

Looks good, but certainly exceeds my Video card budget. My video card budget is $100, I'm getting the MSI card for ~ $80. I thought that was great value. Given my budget is there something better ?


Coolermaster 690

Yeah, I saw that case, the main difference between the two were the extra HDD bays and the USB/Audio hook-ups on top vs, below.

Our preference was to have the hook-ups on the bottom of the case (reduces clutter ... lose the battle but win the war ... :razz: )

[terrybear]

If Possible,

Corsair 520W
ATI 3850
Coolermaster 690

I agree with rifleman .. thought i'd hold off on the 3850 cause of price cuts as well as 512 meg model to come in the next few weeks.

[Riflem@n]

If you're not a gamer then that 8400 card should be ok.

[Silver Bullet]

Processor - Q6600
MoBo - Asus P5K-E
Mem - OCZ PC2-6400 Rev2 2GB Kit
HDD - ST3250410AS - 250GB SATA 3.5GB 7200 RPM 16MB CACHE 7200.10 NCQ
Case - Antec Solo and 1 extra Antec Tricool 92mm fan (for front)
PS - Corsair 450W
Video - ATI 3850 or nvidia 8800GT 256MB (whichever u can find first)
DVD - Pioneer 121D Sata

Don't scimp on the power supply or the ram. You're getting a really nice CPU, make sure the rest of the system is balanced. You'll also find that the OCZ ram has a nice $35MIR.

[patriot]

Processor - Q6600
MoBo - Asus P5K-E
Mem - OCZ PC2-6400 Rev2 2GB Kit
HDD - ST3250410AS - 250GB SATA 3.5GB 7200 RPM 16MB CACHE 7200.10 NCQ
Case - Antec Solo and 1 extra Antec Tricool 92mm fan (for front)
PS - Corsair 450W
Video - ATI 3850 or nvidia 8800GT 256MB (whichever u can find first)
DVD - Pioneer 121D Sata

Don't scimp on the power supply or the ram. You're getting a really nice CPU, make sure the rest of the system is balanced. You'll also find that the OCZ ram has a nice $35MIR.

It's fairly late in the game to cancel & reorder almost every component. BTW, at this point I can't have my budget blow-up.

[Silver Bullet]

It's only been 3 hours ...

Price before tax and also there is a $35MIR on the OCZ Ram. Forgot to add an 92mm fan for the front .. add in $11 :)

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/8450/compur8.jpg
Prices: Infonec.com

Option 2 ...

As above .. add $11 for fan and still has $35MIR on the OCZ ram

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5121/comp2oc8.jpg

[patriot]

It's only been 3 hours ...

Price before tax and also there is a $35MIR on the OCZ Ram. Forgot to add an 92mm fan for the front .. add in $11 :)

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/8450/compur8.jpg
Prices: Infonec.com

The two sticks of RAM cost me $60, the only components I'm still waiting on is the MoBo & Vid Card. And yes I'll be picking up a 120mm Fan for the front (Antec) for ~ $10.

[Silver Bullet]

The two sticks of RAM cost me $60, the only components I'm still waiting on is the MoBo & Vid Card. And yes I'll be picking up a 120mm Fan for the front (Antec) for ~ $10.


OCZ 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel (OCZ2P800R22GK) (http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=135768)

Price: $99.00
Rebate: -$35.00
Weekly Special: -$29.01
Sale Price: $34.99

[patriot]

I took the 550W StarTek due to the amount of Sata plugins available and it was good value. I'll do some digging and see who OEM's StarTek's PSU's

I hit a site www.techwarelabs.com that tested the StarTech 480 Vs. the Antec Tp480. Suprisingly the StarTech proved equitable if not better.

[Silver Bullet]

StarTech didn't look to bad actually .. I'll give you that ;)

[mart242]

Out of curiosity: why add a fan at the front of the case to suck air in? Won't the PSU be sucking air from inside the case and expelling it? Unless your intent is to expell air from the front of the case as well?

[Oni-kun]

ATI HD2600 Pro or XT might be a better deal for you its around the same price as the 8600 you listed. Benefit is I think it outperforms it and it has onboard HD video acceleration.

[Silver Bullet]

Out of curiosity: why add a fan at the front of the case to suck air in? Won't the PSU be sucking air from inside the case and expelling it? Unless your intent is to expell air from the front of the case as well?

Cooling the HD and graphics card is important and since you won't want to listen to the rear 120mm on high (trying to suck in enough air) it makes sense to pay the $11 for a quiet 92mm for the front of the case. I have built maybe 15 system using this case and I always end up putting in either 1 or 2 92mm fans in the front .. depending on gfx card and number of hard drivers.

As for the power supply sucking in air ... it won't be enough at all, especially these days power supplies getting more efficient and moving less air.

[Silver Bullet]

ATI HD2600 Pro or XT might be a better deal for you its around the same price as the 8600 you listed. Benefit is I think it outperforms it and it has onboard HD video acceleration.

Both the 2600 and 8600 series have HD acceleration with HDCP support. Though I think the 8600 is faster than 2600. But not sure about the 8500.

[mart242]

Cooling the HD and graphics card is important and since you won't want to listen to the rear 120mm on high (trying to suck in enough air) it makes sense to pay the $11 for a quiet 92mm for the front of the case. I have built maybe 15 system using this case and I always end up putting in either 1 or 2 92mm fans in the front .. depending on gfx card and number of hard drivers.

So let's say that I want to keep my current antec sonata case and upgrade to a Q6660 and maybe new power supply (since 380W might not be enough), I should add a fan at the front as well? That fan will suck air in and the hot air will be expelled through the power supply fans?

[Silver Bullet]

So let's say that I want to keep my current antec sonata case and upgrade to a Q6660 and maybe new power supply (since 380W might not be enough), I should add a fan at the front as well? That fan will suck air in and the hot air will be expelled through the power supply fans?

Depending on your system specs a 380W might do it (there isn't a huge watt increase from a mid-range C2D). But a 450W might be a good cheap upgrade. For the fan .. the front fan should suck air in (i know its behind the HDs), then the back fan and power supply fan would suck out the hot air from the system. You're more relying on the back fan to take out the hot air than the power supply fan .. it already has enough to do.

[patriot]

The case I got (CM Centurian 534+) has two standard 120mm fans and I'll be adding 1 in the front. Should I go 120mm or 92mm ?

I was looking at the ANTEC(761345760072) or for some colour(761345770958). Both are ~ $10

[Silver Bullet]

The case I got (CM Centurion 534+) has two standard 120mm fans and I'll be adding 1 in the front. Should I go 120mm or 92mm ?

I was looking at the ANTEC(761345760072) or for some colour(761345770958). Both are ~ $10

Looks like the Centurion already has fans front and rear .. so no need to buy extra.

Based on this review (http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/centurion534/4.html)

[patriot]

Actually the configuration is different for the "+" case. It has a 120mm fan (intake) on the side panel blowing on the cards and a 120mm fan in the back (exhaust).

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&tbcate=168&id=181

[Silver Bullet]

Actually the configuration is different for the "+" case. It has a 120mm fan (intake) on the side panel blowing on the cards and a 120mm fan in the back (exhaust).

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&tbcate=168&id=181

Take the side one and put it at the front.

[Spare-Flair]

Looks good, but certainly exceeds my Video card budget. My video card budget is $100, I'm getting the MSI card for ~ $80. I thought that was great value. Given my budget is there something better ?


You can find x1950s for sale from people or ebay for < $100. I've sold my x1950 for $82.

[patriot]

You can find x1950s for sale from people or ebay for < $100. I've sold my x1950 for $82.

Would it be better than the 512mb 8500GT ?

[sickcars]

Would it be better than the 512mb 8500GT ?

Yes....Much better

I had one myself and jsut to give you an idea I could play Crysis (latest and highest demand game right now @ med settings at a decent high res) So its pretty good for the price.

So it would kill the 8500gt

[huyla]

I took the 550W StarTek due to the amount of Sata plugins available and it was good value. I'll do some digging and see who OEM's StarTek's PSU's



Looks good, but certainly exceeds my Video card budget. My video card budget is $100, I'm getting the MSI card for ~ $80. I thought that was great value. Given my budget is there something better ?



Yeah, I saw that case, the main difference between the two were the extra HDD bays and the USB/Audio hook-ups on top vs, below.

Our preference was to have the hook-ups on the bottom of the case (reduces clutter ... lose the battle but win the war ... :razz: )

There are a lot of difference between CM690 case and the one you intend to buy.

1st. CM690 already has holes at back plate for you to do PSU cable management. ie. routing PSU cables behind the back plate.
2nd. CM690 already inlcude 3 120mm fans.
3rd. PSU placed at bottom.
4th. CM690 can accommodate at least 7 120mm fans
....

Anyway, if you have already decided what you want. Best of luck.

[Smoked]

edit : my bad

[Coolme]

8600 GTs can be had for ~100 after rebates.

[Spare-Flair]

Would it be better than the 512mb 8500GT ?

Generally if you see a budget card like the 8500GT with 512MB of ram, that is a good indication not to buy that card as it's sole purpose is designed to be a money grab. Throw on cheap ram to a useless card to attract the uninformed buyer.

An ATI 256MB x1950 Pro is more than double the speed of a Nvidia 512MB 8500GT and the x1950 is still faster than a 8600GT by 33%.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=725&model2=856&chart=318

[patriot]

Well I do appreciate the recommendations on the Video Card, but as I've indicated at the start, I'm not a gamer so it's not a priority right now. However, if I do start gaming the 8500GT is SLI, so I can pop another SLI video card in to up the ante so to speak.

[patriot]

There are a lot of difference between CM690 case and the one you intend to buy.

1st. CM690 already has holes at back plate for you to do PSU cable management. ie. routing PSU cables behind the back plate.
2nd. CM690 already inlcude 3 120mm fans.
3rd. PSU placed at bottom.
4th. CM690 can accommodate at least 7 120mm fans
....

Anyway, if you have already decided what you want. Best of luck.

You're right, but with my wife standing over my shoulder indicating she wants the front USBetc. hookups on the bottom, it's fairly difficult to justify the extra $40 for the 690 case. Remember lose the battle win the war !

[Spare-Flair]

Well I do appreciate the recommendations on the Video Card, but as I've indicated at the start, I'm not a gamer so it's not a priority right now. However, if I do start gaming the 8500GT is SLI, so I can pop another SLI video card in to up the ante so to speak.

But that's not going to do any good since an 8500GT is a terrible core. Putting it into SLI won't scale up very much. You'll get at best, a 15-20% boost in speed which still won't equal a card that will cost less than two 8500GTs together. SLI does not double the speed of cards. You could probably save yourself money by not buying an SLI board also, if you're not a gamer. SLI is pretty much useless for the casual consumer. A better videocard will also make your future Vista experience less of a headache if you intend to use all the Vista Aero features.

For $800, you could have potentially get more for your money by going to futureshop and looking at their open box PCs on the open box table (every FS has these, and they are usually 10-50% cheaper than a brand new system) or even going for a Dell. I see you've finalized your order already though so I guess this is all moot. I've seen higher end HP Quad Core 6600 systems with 2GB ram, decent videocards, all the front ports including usb and card readers you wife could desire, 500GB HDD, ets. for $600 including keyboards, mice, speakers, oem software, and Windows XP/Vista included in the price.

[huyla]

It's a common mistake that a lot of people think popping up a second card in SLI configuration will give them twice the performance, twice the memory..... and a whole nine yard of better......

[Oni-kun]

You're right, but with my wife standing over my shoulder indicating she wants the front USBetc. hookups on the bottom, it's fairly difficult to justify the extra $40 for the 690 case. Remember lose the battle win the war !

You let your wife touch your computer? Nobody else is allowed to use mine. Someone always f*cks something up.

[patriot]

Well I'm trying to turn a negative into a positive, the ETA for my 8500 GT got pushed to Dec.24th (which is unacceptible). However, based on your feedback I shouldn't have got that card anyway, hence my question.

What's the best "All-Round" Video Card under $200 ?

Please & Thanks.

[ASharp]

Well I'm trying to turn a negative into a positive, the ETA for my 8500 GT got pushed to Dec.24th (which is unacceptible). However, based on your feedback I shouldn't have got that card anyway, hence my question.

What's the best "All-Round" Video Card under $200 ?

Please & Thanks.

For under $200, huh? I'd have to say the Radeon HD 3850. You can find it for around $175 now and it gives great gaming performance for your money as well as built-in HD decoding and all that good stuff. There's a 512MB version of it if you need the extra memory but you'll have to find that one yourself as I'm not sure where you can get it.

[patriot]

For under $200, huh? I'd have to say the Radeon HD 3850. You can find it for around $175 now and it gives great gaming performance for your money as well as built-in HD decoding and all that good stuff. There's a 512MB version of it if you need the extra memory but you'll have to find that one yourself as I'm not sure where you can get it.

Thanks for this advise, I just ordered the 3850 card ... now I'm just waiting on my MoBo ... Dec.11th (So they told me).