I'm looking to buy a new Video Card for $70-$90 that can run stable when playing games like Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike:Source, etc.

My radeon x300se is pretty much dying since i get alot of fps drops more often.


these are the 2 that im looking at

PNY 7600GS

Leadtek 7300gt


Price ranges are very close, but not sure which of the both are better. i need help deciding. thanks.



I also want to know if my power supply can handle a card like those listed above

My Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130062
i would seriously go with this ^^

a 7600gs is okay but a 7600gt will be better. the 7300gt is just crap, especially the ones with gddr2.
and yes, ur psu can run it.

The 7300GT isn’t crap at all, if armed with GDDR3 it will outrun a 7600GS (but there are just a few with GDDR3). Cool thing about both cards is that the can be passively cooled and are sold original that way too.

My choice would be the 7600GS... fan less if you can .

EDIT: And I saw that the 7900GS dropped in price too, almost the same price as the 7600GT, keep it in mind .

so basically everyone is not picking one of the two and deciding for something else hehe.

So i'll just put it this way, im looking for a card that is around $70-$110

thinkin about getting the 7600gt evga ripken posted. trying to spend less since im on a budget. hehe.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814143070

Check that BFG Tech BFGR79256GSOCE GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card out too .

EDIT:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814102021

If you like ATI then this SAPPHIRE 100155L Radeon X1800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 VIVO Video Card could be something.



I know I´m talking about 143-159 US$ cards, but they will make up the price with there 256bit RAM and more shaders and comes close to the price of the 7600GT.

they are a good deal, but the thing is i dont have the money. lol. btw im 15 + no job + still in high school. sooo yea its pretty hard to get money hehe.

How long before we see "consumer" or "affordable" models of DX10 cards? I am talking less than $200. Performance-wise I'd be happy with the 7900GS.

i would be happy if i could find out how to install an agp slot, it has in tiny righting on my mother board " agp slot ****" but it's empty lol

But we really won't need a dx10 card if you are just a casual gamer, right? even vista works witha dx9 card well.
I'm planning on getting a 7600GT or x1650xt myself.

I am just saying I would like a card with "modest" performance like a 7900GS/x1650 Pro and would pay a small premium if it supported DirectX 10. Also although the 7600GT would meet my needs for now, I will go for a more powerful card because my motherboard doesnt support sli/crossfire.

You don't install a slot. Your mobo either has the AGP slot or it doesn't. If it doesn't, you take an AGP card and insert it into the slot. Very simple.

EEuhmm, comparing a 7900GS to a x1650pro? What the... the x1650pro performs even weaker then the 7600GT .


Any way, I would borrow 50 buck from some one to get something you can use for 2 years or so (7900), not a card that will be outdated in les then 1 year (7600)... up to you BombaTwist .

whoops I meant x1950Pro sorry

LOL

Seeing discussions like this make me realize one thing: how I truly hate and despise shopping for video cards!

There's WAY too many series, models and model #s, different types of RAM, different clocks on everything and all. It's one big confusing mess!

It sounds like higher numbers mean higher performance, but not always (like the 7300GT being faster than a 7600GS with the right type of memory, as PuntoMX said before). And even in the same series (like 7600's or 7300's), there's GS, GT, and others, and all these with various clock speeds and manufacturers, making it almost impossible to compare 2 cards directly... (Disregarding all the discussions about pipelines/shaders and whatever else) It's complicated and misleading.

And I can't ever seem to find some kind of comparison point for any card I'm considering buying. Anything better than THG's charts out there? (besides google'ing for countless separate reviews) Seemingly any card I pick isn't on the list, or is clocked differently in one way or another.

There's just too many 7300 and 7600 models for sale (7900's are over 200$ CDN - too much IMO), I can't seemingly find some way to compare 'em all, and the prices vary a lot from one to another.

Shopping for PC parts is easy and straightforward, except for f%#@^%$*ing video cards (unless you're a gamer, read video card reviews everyday and memorize 'em all seemingly).

The only thing that's seemingly making it somewhat easier is ATI not having very good offerings anymore. I was always partial to ATI cards (never had any problems with 'em, unlike nvidia's), but their prices seem higher and performance slower nowadays, like the 1650 costing more than a 7600 and being slower). It's just too d**n complicated to pick a budget card for a total non-gamer (primarily for Vista, WPF and HDTV)

@crahak
http://www.gpureview.com/
http://labs.anandtech.com/cats.php

thats why i said to not get the gddr2 version...

a friend of mine told me to get this

Biostar 7600gs

he also says that i really shouldn't worry about the DX10, im no hardcore gamer. i only play counter-strike, condition-zero, and counter-strike:source/day of defeat:source. just a casual gamer. Im just looking to do a next upgrade in 2 years or so.

Also i saw this card

eVga 7600gts

any good?

seriously, just get this, its cheaper than the 2 cards you just listed after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814130062

Borrow 50 bucks, go on the street to beg for a dolar to everyone you see... do your self a favor en get that 7900GS please... (I would do it )

if it only were that easy.....



By the way, quick question, do games run better/smoother on windows xp pro or windows MCE?

Should be the same...

nVidia 7900GS card for 145 (15 jan. 2007) bucks after rebates: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814186003 , also comes with a free gamepad

the thing is i dont really care about DX 10 coming out soon and having a good video card for it. im only a casual gamer, but don't get me wrong, its not that they are bad offers for like the 7900gs. its just something i wouldn't really need. the only games i play are counter-strike, and maybe some strategy games(starcraft, etc). so yea, its basically a temporary card i don't want to spend much on. maybe until i get a job which probably would be sometime next year ;p.

btw, i might get the eVga 7600gt that ripken posted.

i also like to do some video editting for fun and like to turn up some settings like aa/af, and because i posted that one Biostar 7600gs was cause it has 512mb and a friend of mine told me it would be good for me if i made some videos, like counter-stirke videos for example because the card would be able to process it smoothly, but im guessing the 7600gt will just be the same?

To capture video’s from your games doesn’t need video RAM, where did you friend get that from? The 512MB is mostly used for Z-buffering and textures... and you will see almost no difference between a 256MB or a 512MB card when it comes to the 7600 series, not even if they were 128MB (Not that I have seen any, but still) .

hmm i guess there is not much of a difference then.

hmm, i just read alot of reviews that say that the gs actually run better than the gt, but then i read alot of reviews that say that the gt run better than the gs. So i really get confused there.

GT is always more powerful than GS.
Recording video has nothing to do with the video card unless you are thinking of something like VIVO.
More Video Memory only helps from what I understand at increasing resolutions / texture sizes.

ya, and for most people there is a slight increase in doubling the video ram, so you dont need to have more.

found a cheaper one. i think they have the same specs, except one is SLi and the other isn't. correct me if im wrong

Cheaper eVga 7600gt

eVga SLI

i know i wont be using SLi btw. my motherboard doesn't even support it.

The only difference between those two cards is that one is dual DVI and the other isn't. Other than that, the specs are exactly the same.

BTW, they're both SLI capable.

whats the difference between dual DVI's and just 1 DVI and that other blue connector?

The DVI connector is what most LCD monitors use. If you have, or plan on getting, two LCD monitors it's best to get the dual DVI version. The card does come with an adapter though so if you only have a CRT monitor that uses the VGA connector you can still use the dual DVI version. Personally, I'd recommend going ahead with the dual DVI version.