'sup /comp/. I'm shopping for new computer bits, and I'm looking for a decent, moderately-priced PCI-E graphics card around the £140 mark (about $200, sans VAT). I like the look of the Sapphire X800 GTO2 Special Edition, since it has the same core as the more expensive X850 series and a readily-available BIOS tweak can add four extra pixel pipelines and an extra ~20% to the performance for nothing. I also like the dual DVI output and S-Video out this card sports, but the card isn't the brightest young thing on the market now (lacks support for some of the newer shader types, for example). Should I go with this tweaked beastie, or is there something newer in the same price range that will give better performance?
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Anonymous2006-02-26 17:25
Shader Model 3 or nothing, IMO.
And NEVER buy a card assuming you can get a set overclock or bios tweak to work. It'll ALWAYS go wrong when you do that.
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Anonymous2006-02-26 18:32
I like my XFX Geforce 6600. Passively cooled, dual DVI output, and cost a fraction of your budget.
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Anonymous2006-02-27 11:46
So...something from the GeForce 6 series then? What about the Radeon X1600 series? I gather both of those breeds support Shader Model 3. I'm not a total graphics fiend, but it'd be nice to still be able to play future games that use whizzo visual effects when they arrive in force.
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Anonymous2006-02-27 17:29
GeForce 6600GT is pretty nice, too, and it is about $160