Help me choose my

Hey guys, I need a little advice on a new video card.

For a while I planned on getting a Radeon 9800 Pro when Half Life 2 came out. HL-2 is the main reason I'm upgrading, but I'll for sure be playing other games such as Doom 3, FarCry, and a host of others.

...Then came along the new generation of cards, which just added to my confusion.

I don't want to spend anymore then $200. I plan giving it a good overclock, possibly with upgraded air and some arctic silver, or I'll at least stick with the latter.

My mobo doesn't have PCI-E, so I guess that rules out the Radeon X700. I assume my decision is between a Radeon 9800 Pro and an Nvidia 6600GT.

Thanks in advance,

-YB

AFAIK the 6600gt is better then the 9800pro both in Dx9.0 and opengl, but if the price of the 9800pro drops considerably it could be the better choice.

But The 6600Gt is Already Cheap the 9800pro is Ati mid range card now it wont get any cheaper...only if 6600gt gets cheaper

According to some websites they are supposed to get cheaper to compete against the 6600gt. That is according to ATi it's MSRP is supposed to drop from $250 to $200, don't ask I don't get it either.

Well For now we no the 6600GT out Proforms a 9800pro so i guess, its up to you but i would get a 6600GT at this point.

The 6600GT out performs the Radeon 9800 only in a very few small benchmarks (though I agree they are the ones that are most important to gamers), so it is not a matter of what out performs what, but the pricing for what you get. The 9800 is suppose to drop down, according to ATI (which I asked my personal vendor about this), so if they do then the 9800 will be the best card for budget (mid-price) gaming.

The 6600GT is the better buy. With the exception of Far Cry, the GT should always run at higher average frame rates than a 9800 Pro.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njg5LDE=

deception``

Ok, what about bang-for-the-buck overclocking... Which is the winner there?

Hard to tell the 6600gt was just released so there is no chance of knowing how it oc. But it will still be better then the 9800pro.