Video Card for $150

[Jauhiainen]

I'm looking for the best video card I can get for around $150. It's going into an all-purpose system and not strictly for 3D graphics or gaming. Any suggestions appreciated.

[MusashiM]

I'm really thinking about the Radeon 64 meg DDR VIVO right now...

It is retailing for around $150 right now...but if you go to Outpost.com, they have a printable $50 mail-in rebate for this particular card. The best thing is, I'm pretty sure you don't have to buy it from Outpost because it is an ATI rebate. The other thing is, if you aren't going to be using it mainly for gaming, this card has a lot of other features as well.

[sho.gun]

I got my friend a Hercules 3Dprophet KyroII vid card and I must tell you that the thing works like a charm. It sure beats all the MX cards out there including my 3dprophet2 mx. Anyway, I highly recommend it, www.newegg.com has a 64 mb version w/ tv out for $96. Try reading up some reviews on it, all the ones I've read says it's a solid card.

[clutchy]

AIW Radeon. i think they're a little more than 150 though, but not much.

[Jauhiainen]

I've pretty much decided on the ATI Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO. For $100, $150 minus the $50 rebate, the 32-bit benchmark tests and extra features raised this card to the top of the list for me. Anyone with regrets about getting this card please speak up.

[clutchy]

my friend couldn't get his to work under xp... but it's a good card

[MusashiM]

Originally posted by clutchy
my friend couldn't get his to work under xp... but it's a good card

hmmm, really? if that's the case, I'm gonna be very sad. :(

[xsiled2]

get 3 radeon LE's :D

[sbp]

ATI still has not got the driver support down. :dodgy:

[mallowjr]

unlike nvidia, which releases hardware "disabled" and create "awesome new drivers" every week practically. And then, those drivers up 3dmark scores, and quake 3 frames, and everything else goes the same FPS or looks worse - just to show they are making awesome drivers....

My thought, heh.

[Jauhiainen]

anyone else have problems with the ati radeon and xp? i was planning on running xp and it would suck if i couldn't get it to work.

[TommyBoomfiger]

ive had great experiences with my radeon aiw. works perfect for me on 98se, 2k, and me. havent tried it with xp yet. hope it works.

[sbp]

Originally posted by mallowjr
unlike nvidia, which releases hardware "disabled" and create "awesome new drivers" every week practically.ATI also has leaked drivers almost every week practically.

The release of the DetonatorXP drivers enabled 3D-textures and shadow maps in Direct3d. Currently neither 3D-textures and shadow maps are used in any game.

ATI still hasn't enabled Smoothvision. Smoothvision is one of the Radeon 8500's big selling points.
http://www.sourcemagazine.com/csm/Forum2/HTML/000131.html

Q1: What is the situation with SMOOTHVISION? Are you planning to unveil it in upcoming editions of the RADEON 8500?

A1: SMOOTHVISION will be enabled in the next RADEON driver release in mid-November. :o
And then, those drivers up 3dmark scores, and quake 3 frames, and everything else goes the same FPS or looks worse - just to show they are making awesome drivers...."Prove it fanboy.

Like ATI didn't just do that with quark. :dodgy: Benchmarking Ethics and the ATI Radeon (http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/radeonquack/default.asp)


My thought, heh.My thought is if your going to blast Nvidia for crap than do the same for ATI.

[MusashiM]

hey, sbp, has ATI updated the drivers for the 64 meg DDR Radeon w/ VIVO?

If so, do you know where I could find them?

[sbp]

www.rage3d.com is one of the best resources for ATI cards.

www.3dchipset.com is another place to download drivers from.

[MusashiM]

thanks sbp...

[mallowjr]

Or remember what the definition of a hypocrite is.
Calling me a fanboy, yet I purchased a gainward geforce3. Just because I returned it, doesn't mean I'm a fanboy. PURCHASING A GEFORCE3 doesn't make me an ATI fanboy, does it? Hell, I own a 3dfx card.

I don't even need to restart this tired old argument. Det4s decreased image quality while upping my 3dmark score by 1800pts and making quake 3 run faster. The image/colour quality is comparitevly very ugly compared to 3dfx and ati, in my opinion. Watch yourself when you say someone is a fanboy, fangirl.
:bigmouth:

[sho.gun]

Originally posted by mallowjr
...fanboy, fangirl.
:bigmouth:

ouchy wawa....

[MusashiM]

hehe, this thread could get really interesting... :angry:

[sbp]

Originally posted by mallowjr
Or remember what the definition of a hypocrite is.
Calling me a fanboy, yet I purchased a gainward geforce3. Just because I returned it, doesn't mean I'm a fanboy. PURCHASING A GEFORCE3 doesn't make me an ATI fanboy, does it? Hell, I own a 3dfx card.

I don't even need to restart this tired old argument. Det4s decreased image quality while upping my 3dmark score by 1800pts and making quake 3 run faster. The image/colour quality is comparitevly very ugly compared to 3dfx and ati, in my opinion. Watch yourself when you say someone is a fanboy, fangirl.

:bigmouth: The first DetonatorXP driver had an obvious alpha texture bug. This was most noticable in 3DMark 2001's Game 1 rocket trail and Game 2 fog. This bug and a few minor others were fixed with the subsequent DetonatorXP release with no discernable performance hit.

mallowjr is upset because he was called on this. Notice he didn't even discuss the points that were raised.

[MobileGamer]

Someone mentioned the 3D PROPHET 4500 from Hercules which uses the KYRO II chip set, while it can be had for less than $100.00 it has problems with some DX8 games. One game that just came out that is a must have for Shooters who like to fly is COMANCHE 4. It looks and plays AWESOME, the visuals are amazing, but it won't run using any KYRO II based card. I have tried 2 KYRO II cards myself and each failed.
The RADEON 64 MB DDR can be had for $149.00 and with a $50 mail in rebate it hits the $100.00 mark. The RADEON 7200 is basicly the same card with a small die chip set for $149.99. Both these cards perform well, but have some problems with First Person Shooters in both DirectX and more in Open-GL although they both run COMANCHE 4 and look AWESOME doing it.
But my pick would be the VISIONTEK GeForce2-TI or any card using the GeForce2-TI chip set. It out performs the RADEON 64 MB DDR, RADEON 7200 and yes even the RADEON 7500. It is basicly a hopped up GeForce2-PRO or a bit under powered ULTRA and it is much more stable and compatable with games than the cards using the KYRO II chip set.
I myself haven't desided weather the GeForce3-TI-200 and it's $199.99 price tag is worth everyone saving an extra $50.00 to get it. It is more than 40% fast than the RADEON 7500 and some times very near the RADEON 8500, only about 5% under it but much more stable and if you over clock it which it does nicely it out performs the 8500 easy.
For now if money is tight and you have $150+tax get a GeForce2-TI based card.
Later
Dan:johnwoo2:

[sho.gun]

I think hercules released new drivers for the kyro that'll make it better with directx 8.1. For all I know, the card is great and all the reviews I've seen gave it a thumbs up.