june gloom on 3/9/2008 at 18:00
So I've some money socked away and I'm looking to get a new card to replace the 7600GT that died. My spending limit is around $130, so what card should I get for a stock case that has only a couple fans but good ventilation? I'm also thinking of picking up a small case fan or two to cool things out a bit.
I was looking at (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133232) this baby earlier, but if someone could recommend a better card for a similar price, let me know.
PS: I'd like to make a choice
today so I can get this shit in the mail in time for Clear Sky on the 15th...
EvaUnit02 on 4/9/2008 at 12:53
I would recommend the HD4850, but in light of its suckage with the Dark Engine games, I can't.
The 8800GT is an excellent card, just be sure to get the 512MB version. I've been able to get good performance with practically every game that I've thrown at it, with high detail, high res (1680x1050) and v-sync on. Crysis is very playable at high speeds.Your poo poo CPU will probably bottleneck it though. Of course it will likely struggle with badly optimised games, like MoH: Airborne and FEAR: Extraction Point (They should've issued a patch that had all of the FEAR v1.08 optimisations).
If you plan on OC'ing, get a factory OC'ed one. From my experiences the stock cooler is utter shit and if you don't significantly raise the fan speed, the card will go down faster than a woman who can't hold her liquor.
bikerdude on 4/9/2008 at 15:29
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
I would recommend the HD4850, but in light of its suckage with the Dark Engine games, I can't.
Just an FYI, but the HD4850 works with all versions of thief when used with Catalyst driver version 8.6
Biker
ps. for the money that 8800GT you found on newegg is very good bang for buck.
june gloom on 4/9/2008 at 21:02
I ended up going with (
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130347) this, despite my self-imposed spending limit (bet your ass I'm making use of that rebate though!) I usually prefer EVGA and I'm skittish about PNY's service record. The superior cooling system is what sold me.
