graphics cards

E@gle.

What is the best graphics card out at the moment i can get for under £200 [IMG][/img]

Swifty

Correct me if Im wrong here, I think you can grab a GeForce 2 GTS for under 200 quid nowadays? Great card.

po0k

I've no time atm, so shop around at soe of these sites
www.itdirect.ie
www.marx-computers.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.jaguarsys.com <?>
www.munstercoomputers.com

amp

I also heartily endorse a Geforce 2 based card. Keep an eye on the Ati Radeon though, it's cheap if not quite as good.

Also you might ask those nerds on Technology or put up a wanted post on For Sale.

Praetorian

If you can wait just a l33tle bit longer you could get a GF3 for £200 approx. Nvidia will be releasing there next card in 8-12 weeks so the prices of the GF3 will plummet. I got mine for £300, i think...

-oRnein9-

You can get a Ge-Force 3 for 250 Quid now anyway so not too much of a difference but can you restrain yourself for 8-12 weeks

Kix

I don't know where other people are finding these fantastic prices but I do know that Creative Lab's own website has a GF2 Pro DDR 64MB for £202 (inc. VAT and delivery), which is a little cheaper than the same card at IT Direct (£215, inc. VAT, don't know if they charge delivery). Looks like good value to me.

K

Shinji

The best cards you can get for under 200 quid these days are the Hercules Prophet 4500 (based on the Kyro II 64Mb board) and the ATI Radeon 64 DDR, which is a great board - about the same speed as a Geforce 2 Ultra, but far higher image quality.

Kix

I don't want to be labeled a sheep who just follows the crowd Shinji but personally I'd rather stick to an Nvidia based card.

I know that these other cards are technically impressive and excellent value, but they don't get adequate support from developers. Just ask Kharn what headaches and heartache his Radeon caused him. He's got a GF3 now. I think you do too.

K

Fidelis

The new ATI 8500 is coming out I think so the Radeon's will hopefully fall a bit in price.

I've only seen the Kyro2 for £140 in Virgin - pants

bonkey

Asking what is the best GFX card in a price-range is a bit vague. Even asking what the "best" is *regardless of price*, is a bit vague.

For example, consider the resolution you want to support - I am limited to 1024x768 for example.

Do you care about 32-bit colour, or are you just after max fps, downing colour to 16-bit if necessary.

Do you care about T&L support.

Lets look at the contenders :

1) Kyro2-based cards. In and around the same price/performance bracket as a GeForce2/MX400 - it will outperform many MX400s becauase they dont run at the maximum allowed GHz (nVidia did put a cap on this for MX cards). Cheap and cheerful, but AFAIK, do not support T&L through hardware at all.

2) ATi Radeon - a serious card. Apparently a more intelligent design than the nVidia chipsets (pre-GF3), and pretty damn impressive performance-wise. Generally considered to have better image quality than most of its competitors. Main drawback is driver support, most notably on non-windows platofrms (e.g. Linux). The card is outstanding in 32-bit, but very average in 16-bit, relative to the GeForce cards.

3) nVidia-chipset cards. Depending on where you shop, and how much you really want to spend, you can get anything from a 64MB MX400 to (perhaps) a GF2-Pro or GF2-Ultra. nVidia are the clear market leaders at the moment, but there are some things to watch out for, particularly with MX cards :

- if buying an MX card, there is almost no benefit to be gained from a 64MB card over a 32MB card - the card effectively bottlenecks the extra memory anyway, resulting in perhaps a 1fps difference. This ONLY applies to MX cards.

- MX cards are *not* all the same. The core frequencies can be anywhere from 166 to 200 MHz. Ideally, you want a 200/200 card (memory and chip both running at 200), but they cant always be found easily

- FSAA can be forgotten about, unless you spring for a GF3. It cripples your fps, and isnt all that great anyway


Basically, the nVidia range are the best all-rounders, but I would seriously consider a Kyro2 over an MX, if you dont care about T&L. I would also consider a Radeon over a GF2 if you are a 32-bit colour fan and dont need Linux support.

Oh - and almost every retail shop in Ireland that I am aware of charges stupidly expensive prices.

jc

Shinji

I know that these other cards are technically impressive and excellent value, but they don't get adequate support from developers. Just ask Kharn what headaches and heartache his Radeon caused him.

Developers support APIs, not hardware. As long as your card has decent OpenGL and DirectX drivers, it's not an issue... As long as you don't have a completely retarded developer like Valve, who recently left ATI support broken for a couple of days, the lamers.

I don't know about Kharn's ATI headaches, but I've never had a moments bother, and I run all manner of odd stuff on my card. None of the rest of my mates who run a Radeon have had issues either, and that's quite a few of them.

He's got a GF3 now. I think you do too.

Had one for a while yes. Running a production model Radeon 8500 now and it's VERY nice indeed.

Kix

I happily withdraw my objections. It's all Dav's fault anyway.

K

Fidelis

Originally posted by [FCA]SyxPak

www.itdirect.ie
www.marx-computers.com
www.jaguarsys.com <?>
www.munstercoomputers.com

Jaguar Systems? Thought it had something to do with computers ?

MunsterComputers site is also b0rked.

Q_Ball

I have the prophet 4500 at home and it runs just fine for me. Did have one niggling problem due to my BIOS settings but one quick email to their excellent (imo) tech support fixed it all.

Samson

Originally posted by Kix
...I'd rather stick to an Nvidia based card.

I know that these other cards are technically impressive and excellent value, but they don't get adequate support from developers. Just ask Kharn what headaches and heartache his Radeon caused him...
K

I have an ATI Radeon 64DDR and been very impressed with it, I have never had trouble with any games.
I would be interested to hear what type of trouble Kharn has had

As far as support/compatibility goes, the Radeon supports OpenGL and Direct3D (Glide too I think ?), which is the same as the Geforce2 etc.
Very few games do direct card support as far as I know !