$200 - $300 highest value card

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AndeeG

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I'll be building a new system soon with 2g of memory (undecided as to which specific sticks) and an e6600. I had decided on the HIS x1900xt 256mb IceQ3 at around 275 on newegg until they ran out of stock and seemingly discontinued it. I found it at another online retailer but then they ran out of stock and discontinued it. Since then, I haven't really been able to find it for a reasonable price anywhere.

Some have commented that I might do better with a lower end processor and a better graphics card, but I plan on upgrading next year after dx10 has been out for a while. Also, I don't plan on running SLi or Crossfire.

I'll probably be playing Oblivion more than any other game so ATI seems to be optimal for that.

What would be the best card for my current situation?
 
1950pro @ 200, sometimes 175 if you can find it on sale.

Stick with the e6600.. unless you are going to OC, then I agree with some of the others and fall back to maybe a 6400 and just bump that shit up.

the 1950pro should play oblivion rather well and should hold you over until the dx10 ati card hits.
 
khanable said:
1950pro @ 200, sometimes 175 if you can find it on sale.

Stick with the e6600.. unless you are going to OC, then I agree with some of the others and fall back to maybe a 6400 and just bump that shit up.

the 1950pro should play oblivion rather well and should hold you over until the dx10 ati card hits.
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So you're saying if I don't overclock stick with the e6600?

I do not plan on overclocking initially but I want to keep that as an option If I want to do it in the future. The performance of that with a decent graphics card means that I'll be able to run everything pretty much as needed, so OC'ing wouldn't help much at this point. Would you still reccomend sticking with the 6600?
 
AndeeG said:
So you're saying if I don't overclock stick with the e6600?

I do not plan on overclocking initially but I want to keep that as an option If I want to do it in the future. The performance of that with a decent graphics card means that I'll be able to run everything pretty much as needed, so OC'ing wouldn't help much at this point. Would you still reccomend sticking with the 6600?
Click to expand...

The 6600 will last you a long time. With DX10 right around the corner, any graphics card you buy now won't. Get something cheap (1950pro, 7600gt) and upgrade to a high end DX10 card later on.
 
If you can buy an E6400 and a 512MB X1900XT (whichever you like) it will perform better in games. The extra 256MB memory is put to use in many modern games, otherwise you'll have to stick to lower texture quality in most of these games that require 512MB memory for higher texture details.

I'd agree with the other people that recommend a better graphics card and a relatively slower processor. Core 2 Duo's are quite easy to overclock anyway. You should easily reach 2.7-2.8 when coupled with ddr2-800 memory and a decent p965 motherboard. Just check the database over at intel processors section.

edit : If you want to go DX 10 quite soon, you might want to do otherwise.
 
I'd say the x1950 Pro BUT wait until the 512 MB cards come out. I heard that some will make cards with 512MB of memory on board and most games from here on out will take advantage of that.
 
a search on froogle shows some places selling the x1950pro 512 card for roughly 180 ~ 200, though most are out of stock. How x1950pro compare to x1900xt though...I dunno....
 
best of both worlds... get a 512mb 7950gt.. about 250 bucks... fantastic card
 
JacobC1983 said:
best of both worlds... get a 512mb 7950gt.. about 250 bucks... fantastic card
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Except its minimum fps w/ Oblivion is quite a bit lower than X1900 cards.

Best value is probably a $200 X1950Pro 256mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102061

Should easily last for a year until DX10 refresh arrives. Although I'm sure you could find a used 512mb XT or XTX for under $300.
 
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