best card price/performance?

[JaYbIrD]

As the title states, I am planning on building a new rig very soon. The only thing thats holding me back at this point in time is the price of vid cards over here in canada. I am looking for the best price/performance card in the $200-$300 range. A lot of my buddies have already upgraded their rigs for cod2, quake4 and
F.E.A.R. I feel left out :( I plan on OCing the card after a while of having it. Although, I am not looking to flash the card for the extra pipelines(too much money to lose) If somebody could help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.

[CrazyBauxite]

You will want either a Nvidia Geforce 6600GT or an ATI Radeon X800. I found prices for them on CanadaComputers.com and the Asus 6600GT costs $224.99 while the Asus X800 costs $254.99. On 3dmark2005 (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/vga_charts-02.html#3d_mark_2005)
the X800 is only 5% better while it costs 13% more. Plus if you have a SLI board you can double up the 6600GT later. In fact, currently SLIing two 6600GTs costs $450 for a score higher than x850xt PE for at least $150 less. That's why the 6600GTs look so attractive to me. Hope this helps.

[JaYbIrD]

Thanks for the quick reply! I was hoping that I could skip the x700/6600 generation and find something in the x800/6800 generation of cards. I found a Connect3D Radeon X800 GTO / 256MB GDDR3 / PCI Express / DVI / VGA / VIVO / Video Card for $249.99. Is this a good deal?

[IWasHungry]

Thanks for the thread Houserat (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=415860)
;)
X800GTO2, preferably if you can get it below $250 (Mod to X850XT).

[JaYbIrD]

I read a few pages of the thread. The card seems pretty amazing. I'm just worried of the flash failing. Would the card be dead if the flash doesn't work? I found this card for $310. This is canadian price btw.

[Turtle Shell]

what about nvidia you coulkd get a 6800le and maybe flash it to a 6800gt i dont know what the % of success is though:shrug:

[juliendogg]

I read a few pages of the thread. The card seems pretty amazing. I'm just worried of the flash failing. Would the card be dead if the flash doesn't work? I found this card for $310. This is canadian price btw.

so far the success rate is 100%. And if the flash fails, no the card won't be dead, you just need to flash it back. If you look for this, make sure you get the sapphire gto2.

J.

[Cheator]

I read a few pages of the thread. The card seems pretty amazing. I'm just worried of the flash failing. Would the card be dead if the flash doesn't work? I found this card for $310. This is canadian price btw.
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16565&vpn=100130%20(102-A47487-10-AT)&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

That should save you...all of 4 bucks, unless you live in BC.

As for a flash failing, I was in the same boat as you. I figured it was dangerous but really it isn't. See, as long as you don't restart after a bad flash it won't matter.

It will let you know if it didn't flash correctly (As it checks to see if all the bis are in place). If there are no errors you are on your way. If there ARE errors, it will tell you and rigth away, without a reboot, you can flash it back to the original bios while you come to OC forums nad figure out what the hell went wrong :). Simple.

[Chrome-]

I'd recommend an X800PRO-X800XT or something like that.

I have an X800PRO, and I love it so much.

[JaYbIrD]

Thanks for all your guys input. The card doesn't become available for another couple days and I am not quite ready to make this purchase. Although, the ncix admin said they will be coming in VERY limited quantities, and the only one they could get their hands on was the lite version, not the OEM. They claim the only difference is the software and the premium price. I can't find this card ANYWHERE else in canada but ncix. Damn, this country sucks for computer stores. :bang head

[Vipasnipa]

If you're considering a vanilla X800 for $250, you might as well go for the 16 pipe XL.

[cuda70383]

a few weeks back i got a xfx geforce 6800 from newegg for $164 - $20 rebate and have it oc'd.

i'm running 4x AA in BF2 w/most settings on high and only a couple on medium.

this card is better than the 6600gt, unless you want to go sli. also, if you are lucky, you can open 4 more pipes w/the riva tuner software.

on the ati front, the connect 3d x800gto may be modded techpowerup (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/127/4) i think.

also, if you can find an onsale x800xt, they run pretty tight w/the x850xt, although they use a different chipset so they aren't gonna oc much more than they already are.

[spydeymon]

im here to save the day they dont have in stock but u can order it now and save the cash its only 265 canadian :)
http://dangeo.com/proddetail.php?sku=52220