# Help me choose a graphics card
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 9, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105 "2004-08-09T22:35:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/1 "2004-08-09T22:35:23Z")
What’s the best gaming graphics card for about £150? I am only interested in playing games, so I don’t need any TV-in, TV-out, AV-in crap. (My current card has all these features and I never use them)
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### Author:  [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/2 "2004-08-09T22:47:51Z")
I have no idea what £150 is in dollars or how much computer stuff costs overseas. However, I did just buy a new video card for the sole purpose of playing Half Life 2 and Doom 3. It’s a GeForce 6800 GT w. 256 megs of ram, around $400 on [http://www.newegg.com](http://www.newegg.com). My setup is otherwise very similar to the one you describe in your Pit thread ([Doom 3 requirements](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270422)). I bought it based on the Hot Rod setup on [this site](http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html). They say you can save money by going with the non-GT model (I think that’s only about $260 or so).
Unfortunately I haven’t actually tried it out yet, as I just ordered it and it hasn’t arrived yet. But that’s what my research led me to buy, for what it’s worth.
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/3 "2004-08-09T23:25:20Z")
£150 is about $280. I did a price comparison on [kelkoo.co.uk](http://kelkoo.co.uk). It seems that only low to medium cards are in this price range. ☹ Good cards cost 250-300 pounds.
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/4 "2004-08-09T23:47:08Z")
I’ve got a 9800 pro. It plays Doom 3 fine, and every other game I’ve tried on it perfectly.
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### Author:  [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/5 "2004-08-10T00:03:04Z")
> [@Dog80](#):
>
> What’s the best gaming graphics card for about £150? I am only interested in playing games, so I don’t need any TV-in, TV-out, AV-in crap. (My current card has all these features and I never use them)
Hi Dog80. I was in the same situation as you. I had an older video card and not to much cash on hand. I wanted to be able to play FarCry and Doom3 at a reasonable framerate. I checked [TomsHardware](http://www.tomshardware.com) and read through the reviews. I ended up buying a GeForce FX 5900 XT for right around US $200. This is the BFG version so is overclocked out of the box. I couldn’t be happier with the purchase.
Hope that helps. I can play Doom3 now on high at 1024x768 and I get ~40 fps.
-K
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### Author:  [@Nesyut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nesyut)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/6 "2004-08-10T00:05:06Z")
Being on a tight budget, I’ve always bought my pc gear from [Eclipse Computers](http://www.eclipsecomputers.com) - I’ve found the customer service to be excellent, and the prices among the best.
I’ve had a look, and under the graphics cards generic section they have Radeon 9800 Pros for ~ £140 inc VAT.
It may also pay to look for a computer fair in your area. They more often then not outdo store prices, and you get to talk to a human being who actually knows what they’re talking about 🙂
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### Author:  [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/7 "2004-08-10T00:31:33Z")
Avoid GeForce FX 5xxx anything. Crap. That generation from nVidia just didn’t come out well… the mildly challenged cousin at the family reunion that nobody wants to talk about.
A Radeon 9800 Pro will do you excellently, and that’ll be well, WELL under your price range.
A GeForce 6800 plain (no GT or Ultra or anything) will fall into the upper end of your price range. However, it has excellent performance, surpassing the $400 ATi cards in many instances, for well more than $100 less.
So I’d say either the Radeon 9800 Pro, or the GeForce 6800, depending on just how much money you’d want to spend.
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### Author:  [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/8 "2004-08-10T00:46:16Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#):
>
> Avoid GeForce FX 5xxx anything. Crap. That generation from nVidia just didn’t come out well… the mildly challenged cousin at the family reunion that nobody wants to talk about.
>
> A Radeon 9800 Pro will do you excellently, and that’ll be well, WELL under your price range.
>
> A GeForce 6800 plain (no GT or Ultra or anything) will fall into the upper end of your price range. However, it has excellent performance, surpassing the $400 ATi cards in many instances, for well more than $100 less.
>
> So I’d say either the Radeon 9800 Pro, or the GeForce 6800, depending on just how much money you’d want to spend.
Whoa! SPOOFE I normally agree with you on most things you post but the card I mentioned is doing exceedingly well for me. I’ll agree that the 9800 pro is a good card(comparable to the GeForce 5900)…but I was posting in the price range he suggested. A 6800 is out of the range, as is the x800.
-K
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### Author:  [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/9 "2004-08-10T00:49:02Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#):
>
> Avoid GeForce FX 5xxx anything. Crap. That generation from nVidia just didn’t come out well… the mildly challenged cousin at the family reunion that nobody wants to talk about.
>
> A Radeon 9800 Pro will do you excellently, and that’ll be well, WELL under your price range.
>
> A GeForce 6800 plain (no GT or Ultra or anything) will fall into the upper end of your price range. However, it has excellent performance, surpassing the $400 ATi cards in many instances, for well more than $100 less.
>
> So I’d say either the Radeon 9800 Pro, or the GeForce 6800, depending on just how much money you’d want to spend.
Oh, sorry…forgot the review. [5900 Ultra](http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030512/index.html)
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/10 "2004-08-10T01:27:40Z")
> [@Kaotic Newtral](#):
>
> Hi Dog80. I was in the same situation as you. I had an older video card and not to much cash on hand. I wanted to be able to play FarCry and Doom3 at a reasonable framerate. I checked [TomsHardware](http://www.tomshardware.com) and read through the reviews. I ended up buying a GeForce FX 5900 XT for right around US $200. This is the BFG version so is overclocked out of the box. I couldn’t be happier with the purchase.
>
> Hope that helps. I can play Doom3 now on high at 1024x768 and I get ~40 fps.
> -K
I don’t know…the 5900 looks just a little better than the card I already have (FX 5600 Ultra).
Besides I downloaded Asus drivers (I was using generic nVidia before that) and SmartDoctor which overclocks the card automatically when the load increases. The difference in performance is dramatic now. Maybe I don’t really need a new card yet! 🙂
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### Author:  [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-graphics-card/259105/11 "2004-08-10T01:58:15Z")
> [@Dog80](#):
>
> I don’t know…the 5900 looks just a little better than the card I already have (FX 5600 Ultra).
>
> Besides I downloaded Asus drivers (I was using generic nVidia before that) and SmartDoctor which overclocks the card automatically when the load increases. The difference in performance is dramatic now. Maybe I don’t really need a new card yet! 🙂
I’m glad Dog80…sometimes it’s just the drivers. I must confess that I hadn’t read your pit thread about the subject before I posted. I feel a bit stupid now. :smack:
Our systems are comparable and I’m playing both FarCry and Doom3 without a hitch(and Doom3 is scaring the bejezus out of me). Minor differences may be motherboards and the amount of DDR. There are also a ton of tweaks at [PlanetDoom](http://www.planetdoom.com) that have helped…namely the image cache one. Take care Dog80…maybe I’ll see you online! 😃