Suggestions for a new video card

I went out and got myself a new computer last night, it has the following:

-P4 w/hyper threading at 3.0ghz
-Two DVD drives (one is a DVD/R/RW drive)
-1GB of PC3200 RAM
-250 GB HD at 7200RPM
-Radeon x300SE PCI Express w/128mb of RAM

Now the computer overall is pretty kickass, pretty much all I need for the latest games and applications at high detail but the problem is that the video card is a little behind the loop. When I bought it for $1100 I knew the video card was going to need to be replaced, I was going to just pick one up when I bought the computer but Best Buy was only selling AGP cards and all these new PCI Express motherboards do not support AGP. I was looking at the Radeon x800 Pro or maybe even the XT, when I get my paycheck on Friday I was thinking of ordering online and getting one shipped to me. The question I'm asking is, do I need the x800 for the best bang right now? The x600 and x700 cards seemed to do pretty well in tests but I'm all for the fastest stuff because I primarily play a lot of PC Games and I don't want to be facing this situation 6 months down the line needing a new video card. Another question I had was where is a good place to buy video cards for a reasonable price? Pricewatch.com has good prices but a lot of those prices are for video cards and other assorted hardware from small-name companies. If I buy one from there will I be getting a reliable card or should I spend the extra money and get one right from ATi or another big company?

Either go with the radeon X700 series or nvidia 6600 series- definately a lot of bang for your buck.

I saw a x700 pro at best buy for $200, but I could have swore that it was supposed to be 150 and the x700 xt was supposed to be 200. In either case, the X700 XT has been performing very well and definately worth getting over a 9800.

I don't know the final pricing on the nvidia 6600 GT, but that is also one hell of a card.

newegg and zipzoomfly are some of the bets online retailers, but I don't think they will be getting all the various cards in for a few more weeks.

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Originally Posted by Tonic the Drunkhog

Either go with the radeon X700 series or nvidia 6600 series- definately a lot of bang for your buck.

I saw a x700 pro at best buy for $200, but I could have swore that it was supposed to be 150 and the x700 xt was supposed to be 200. In either case, the X700 XT has been performing very well and definately worth getting over a 9800.

I don't know the final pricing on the nvidia 6600 GT, but that is also one hell of a card.

newegg and zipzoomfly are some of the bets online retailers, but I don't think they will be getting all the various cards in for a few more weeks.

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The 6600 goes for 400-500.

I looked into the prices and the x700 Pro is around $200 and I'm pretty sure they make PCI Express versions. I'm gonna see how my finances are in the next week or so and make my desicion based on that, I would like to get the x800 but the x700 would do perfectly fine, in fact I'm suprised in how well this machine is performing with the x300 compared to my old machine (AMD XP 1800+, 512MB DDR, GeForce FX 5200 Ultra). I may even wait till the next cycle comes out and prices go down but I've never been very good at waiting on something I want when I can get it then with just a little more inconvencience.

x800XT.

I'll say no matter what you get, go with ATI.

Since I'm cheap and practical, I'll be getting the Radeon 9800 Pro 128 soon. That'll probably hold me over another year at least.

those are down to like a buck 75 on newegg or so.

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Originally Posted by Interpol

The 6600 goes for 400-500.

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You're thinking of the 6800 GT/Ultra.

Initially the X700 XT and 6600 GT are PCI Express only, so you don't need to worry about waiting. I think it comes down to preference with these two and what kind of games you want to play (ie 6000 GT better than X700 in doom 3, but vice versa when it comes to Far Cry).

The X700 XT outperforms the 9800 XT by a fair amount, so unless you can get the 9800 for very cheap I'd stay away from it.

I guess the 256MB X700 Pro and the 128MB X700 XT with both be $199, but of course if you are all about gaming then go with the XT. The 6600 GT should also be at $199, so have fun trying to decide!

Here are some benches from anandtech, but certainly check some other sites too:
X700 XT http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2214&p=1
6600 GT http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2196&p=1

-edit-
this link has a list of previews for the X700 XT, most of which compare it directly to the 6600GT
http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=23018

Thanks for the help Tonic (and everyone else). I'm either going to go with the x700 XT or X800.

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Originally Posted by Mzo

I'll say no matter what you get, go with ATI.

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I dont believe this news. ATI's drivers are garbage and the company emits a smell not unlike a fresh blast of colonblow.

I say go with nVidia.