sub $300 card and other questions

Building a new system. dfi nf4 ultra-d +venice 3000. Im gonna need a pci-e card to run it. Ive got a budget of $300. Some thoughts:

- http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814102506R
refurb x850 pro for 268.00 -whats the overclocking potential.

- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102496
new retail x800pro vivo 265.00 -im watching a thread about possibly hard modding this to open 16 pipes. Im willing to mod (voltmod too) as i did with my current card.

-right now my high score in 3dmark05 is 5985. I would like to better that which i think a new processor can help with. I will be watercooling and putting on ramsinks.

-so im looking for bang for your buck- i play a lot of battlefield 2 and hl2 farcry, will play f.e.a.r when it comes out. THANKS ALL

well after more reading i guess the mod for the x800 is out of the question. How about the x800xl? There seems to be some around my price, do they OC well on water?

The x800xls typically do not overclock very well. Mine reaches 445/1178 on air.

hmm thats too bad. So it looks like maybe getting the x850pro. I guess i could get a new one too since that is right at $300. How have the x850 pro's been overclocking. I read a comparison between the x850pro and x800xl and the x850 seemed better in most everything except for a few games.

Well, unfortunately, I can't really tell you a whole lot about the x850 Pro, but this might be of interest to you. It's not sub $300, but if you can spare the extra, it'd be worth a look.

x850xt PE $350

I'm between getting one of those myself, but I can't make up my mind if I want to wait for their next-gen card or 7800GTX or what.

By the way, West Lafayette is a great town. I miss going there alot. Great people down there.

x850 XT PE at amazon 349.00 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000815IKI//002-2479232-6639226

i might be willing to pay that if its worth it?

ha we posted the same card just from different sites. I cant wait to head back to school in a few weeks.

well i would like to buy tonight, i think that connect3d x850xt pe is what im gonna end up getting... if i can work out the cash... any thoughts???

Go for it. It's a smoking card. Only thing comparable is a 6800Ultra, the only thing better is a 7800GTX.

smesx1 said:

well i would like to buy tonight, i think that connect3d x850xt pe is what im gonna end up getting... if i can work out the cash... any thoughts???

Click to expand...

Definatly. Thats the same card I went for. FYI the shipping is cheaper if you order through amazon instead of Tiger Direct.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...22351-6072758?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

yeah i went ahead and orderd that from amazon... the only bad part, the eta on shipping isnt till the 11th, i emailed about rush processing. It should hold me over for a while, i wont be getting a next gen card when they come out but maybe the generation after that.

Vulcan:
what kindof 3dmarks are you getting in 05 with with that setup because its pretty similar to what i ordered. Have you overclocked the card and what type of cooling do you have on it. Thanks for all the help even though i ended up spending $100 over my budget. OH WELL. Ill post some results when i get it all together.