Help buying a graphics card

[Marsupial]

Hi. I want to buy a new graphics card. One to play games with, of course. I currently have a Geforce 7300 LE, and I'm tired of it. I'd like something new for a £150 budget. I don't mind going a little over.
Of course, my specs:

3.4ghz Dual Core Processor
1gb RAM
nVidia Geforce 7300LE

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Abarbarian]

This has got to be the best buy around if your running PCI-E .

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-064-OK

Heres a handy comparison chart ,

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/114450-graphics-card-rankings-2-a.html

For a ridiculously small amount of money if your on PCI-E these are a steal ,

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...+X800+GT+All+In+Wonder+PCI-E+?productId=27196

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...+X1650+PRO+512MB+PCI-Express+?productId=27248

 

[Marsupial]

Thanks very much! But, I've found something else and I want to know what you think.

It's a EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB PCIe Superclocked Video Card for£146.

Worth it?

 

[Abarbarian]

I'm no expert but I recon the 1950 is the better value . Wait for some of the other folks to reply though . You'll find some very good test comparison reviews if you google . I seem to remember that the 8800 320mb was a bit under powered and that the 8800 640mb's were much better . The other folk here will give you some quality info though .

 

[Marsupial]

Thanks, I've been hoping to get a new card for games for a while. With my small budget, I think I found a bargain. I'll just wait a little while until the other users help me.

Edit: Following your advice on the 640mb, I can find them for £174. I'd like to know if that's worth it. I'm looking to play games such as Bioshock on a decent quality, if that helps. On the comparison list, the 8800GTS was near top, too.

 

[Abarbarian]

Heres one review that is pretty interesting though it compares the 1950 XT-X and not the 1905Pro well worth a read though .

http://www.trustedreviews.com/graphics/review/2007/02/13/nVidia-GeForce-8800GTS-320MB/p1

 

[Abarbarian]

This was the review I was looking for , its well worth checking out the game charts at the end . Very interesting .

http://www.tech-hounds.com/review31/ReviewsPage1.html#A_Look_at_the_GeForce_8800_GTS_

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks very much! But, I've found something else and I want to know what you think.

It's a EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB PCIe Superclocked Video Card for£146.

Worth it?

So where's that on sale then?

If you can get that card for that price you're not going to get better for the money.

And if you can get the 640Mb version for £174.00 - go for it.

I'm curious to know where though - links?

 

[Marsupial]

amazon.com

It surprised me. I'm still waiting for a few more responses before I buy it, of course.

 

[TriplexDread]

Yeah me too!!!!!!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Here's a link to that card at Amazon (I did actually check Amazon earlier):

8800GTS 320Mb

As you can see, the EVGA card is listed at £217.70 and/or unavailable.

I cannot find this card anywhere at £146.00.

Cheapest I can find this card is the XFX version at around £185.00.

Care to be more specific with your link?

 

[TriplexDread]

Nah 640meg card for £174?????!!!!

No way

I will buy 1 rite now if thats the case

 

[Rush]

Here !!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/new-EVGA-e-Ge...oryZ3762QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

 

[floppybootstomp]

I fixed the link in my last post, I was logged in to Amazon when I originally posted so the link didn't work.

Yep, you could buy one from The States I suppose but sometimes HM Customs & Excise wil open a package and slap import duty and/or VAT on it, it's a risk you take.

I've bought six things from the USA and just one attracted import tax, it was opened by Customs Officers.

 

[V_R]

I dont know where you get your prices from....

The cheapest you will get the 8800GTS 320MB from the UK is £175 give or take....

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-88GTS3

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125130

...and thats a good price.

I want to see links to these cards and prices please, and not from Fleabay....

 

[Abarbarian]

Here !!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/new-EVGA-e-Ge...oryZ3762QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

Add on $55 for shipping and you only get US waranty . So if its a duffer you have to pay shipping both ways to get it sorted .

 

[TriplexDread]

TBH I dont think I would go for the GTS if I was gonna buy a card in the 8800 series it would have to be the GTX series

The GTS aint worth the money in comparison. I would rather have a faster GPU and Memory speeds with the extra memory on top and be future proof for another couple of years. All for an extra £130 - £150 bit of a no brainer really

 

[floppybootstomp]

TBH I dont think I would go for the GTS if I was gonna buy a card in the 8800 series it would have to be the GTX series

I bought my BFG GTS8800 640Mb 11 months ago and I've been happy with it.

I haven't seen a single game struggle at a decent res yet, inc Bioshock, imo it's a fabulous video card

The GTS aint worth the money in comparison. I would rather have a faster GPU and Memory speeds with the extra memory on top and be future proof for another couple of years. All for an extra £130 - £150 bit of a no brainer really

Each to their own but I think the GTS is worth the money in comparison.

£130 - £150 may not be much wonga to you matey but to some peeps that is actually their whole graphics card budget.

So what card you using atm?

Edit: No matter, gottit: 2x XFX 6800GS SLI config

 

[TriplexDread]

It is a lot of money to me. But as I said in my original post. I would rather spend the extra and get the better card again

It wasnt meant as an insult, simply making an informed decision based on the write ups ive seen on all these cards. I usually dont impulse buy I study the market for months at times untill I make my choice. Once you have the card people tend to stick with them for a long time, unless like you say you have money to throw away I find it best to always think ahead.

Lets face it Nvidia working on the new chipset already so within 12 - 18months th GTX cards too will be dated. I beleive the next gen cards will have about 1gig and above of DDR 3. In comparison spending an extra £150 on a card that will last you another 18months is well worth it!

 

[floppybootstomp]

It is a lot of money to me. But as I said in my original post. I would rather spend the extra and get the better card again

It wasnt meant as an insult, simply making an informed decision based on the write ups ive seen on all these cards. I usually dont impulse buy I study the market for months at times untill I make my choice. Once you have the card people tend to stick with them for a long time, unless like you say you have money to throw away I find it best to always think ahead.

Lets face it Nvidia working on the new chipset already so within 12 - 18months th GTX cards too will be dated. I beleive the next gen cards will have about 1gig and above of DDR 3. In comparison spending an extra £150 on a card that will last you another 18months is well worth it!

Fair points

And I can see your twin 6800GS Sli config is still very respectable.

Nvidia and ATI - and Matrox for that matter - are always working on a new chipset.

Being up to date is a very short lived experience.

Which is why I stuck with Socket A for two and a half years