[Johnmike]

I'm sure this was asked, say, fifty times, yes.  But I need to ask anyways.  I'm thinking of buying a new video card, but am unsure to what card to buy.  I know I can't afford the new nVidia and ATI cards  (see:  FX 5900).  I need stuff below $100.   OEM is fine, even preferred (no retail packaging).  

...Hey, you can use this (if there are good answers) as a guide for other SCP users.  

Since I already have one nVidia card (the 5200, and am very, very disappointed with drivers.  I have to manually delete several files before they even start to try and install.)  I looked at the Radeon 9600.  The non-SE version looks strangely small.  The SE one is bigger and more the size of a normal card...

Thanks if you can help.

Edit: Holy typoes!

[Bobboau]

ATI
I use a radeon (9800pro) and you will be more likely to get best performence useing one, there are also lot's of complaints about considerably lower frame rates on Geforce cards, to the point that I have concluded there must be something wrong with them.
and Geforce have a habit of sponatiusly combusting.

[Johnmike]

I'm pissed at nVidia.  And I am poor.  Cannot afford over $100.  Say 9600 SE for under $100.  Is that good?  I repeat, I am poor.

Also:  SE vs. Non-SE

[kasperl]

9600 seems pretty good.

make sure you get one without a fan, but with passive cooling. it saves a lot of noise.

[Antares]

If you're seriously strained for cash and not too nitpicky about performance, you can try to find a half-height card.  I'll be picking up a Dell Dimension 4600c this summer, and the compact size of the case means it can't accomodate a full-sized dedicated graphics card, but I can upgrade from the standard Intel integrated graphics to a 64 MB Nvidia GeForce MX 420.  It's not the best card out there in terms of performance--full-sized cards with 128 MB are obviously better--but all the reviews I've scanned over indicate it's adequate for today's games.  This card costs $70.

This works for me because I'm not planning on making a resource-intensive purchase anytime in the near future--the primary reason I even want a new system is for the sake of playing FS_Open--so your mileage may vary.

[Bobboau]

MX 420, I beleve has some particular issues, I beleve that's the one that doesn't suport the clipping planes for some unknown reason, if you got that card specificly for FSO you'r gona probly be disapointed, sorry to say

although we have thought up a posable solution for the clipping plane problem.

[Righteous1]

If you can swing it, go for the 9600.  It's a much better performer than the SE version.  Here's a pretty good article that compares some of the budget cards:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1933

Newegg has some Saphire cards that are right at $100 or Gainward nvidia 5600's for that price too.  Both seem to be comparable in performance

[ChronoReverse]

Actually, the SE are all poor performers and not worth it.  For example a 9800SE performs worse than a 9600XT and costs about the same.

[Kazan]

the SEs are COMPARATIVELY poor performers - the SE's still OWN nVidia boards

/me jumps on pricewatch

9600 SE 128MB - $63
9600 PRO 256MB - $100
9600 256MB - $98

[Liberator]

I can vouch for the 420, I've been running one for over a year.  Sure it ain't great, and the Performance Whores around here laugh but it suits my purposes and budget.

Personally, I'll wait until the next gen cards come out in a month or two.  Prices should come down and you'll have options if you want to throw some bones on the bar.

[Unknown Target]

A 9000 is also good, but it's a DX8 card, and has probs with FSO.

[ChronoReverse]

Originally posted by Kazan
the SEs are COMPARATIVELY poor performers - the SE's still OWN nVidia boards

You know, I don't mind a general nVidia bias (heck, they've brought it on themselves), but what I don't like is rampant misinformation.

Additionally, I showed how buying a SE is almost never worth it since if you buy the top end version of a lower number model, you get better performance at around the same price (which was my point until someone decided to take yet another opportunity to bash nvidia).

Additionally, nvidia does have one (!) decent card out there (in terms of performance/price):  the 5700.

Too bad it's about equivalent to a 9600XT in terms of price and power, making it a poor choice if you feel like cranking up the AA and AF.

In any case, it's almost certainly more worth it to get a Radeon non-SE unless you must absolutely spend no more than $63 (in which case the 9000 isn't worth it since FSO has problems with it for some weird reason).

[Johnmike]

I hate Dell.  I build my own.  And a fan is worth it to me.  =3

[operator]

I'll have to caution against buying any cheap cards. Especially the geforce 4 mx, geforce fx 5200... They suck real bad, even a geforce 2 ti outperforms these by miles.

[Johnmike]

Thanks for the advice.  Also, is it worth it to get a card built by ATI compared to just powered by it?  And by how much?

[Kazan]

im getting better performance out of my SE than the top end of the just-below would give me on this hardware setup

[ChronoReverse]

Well, if you're referring to the 9600SE, I've already conceded that the SE would be better in this case.  But in the higher end it isn't so (e.g. 9800SE < 9600XT).

In any case, a SE version of the 9600 is only good because it's cheap and is decently fast in game not requiring PS2.0 (meaning that while it's a DX9 card, it's performance in DX9 isn't as great, albeit not horrid like the 5200).

[[BoA]_Scoob]

The only difference between "built by ATI" and "powered by ATI" is that all "Built by ATI" cards are ATI brand cards with the reference design and the board manufactured by ATI (3Dfx did this with Voodoo5).  "Powered by ATI" means only the chipset is ATI and the board is free to be designed by other manufacturers.  Board design does affect performance.  Check reviews of the video cards you are considering before you buy.

[Kazan]

scoob: using the reference design is almost always the smartest option

[IceFire]

ATI...get a 9600...find one for a good price and be happy with it.  Find the driver set that works best for you, spend some time tweaking it, and you have a top rated card for everything you can throw at it.