Best value for graphics cards

[umakemebetter]

toms hardware needs to update their VGA Charts, seriously
in terms of value (pay less get more), what is the best graphics card that i can buy with my little amount of money?

its between the 8800GT, 9600Gt, and 8800GTS, correct? which one

OH and say i didnt wanna upgrade my system (i know its the best value to), but say i didnt. Would my P4 bottleneck the HD3850 AGP card? That thing is MAD powerful and its ALMOST up to par with the 8800GT, and supports DX10 (on AGP!)

its an AGP version so will my Pentium 4 bottleneck it?
my old 7800GT is rather weak
will i see a dramatic increase in perf if i moved up, or have i moved up enough already on the AGP system?

seriously though i'm impressed by ATi for releasing this, as its wayyy up there on the charts.

 

[worshipme]

The 8800GT definitely provides the best price to performance ratio IMO, they can be had for under $180: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252
And you can get a better non-reference card for around $210: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

The HD 3870 is also a very good buy if you can find one for less than $160.
The 8800GTS G92 is also a good buy if you've got $240 to spend as you get the full 128 stream processors.

 

[ssc456]

TBH and i know you dont want to here this id say that card is about sutied for your P4.

id usually stop there because you commented on this already, but you need a motherboard with PCI E X16 or 2.0 to really see n e big performance increase but then after that your CPU you bottlekneck it so like i said that card is bout right for that CPU so once you have motherboard then upgrade your CPU and G card,

sorry

 

[umakemebetter]

no no its fine thank you!
still i dont think it worth spending almost $200 for some dumb 3850 for AGP
for the same amount i can get a wayy faster 8800GT that will own anything in its way

 

[worshipme]

It's true that you will be slightly limited by your P4 and the 8800GT won't be able to show it's full potential.

id usually stop there because you commented on this already, but you need a motherboard with PCI E X16 or 2.0 to really see n e big performance increase

No, you don't. Current and even next generation cards won't use the full bandwidth of PCI-E 2.0, there is a good article on it here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/23/crossfire_meets_pci_express/page5.html

 

[superman22x]

Well, the 3850 is not as good as the 8800gt, even the 3870 isnt as good.

But it depends on how much you want to spend really.

The 8800gt is better then the 9600gt, and the 8800gts G92 is better then the 8800gt.
If you want something even more powerful, the 9800gtx is better then the GTS, and the 8800GTX is better then hte 9800GTX for high res games.

 

[worshipme]

Well, the 3850 is not as good as the 8800gt, even the 3870 isnt as good.

The 9600GT is only faster when AA is enabled, otherwise the HD 3870 will usually peform better. So, it really depends on whether he plays with filters or not.

If you want something even more powerful, the 9800gtx is better then the GTS, and the 8800GTX is better then hte 9800GTX for high res games.

The 9800GTX is pointless. It doesn't feature any more stream processors, texturing units etc than the 8800GTS. The only advantage it has is higher clocks. And you can OC the GTS anyway.