Ben

I am looking to buy a new Vid Card in the $150 range (under $200). I only play CS:S But I would like to have a better video card for performance issues.
I was told that the geforce 6600 is what I need but I wanted to hear some of your opinions.
Also, I see that different brands make the 6600. Some are cheaper than others. is there a specific brand to buy?
Thanks,
Ben

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A battle is dynamic, i.e constantly changing and evolving. Follow the strategy in place but never be afraid to improvise if the situation calls for it.
All I ask for is communication

AMosely

I think you have it right with the 6600GT. I just got an eVGA 6600GT PCIE and it's working perfectly. Even better, there's a $20 rebate off the $139 price, so it's a great deal at $119.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130214

If you want to up the ante a little and have >350W power supply, you can grab a 6800GS card for right around $200. That's also a great deal for a powerful card, but it depends how much you want to spend.

If you're looking at the ATI side of the house, I think you'd be looking at an X800GTO or Pro in the $150 range, and some X850 flavors for around $200.

As far as brands, I've always had good luck with eVGA, though I've heard a lot of other TG'ers who use XFX because they tend to run at higher clock speeds. On the ATI side, I can't make a recommendation.

Ben

Thanks for the info. One more thing..
Will this new vid card improve the performance of my game? i am not referring to graphics, i mean the actual in game play? Will it move faster? etc etc? also, i see on the geforce site that there are different models of the 6600. the DDR Dual DVI AGP, the DDR DUAL DVI Extreme Gamer , 256MB DDR DUAL DVI , 256MB DDR2 DUAL DVI Extreme Edition and on and on. What is the base level that will do the best job?
I am a tech noob.
Thank you!

__________________




A battle is dynamic, i.e constantly changing and evolving. Follow the strategy in place but never be afraid to improvise if the situation calls for it.
All I ask for is communication

FBmantis

Assuming you don't push your new card too hard you should see an increased framerate and better stability. This will definitely help in the gameplay department.

As for what card. First off figure out whether you need an AGP or PCI-E card. Then from that information just choose one...preferrably one that has 500Mhz on the core and 1000 for the memory. My suggestions would be:

If AGP -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130220 (with rebate)


If PCI-E -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130214 (mail in rebate available)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150098 (if you don't want to do a rebate)

Ben

Thanks for the info. I might even go for a 6800. well see. i am on the phone now with Best buy

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A battle is dynamic, i.e constantly changing and evolving. Follow the strategy in place but never be afraid to improvise if the situation calls for it.
All I ask for is communication

Spyder

Just stay away from the ultra cheapo brands of XfX and PNY

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phaze

Have a serious look at the 6800 series, they are great cards , the 6800nu for example are well cheap, its a great overclocker and will unlock to 16pipes with rivtuner if your lucky.

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PCS - Not just a phaze