Best Value Video Card

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

I am starting to look for a new video card that is high performance. I am a deal hunter ... so the thrill of the deal is important to me.

However I do need some pointers and clarification on what to expect from the different offerings ... so when the sweetest deal pops up ... I am at the ready to pull the trigger.

First ... My main usage is pushing 2 ea 22" Monitors and watching foreign currency live charting feeds. Secondary usage is misc PC stuff and BF 2142 and Crysis.

Getting awesome FPS in Crysis isn't a big deal to me and I won't wet myself over it. Games don't make me cashflow ... so adequate is fine. Having the best value for the money is the more important issue to me.

I'm strongly considering a 1GB card ... just to insure more headroom ... I may upgrade to 2ea 28" Monitors in a few months to get more chart realestate.


Now for the questions:

• 9600GT, 8800GT or 3870 or ? Why?
• Is Palit an OK brand?
• I really want as many stream processors shaders etc as I can get ... is the 9600 limited?
• I don't want to mess with overclocking the card or heat issues or a super noisy card.
• Warranty is important ... but not critical ... I don't want junk ... but I am not some crazy kid gamer who is gona try and kill his card for online fps prowess either.

[polobunny]

• 9600GT, 8800GT or 3870 or ? Why?

8800GT. 9600GT just doesn't cut it in my opinion. 3870 performs less than a 8800GT too, even worse when you crank up the AA and the AF.

• Is Palit an OK brand?

Never used one myself. I don't know, never seemed like the best brand out there. Besides, look into a brand with lifetime warranty if you can.

• I really want as many stream processors shaders etc as I can get ... is the 9600 limited?

Err, it's limited to what a 9600 core is normally limited to. :P
Video Card Reviews and Specifications - Welcome To GPUReview.com! - GPUReview.com
Good site to compare GPU's specs.

• I don't want to mess with overclocking the card or heat issues or a super noisy card.

Then you might want to invest in a third party cooler. All these cards are relatively noisy at full load and frankly, I don't think the 8800GT one slot cooler is a very good cooler unless it runs at 70%+ of it's maximum speed.

• Warranty is important ... but not critical ... I don't want junk ... but I am not some crazy kid gamer who is gona try and kill his card for online fps prowess either.

You tell me that if your card dies right after the first year.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Polo ... I prefer warranty ... but I usually get a new card every year or less.

If it dies ... it will die on my sons computer ... haha ... err ... crap ... then I'll have to fix it ... so yeah ... warranty ... sounds good.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Tech Geek Deluxe

Polo ... I prefer warranty ... but I usually get a new card every year or less.

If it dies ... it will die on my sons computer ... haha ... err ... crap ... then I'll have to fix it ... so yeah ... warranty ... sounds good.

I don't know. Warranty length is one thing, but what about actually getting your card back after sending it? Or even sending it? Someone who dealt with Palit would have to talk about their customer support. It's cool if you change your card each year, but if it dies under that and you have to send your card to Honk Kong and wait a month for a replacement, you're pretty much computer-less for that time.

Edit:
Some reading
Palit Multimedia Inc.

[Stormcrow]

9600GT is the G94 core, which is a cut down G92 like in the 8800GT/GTS 9800GTX. It only has 64 shaders as opposed to the 112-128 found in the G92.

8800GT is where the most bang for buck is at on Nvidia's side. The Evga 8800GT with the Akimbo cooler would be the one I would get if I was buying one of them as the stock single slot is just crap. The 8800GTS 512 is just an overclocked version of this with a few more shaders, and the 9800GTX is just a higher clocked 8800GTS 512. Technically speaking, the 9800GTX has more power, but it's so close that the 8800GT at about $200 bucks is the best deal.

The HD 3870 is simply an awesome card, running neck and neck with the 8800's. AMD seems to be on the ball with drivers this time, and the HD 3000 series has less problems reported as far as I can tell. Your board is also Crossfire compatible, meaning you toss in a second one later on as they drop even more in price and extend the life of your rig a bit longer. The 8800's are a bit faster and more efficient then the HD 3870, but it's so close that a $200 version of the card is simply a great deal.

Palit is an awesome brand, although I can't vouch for their customer support. The warranty is the industry standard, nothing amazing like you see with Evga, BFG or XFX. Overall good cards, and they have a nice habit of including multiple connections like DisplayPort and HDMI on their cards along with DVI. Check out the 8800GT Sonic by them, great card.

1GB cards are a waste right now. Just as a 512mb card is pointless on a card with a 128-bit bus width, the 256-bit bus would limit the true potential of 1GB onboard. Also consider that the 1GB would count quite a bit towards that virtual 4GB barrier if that's XP 32-bit your running. The 8800's can handle Crysis all the way up to 1920x1600 on Medium and still look good with a single card. If your really tempted, the HD 3870 X2 is a kick ass card for the price, and fully compatible with your board. But even a single 512mb card can handle some pretty high resolutions, I would wait for the 512-bit buswidths before going with a 1GB card...seems like more memory then the card can keep up with right now.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Polo ... thanks for the nice read ... palit seems a little unfriendly and "F*-OFF-ish" with their RMA policies.

They scared me away already.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

9600GT is the G94 core, which is a cut down G92 like in the 8800GT/GTS 9800GTX. It only has 64 shaders as opposed to the 112-128 found in the G92.

8800GT is where the most bang for buck is at on Nvidia's side. The Evga 8800GT with the Akimbo cooler would be the one I would get if I was buying one of them as the stock single slot is just crap. The 8800GTS 512 is just an overclocked version of this, and the 9800GTX is just a higher clocked 8800GTS 512 with a few more shaders. Technically speaking, the 9800GTX has more power, but it's so close that the 8800GT at about $200 bucks is the best deal.

The HD 3870 is simply an awesome card, running neck and neck with the 8800's. AMD seems to be on the ball with drivers this time, and the HD 3000 series has less problems reported as far as I can tell. Your board is also Crossfire compatible, meaning you toss in a second one later on as they drop even more in price and extend the life of your rig a bit longer. The 8800's are a bit faster and more efficient then the HD 3870, but it's so close that a $200 version of the card is simply a great deal.

Palit is an awesome brand, although I can't vouch for their customer support. The warranty is the industry standard, nothing amazing like you see with Evga, BFG or XFX. Overall good cards, and they have a nice habit of including multiple connections like DisplayPort and HDMI on their cards along with DVI. Check out the 8800GT Sonic by them, great card.

1GB cards are a waste right now. Just as a 512mb card is pointless on a card with a 128-bit bus width, the 256-bit bus would limit the true potential of 1GB onboard. Also consider that the 1GB would count quite a bit towards that virtual 4GB barrier if that's XP 32-bit your running. The 8800's can handle Crysis all the way up to 1920x1600 on Medium and still look good with a single card. If your really tempted, the HD 3870 X2 is a kick ass card for the price, and fully compatible with your board. But even a single 512mb card can handle some pretty high resolutions, I would wait for the 512-bit buswidths before going with a 1GB card...seems like more memory then the card can keep up with right now.

8800GTS 512 has more shaders.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Storm ... thanks much ... great advise.

[Stormcrow]

You'll find that a lot in the graphics business, since people tend to overclock these things and fry them out all the time...looking to RMA for their own mistakes which costs the manufacturer. Thats why we almost exclusively suggest Evga, BFG, or XFX. The extra features Palit adds are nice, and they did a great job on the 8800GT Sonic, but under the hood the cards are all the same thing anyway. Hell, most of them are made by Foxconn or the like with just the brand label slapped on them.

Originally Posted by polobunny

8800GTS 512 has more shaders.

D'oh, yep. Same as the 9800GTX, I keep forgetting as Nvidia's never screwed up the whole series line like this before.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

D'oh, yep. Same as the 9800GTX, I keep forgetting as Nvidia's never screwed up the whole series line like this before.

You tell me. :P
8800GTS is a little upgrade over the 8800GT though. Nothing crazy. Both are pretty close in terms of bang-for-the-buck'ness.
HD3870 just don't follow with G92 to be honest. They really drag behind whenever there's anti-aliasing in play and higher resolutions than your standard 1280x1024.
If you're going to run 2 22inchers both at 1680x1050, you have to think about that.
HD3870 is almost on par with the 8800GTS 640mb, which is quite a bit behind the G92 core.
Anyway, check if your favorite games run better on a HD3870 or a 8800GT and what sacrifices you are ready to do. I know Bioshock is one of the games that run craptacularly bad on Geforce 8's when compared to HD38XX.