What video card should I purchase?

Question

I want something that costs around $200-$250 and has at least 256MB.

I need it for games.

Answer 1

I would suggest the ATI X1900 XT in 256MB trim.

If you can find a deal on the 512MB trim go for it , your games will thank you for it.

Answer 2

First I would look at what features do I need...
What card slot: AGP, PCI-E, PCI
Future upgrades: Newer cards can be slaved to one
another. So you can have 2 video cards.

As with most PC, For best performance up the RAM

Some low end 512MB cards will run better then high end 256MB cards.

What connectors do you need (TV adapter, etc...)

Do your own research... read reviews don't just go off of 1 review.

Decide whether you want the best 256MB or the most for $250

Go to your local video game store where you get your games from.... read the graphics requirements... 256MB may be good today but what about next week/month... If a game requirement is already asking for 256MB card maybe you need to think about a 512 card or you'll be buying another card before the year is out...

Anywho.. not much help on brand names but I hope this gives you something to think about before you lay your $$$ out..

Answer 3

I know I'm going to buy the XFX Geforce 6800XT, 256MB. It's a GDDR3 (very good performance) for $135. There ya go, money in the pocket. I hear for most high end games you can play high with great performance.
or these are great, $100-150 range though:
ATI x1300 Pro, 256MB---130 dollars
HIS x1650 Pro, 256MB--- 125 dollars
eVGA Geforce 7600 GS, 256MB--- $120

What do you have currently?
Edit: I agree, you don't have to spend lots on a great card unless you can't settle for anything less than absolutely perfection without a split second of delay.

Answer 4

I bought an ATI Radeon 256mb 3d graphics card for under $100.00, and it's working great - I'm not sure why you would want to spend over $100 -150 for a really good card.....

I'm an avid gamer, and this card meets all the minimum requirements for transition and lighting (which is a high demand for most games)....

Answer 5

I recommend going to http://www.newegg.com/ and looking at the Geforce 79xx series. Most of them are below or in your price range and will run most of the newer games on the high to highest settings and resolution. Also check out this website to compare different cards for different games http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Answer 6

It depends on what you need. For games you want a certain kind of video card and for buisness or other use it needs a certain kind. I need more details.