£110 to spend...what graphics card?

[Cup of Squirrel]

I am currently running a Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 Pro card, which has served me well, but with games like bf2 and hl2 flying around, it's time for an upgrade.

I have £117 to spend, but technically only about £110 due to shipping. I have asked some friends on their opinion, but it's gotten about as helpful as "buy a radeon". I want open minds here please :)

The few cards that have gotten my attention so far are:

BFG GeForce 6200 OC 256MB

Aopen Aeolus Gf6600gt/agp8x 128mb

Leadtek Winfast Geforce 6600GT 128MB Ddr3

Leadtek WinFast A6600 TD 256mb

I also heard 6600 had lockup problems with D3D...any confirmation/fixes on this?

Anyhow, advice, opinions etc, even better, how they all match up to each other?

Post away!

[server_crash]

I wouldn't buy a radeon. It's simple, buy the best card you can get for your budget. Don't go less than a 256mb card, so that narrows it down to two. Check reviews and see which one you think.

[Computers ARGHH]

I am currently running a Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 Pro card, which has served me well, but with games like bf2 and hl2 flying around, it's time for an upgrade.

I have £117 to spend, but technically only about £110 due to shipping. I have asked some friends on their opinion, but it's gotten about as helpful as "buy a radeon". I want open minds here please :)

The few cards that have gotten my attention so far are:

BFG GeForce 6200 OC 256MB

Aopen Aeolus Gf6600gt/agp8x 128mb

Leadtek Winfast Geforce 6600GT 128MB Ddr3

Leadtek WinFast A6600 TD 256mb

I also heard 6600 had lockup problems with D3D...any confirmation/fixes on this?

Anyhow, advice, opinions etc, even better, how they all match up to each other?

Post away!

i have the (xpert vision Gf6600gt 128mb ddr3 AGP8x) i have had no problems so far it all seems cool i have been able to push the graphics of good games quite high and little sign of strane i payed around £105 for mine but 5 pounds post.

[nizzy1115]

nVidia 6600gt hands down. it will own an ati 9600 as well as 9800. Mine ran hot with stock cooler and was noisy, so i added this zalaman copper vga cooler and its silent and playes every newest game with high settings and great frame rates. (Its also a great OC'ing card)

-nizzy

[server_crash]

geforce 7800gtx would be my pick.

[nizzy1115]

wow! 7800gtx for £110??? tell me where i can find one ;)!
I think we've got a bit more of a budget here. That card that costs more than an xbox 360 with a few games!

Actually, you may be able to find a 6800 non gt/ultra for your price range, and you can attempt to unlock the extra pipelines in it to make it like a gt. That maybe your best bet but it should wipe all your money clean. 6600gt will give you a few dollars left and a decent card which isnt always a bad thing.

[server_crash]

wow! 7800gtx for £110??? tell me where i can find one ;)!
I think we've got a bit more of a budget here. That card that costs more than an xbox 360 with a few games!

Actually, you may be able to find a 6800 non gt/ultra for your price range, and you can attempt to unlock the extra pipelines in it to make it like a gt. That maybe your best bet but it should wipe all your money clean. 6600gt will give you a few dollars left and a decent card which isnt always a bad thing.

No, no. The 7800GTX would be MY CHOICE if I were selecting card. I don't buy budget cards. If he can get a good 256mb card for 110, then go for it.

[george_hopkins]

you can get some very nice cards for £110

a radeon x800 gto
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=10572&GroupID=27
if you spent a little extra you could get a 6800 which is a lot better
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=11573&GroupID=27

[belama]

you can get some very nice cards for £110

a radeon x800 gto
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=10572&GroupID=27
if you spent a little extra you could get a 6800 which is a lot better
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=11573&GroupID=27

It seems like he's searching for an AGP card and those are PCI-E cards.

For games like BF2 and HL2, like server_crash said, you would be better off with a 256mb card. But don't just buy any 256 meg card. Here's a short list of cards that may fit your budget, first one being the best:

GeForce 6800 GT
GeForce 6800 GS
Radeon X800 GTO
GeForce 6600 GT
Radeon X700
GeForce 6600

These can be found in AGP with 256 mb. If you want best performance for recent games, I wouldnt get less than a 6600GT but the x700 and 6600 should do the trick.

[Cup of Squirrel]

Thanks for the help all, in the end I bought a Gigabyte 256mb 6600. It's a great card, runs very smoothly, but one problem persists: cooling.

The cooling system is not a fan, but a rather odd "silent pipe". A system of metal is built around the GPU, and I imagine it works by "extracting" the heat into the metal.

Picture of the system

Now, after a while, games begin to become slower and skip quite a lot, especially Counter Strike: Source.

Due to the rather complex system, I am asking members here who have had experience with the Gigabyte 6600 (or the silent pipe) if it can be removed and replaced by a more trust worthy fan cooler. Any comments are appreciated.

Thankyou :)

[nizzy1115]

yes i would get a different cooler. I have the 6600 gt (its 128mb but faster) and it got soo hot and the fan was really loud and annoying. I opted to purchase the zalman copper vga heatsink/fan and im very happy. Its quiet and lowered my temps by about 40*C. Here is a link to it.
You will be able to overclock your card a bit with this sucker too. Good luck.

[belama]

The Arctic cooling NV Silencer 1 would do the job. Silencers are known to keep a video card cool.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=37