Current mid-range video card?

GEC: Discuss gaming, computers and electronics and venture into the bizarre world of STGODs.

Moderator: Thanas

Post Reply
User avatar
Stark
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 36169
Joined: 2002-07-03 09:56pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Current mid-range video card?

Post by Stark »

I'm trying to hook a friend up with a decent video card, but I'm pretty out of touch with teh gamezoring world these days. What's the current best-buy mid-range wise?
User avatar
Arthur_Tuxedo
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5637
Joined: 2002-07-23 03:28am
Location: San Francisco, California

Post by Arthur_Tuxedo »

7600 GT for the win, assuming you have a PCI-E capable motherboard. If you're still on AGP, there's no good solution right now until the 7600 comes to AGP (no idea when that will happen, but fairly soon I think).
"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." - Muhammad Ali

"Dating is not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be a heart-pounding, stomach-wrenching, gut-churning exercise in pitting your fear of rejection and public humiliation against your desire to find a mate. Enjoy." - Darth Wong
User avatar
Hamel
Sith Marauder
Posts: 3842
Joined: 2003-02-06 10:34am
Contact:

Post by Hamel »

I have an XFX 7600GT XXX card. 7600GTs are in the neighborhood of a 6800GT, probably a little more above it in terms of performance depending on the clock. Personally I would not recommend buying a card that is heavily factory overclocked as they tend to develop problems, even though they shouldn't.

A warning to you: image quality on 7xxx cards is absolute garbage if quality settings are lower than HQ in the Forceware panel. Even on HQ you can see shimmering.

6800GT performance for under 170 bucks isn't bad, I guess you could say.
"Right now we can tell you a report was filed by the family of a 12 year old boy yesterday afternoon alleging Mr. Michael Jackson of criminal activity. A search warrant has been filed and that search is currently taking place. Mr. Jackson has not been charged with any crime. We cannot specifically address the content of the police report as it is confidential information at the present time, however, we can confirm that Mr. Jackson forced the boy to listen to the Howard Stern show and watch the movie Private Parts over and over again."
Ypoknons
Jedi Knight
Posts: 999
Joined: 2003-05-13 06:02am
Location: Manhattan (school year), Hong Kong (vacations)
Contact:

Post by Ypoknons »

But a random X850XT drops to $150 sometimes, so as always in this world, keep your eyes open.
User avatar
Arthur_Tuxedo
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5637
Joined: 2002-07-23 03:28am
Location: San Francisco, California

Post by Arthur_Tuxedo »

7600 GT beats an X850XT on features, longevity, power consumption, heat, noise, and size. The X850XT might be a little faster in current games, but I wouldn't say that's enough to recommend it over the 7600 GT.
"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." - Muhammad Ali

"Dating is not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be a heart-pounding, stomach-wrenching, gut-churning exercise in pitting your fear of rejection and public humiliation against your desire to find a mate. Enjoy." - Darth Wong
Ypoknons
Jedi Knight
Posts: 999
Joined: 2003-05-13 06:02am
Location: Manhattan (school year), Hong Kong (vacations)
Contact:

Post by Ypoknons »

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:7600 GT beats an X850XT on features, longevity, power consumption, heat, noise, and size. The X850XT might be a little faster in current games, but I wouldn't say that's enough to recommend it over the 7600 GT.
Conceeded. I haven't been doing my research lately, and got misled by Anandtech putting it in 'high-end cards'. Shouldn't have spoken. :?
Post Reply