need help!

[neotokyo2001]

so basically, i'm building a new system and am not sure what video card i should get. i've been out of the loop for a couple years and, now that i'm back in the market for a new card, i have no idea what i should even be looking for. my price range is in the 250-300 dollar bracket. i really have no preference between ati and nvidia; i just want whichever card will be right for my system and for what i want to do (mostly play first person shooters). the video card is the final component i need for my new system, which thus far consists of the following: an asus a8n-sli deluxe, an amd athlon 64 4000+, 1gb of ram, 500 watt power supply, etc. any advice on what video cards i might want to consider purchasing would be VERY much appreciated. thanks in advance for your help!

josh

[Mike]

For $250-300 you're looking at a 7900GT, or an X1800XT...both are seriously fast...the X1800XT has some better image quality options, but it's a lot bigger, louder, and hotter than the 7900GT...

[skywalker]

If you don't mind going up to $355 and waiting for a rebate to make it $325, I would recommend this X1900XT:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102025
Sapphire X1900XT for $355($325 after rebate).

Otherwise, choose between the 7900GT and X1800XT, although, the X1900GT is worthy of consideration, as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161016
This is an X1900GT for $250($235 after rebate).

[Mike]

If you don't mind going up to $355 and waiting for a rebate to make it $325, I would recommend this X1900XT:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102025
Sapphire X1900XT for $355($325 after rebate).

Otherwise, choose between the 7900GT and X1800XT, although, the X1900GT is worthy of consideration, as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161016
This is an X1900GT for $250($235 after rebate).

I agree with you on the x1900xt for $355 (with the exception of the noisy cooler)...however the X1900GT is a waste of money...it performs like a 7600gt...and costs as much as a 7900GT...

[neotokyo2001]

cool. so how much more powerfull is the X1900XT than the two cheaper cards? also, i realize that dx10 cards are around the corner, so will the X1900XT still be sufficient for gaming once they are released, or will dx9 cards become worthless overnight?

Also, I was looking at pics of the X1900XT on newegg; does it have outputs for a standard crt monitor? in the picture it looks like it just has dvi and svideo outs....if this is the case, is there some sort of an adapter i could get?

[Mike]

cool. so how much more powerfull is the X1900XT than the two cheaper cards? also, i realize that dx10 cards are around the corner, so will the X1900XT still be sufficient for gaming once they are released, or will dx9 cards become worthless overnight?

Also, I was looking at pics of the X1900XT on newegg; does it have outputs for a standard crt monitor? in the picture it looks like it just has dvi and svideo outs....if this is the case, is there some sort of an adapter i could get?

Really what the x1900xt gives you is higher frames per second at high resolutions (1600x1200 and higher). It also does better at anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing. Overall, you're looking at maybe a higher resolution, or at least a higher image quality setting for whatever game you're looking at. Figure the x1900xt has about 25% more horsepower than a 7900gt.

And don't worry, all cards with DVI ports come with a DVI->VGA adapter.

[phranq]

cool. so how much more powerfull is the X1900XT than the two cheaper cards? also, i realize that dx10 cards are around the corner, so will the X1900XT still be sufficient for gaming once they are released, or will dx9 cards become worthless overnight?

Also, I was looking at pics of the X1900XT on newegg; does it have outputs for a standard crt monitor? in the picture it looks like it just has dvi and svideo outs....if this is the case, is there some sort of an adapter i could get?


And yah, there are adapters...I'm not entirely sure if they're still shipping with new cards, but the last few generations shipped with them (you'd know if you're too busy dealing with college loans to buy new video cards :( ). I have at least 3 around here somewhere.

[bLaK]

Id go with the 7900GT...ATI cards are good but their hot and very niosy like Mike said