Video card

[[AK]Bribo]

You can get a AOpen GeForce 6800 GT 256MB right now for $279. Check pricewatch.com.

[Cruiser]

6800GT 256MB for $264 is tough to beat!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814140053

[[AK]JD]

I'd go with the 6800GT the gains people are getting from the Ultra over the GT are negligable and hard to justify for the added cost. And yes PCI-E is 16x vs AGP fastest 8x correct me if i'm wrong im just going from memory.

[Cruiser]

Either AGP or PCIx will perform identical as neither bus is being saturated under any circumstance a typical gamer will encounter at this time.

PCIx is just a new standard getting folded into the mix. Dont believe all the hype. If you have a PCIx slot then you might as well buy the card for it with future system upgrades in mind. You must have a PCIexpress 8 or 16x slot not just any ol PCIx slot. IE if your current system has an AGP slot then most likely that is the ideal card type for u. Unless you want to upgrade your mobo in the process.

[Cruiser]

Heres a 16pipe VIVO ATI card for $278 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102542

this card would have very similar horsepower to the 6800GT, both cards being fillrate monsters.

[Cruiser]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814123159


Abit Guru series Nice cooling, 16pipes (4x that of a 9600) and Vivo funtions! all for $240 now thats a deal.

[[AK]Clay]

I have a ATI 9800 pro. To be honest, I'm not that impressed with it - too many compatiability headaches. Knights of the Old Republic was very difficult to play with this card. I'd get an nVidia if you want to play games more than become a card configuration expert.

[[AK]JD]

I will echo that statement Clay, I too went with a 9800 pro upgrading from an nvidia GF3 and wasn't impressed with it. I had numerous compatibility issues I never had before with the nvidia. Don't get me wrong ATI makes a great product but I think nvidia has the edge in the gaming arena. I am very happy with my 6800U OC

[[AK]Hylander]

I have a 9800 Pro 128mb and have had it for quite awhile now and I have yet to find a game it is not "compatible" with. I've had absolutely no problems which is why I'm still using it. It handled Rome Total War, HL2, Doom3, Area-51 and now BF2 at 1024x768 Res. Im at "med" on all items in BF2 and my performance is generally fine, except on larger maps and larger amounts of players.

That being said, I'm probably going to buy a 6800GT in the next couple of months as the price pressure brings it down to the $250 or below mark. My motherboard is still AGP, so I'm not going to invest alot of money on a new video card until I have a reason to rebuild my primary rig. I'm quite surprised how long I've gone without building a new gaming rig. It's closing in on 2 years with the same PC with no significant upgrade of components. I've never gone this long before.

[[AK]StitchJones]

I've never gone this long before.

Well, with the state your network is in. No wonder

[[AK]Hylander]

Well, with the state your network is in. No wonder

My network is working perfectly fine now, no thanks to you!

If it were up to you, I'd still be trying to explain the difference between PURE FTP and PRO FTP to you!

[[AK]Rocks]

No talk of SLI /cry

[[AK]FiGHT*CLuB]

Awsome info guys, thank you