Out of the loop 8th and 9th series questions

[mr_ganja]

I've been MIA for awhile and havent been keeping up to date with the 9th series cards.
As far as I know the best card for value and power was the 8800GT
now I havent been folowing the 9th series at all so I have a quick question.

Is the 8800GT still the best buy for price and power?

or is there a 9th series card better?

I'm not trying to spend more then $200, all I need is a video card powerful enough to run age of conan on max settings, is the 8800GT up to the challenge?

Maybe a quick list of the most powerful video cards from 9th and 8th series would be awesome.

lets say the top 5 video cards

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

thx in advance, I know ocforums have all the answers.

[Diddyu]

There isnt much in the 9 series worth buying for your needs, atleast not until summer when supposedly the 99xx's come out.
The 8800GT is still probably the best bang for the buck card, but Id recommend the 8800GTS (G92), its plenty better, comes under 200, and overclocks like a beast.
From the 9xxxs, the 9600 is one of the recommended low end budget cards, and the other two are just remakes of the 8800GTS (G92) to bring in more money.

[blazed]

nVidia decided to take their 8800 cards and rename them to 9800 for no reason other then to trick people into thinking they're the better card. 9800 GTX is just a slightly overclocked 8800GTS 512mb, 8800GT is still the best bang for your buck, only interesting card they added is the 9600GT at a lower performance and price point then the 8800GT. The 9800GX2 is just 2 underclocked 8800GTS 512mb cards stuck together and the 9600GSO is literaly just a rename of the 8800GS cards and an extra $25 slapped on the price.

So as you can see none of the 9 series cards are anything new really.

My suggestion to you would be an 8800GT 512mb (anywhere from $150-200 w/wo mail in rebates) or the bit faster 8800GTS 512mb (from $190-$240 w/wo MIR).

[mr_ganja]

i found this card on newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357

seems like a good price, but im wondering, is a 200 dollar evga 8800GT better then this?

[dark bishop]

arent the gt200's coming out soon? i thought nvidia dropped the 9 series fot the gtx 200's.

[LegolasElf]

i found this card on newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130357

seems like a good price, but im wondering, is a 200 dollar evga 8800GT better then this?

Are you refferign to this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

The $200 takes up only one slot where by the red one will take up two slots.

[blazed]

XFX 8800GT 512mb with Zalman cooler for $170 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150280) or the Asus 8800GT 512mb with improved dual slot cooler for $148 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121224) amir $30 would be the best deals from newegg right now. No need to pay $200 for an 8800GT or deal with the weak stock cooling for a while now.