Best and Cheapest Video Card

**Jun aka Pekto** · June 29th, 2008 05:26 AM

Originally Posted by rion

sir Jun aka Pekto, PCI na ba yung 8600 GT mo?

It's a PCI-Express (PCI-E) card. I have yet to see a PCI 8600 GT or an AGP one. It's not really the card I'd buy. But, I got it for free and it's better than my X800XL in every way. So, I can't complain.

I wanted to buy the 8800GT. But, there are new boards coming out from both ATI and nVidia. I'm holding off a little more until I see thorough reviews for them, esp the AMD/ATI HD4850.

**moe** · June 29th, 2008 07:22 AM

sir jun there are some user feedbacks on the ati 4850 over at tipidpc. one common observation amongst users is that it runs quite hot (but of course). prices have dropped here quite rapidly due to the release of the 4870.

**rion** · June 29th, 2008 12:04 PM

I see thanks.

**Jun aka Pekto** · June 29th, 2008 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by moe

sir jun there are some user feedbacks on the ati 4850 over at tipidpc. one common observation amongst users is that it runs quite hot (but of course). prices have dropped here quite rapidly due to the release of the 4870.

Thanks. I may have to go nVidia if the 4850 runs too hot. I plan to have 2 video cards (along with a quad-core 2.66ghz Q9450 cpu) in non-SLI/non-Crossfire mode. I want to hook up 4 monitors to play Flight Simulator X and X-Plane 9.

**s_quilicot** · June 29th, 2008 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Jun aka Pekto

Thanks. I may have to go nVidia if the 4850 runs too hot. I plan to have 2 video cards (along with a quad-core 2.66ghz Q9450 cpu) in non-SLI/non-Crossfire mode. I want to hook up 4 monitors to play Flight Simulator X and X-Plane 9.

mga magkano budget for this?

**Jun aka Pekto** · June 29th, 2008 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by s_quilicot

mga magkano budget for this?

My budget for a new DIY pc is always around $2k. I rarely approach it though.

The parts I need to buy (preliminary from newegg.com):
ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard: $270
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775: $330
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) X 2:$100
ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB X 2: $400
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply: $160
HP L1908w Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor X 3: $615

Total: $1875

Let's see...... In FSX, the Radeon HD 4850 gets 24 fps at a res of 2560 x 1600. That's 4,096,000 pixels using one monitor.

I need:
3* x 19" monitors at 1440 x 900 each: 1,296,000 X 3= 3,888,000 pixels<---- within limits. I'm in there!

*Left, right, front views.

Add: If the GT280 prices drop to match the 4850, then I'll get the nVidia cards instead.

**normanenoza** · June 29th, 2008 05:37 PM

based on the title of the thread he is asking for two opinions, the best videocard and the cheapest videocard, otherwise the title should have been the best cheapest videocard if that he is looking for.

nanghihinayang lang ako sa "legal" copies ng games na mga bibilin mo tapos sa entry level na videocard mo lalaruin. kahit legal yan di mo naman ma-eexperience ang full beauty ng game mo.

for the games that you have mentioned i would not go lower than a 8600 series nvidia card. and i suggest go and upgrade your ram. it should be atleast 2gb (but 1gb should suffice).

heres my desktop spec.
AMD opteron 146 OC * 3ghz on a lanparty ultra-d mobo
1gb ddr400 ram, dual channel
msi 7800gtx 256mb videocard
SATA2 disk drives
XP SP2 OS

with that setup i can run cod4 with all settings high.
the framerate is quite acceptable at 35-40fps * 1280x1024 reso. and may lag parin yan on intense battles.

if you plan to play those games i'd suggest you invest on a good midrange videocard and not the "best cheapest" you can get, otherwise sayang lang yung mga "legal" copy na games mo.

**Jun aka Pekto** · June 30th, 2008 08:11 AM

There's no way around it. If you want to play hardcore games on the pc, you have to pay for the hardware. If you're on a budget, then you'll have to wait until the hardware is more affordable.

The only other alternative is to go console and invest in an HDTV. That's what I would do. Any pc game I can play on a console, I'll probably end up playing on the latter. That's why my pc game purchases have dropped sharply within the last 3 years.

Since 2005, the only new pc games I bought were:
Battlefield 2
Command and Conquer 3
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force (repackaged Falcon 4.0)
MS Flight Simulator X
X-Plane 9

3 years worth. In the past, those would've been a few months worth.

**tidus1203** · June 30th, 2008 10:53 AM

I too used to be a PC gamer, but now pure console gamer na ako. I haven't been using my PC to play games anymore its just too expensive to maintain... Better buy an HDTV (not just for games) and then a PS3 or XBox 360 mas matipid talaga...

**Jun aka Pekto** · June 30th, 2008 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by tidus1203

I too used to be a PC gamer, but now pure console gamer na ako. I haven't been using my PC to play games anymore its just too expensive to maintain... Better buy an HDTV (not just for games) and then a PS3 or XBox 360 mas matipid talaga...

A console and an HDTV is a wise choice. I'll eventually go the same route too for most of my games. My daughter's already a console nut except for WoW on the pc.

But flight sims are my first love. So, I'm not quite done with pc's yet. I normally plan my DIY pc's around the games I play. The current AMD X2 4200+ was made for Battlefield 2 back in 2005.

My next pc will be build around Flight Simulator X and will be similar in capability to this one:

Some noteworthy components are the Matrox Triplehead2Go (for multi-monitor), TrackIR 4 (syncs your head movement with the on-screen graphics), and VATSim (Virtual Air Traffic Simulator).

I don't need the Triplehead2Go. There are alternatives to it. But, TrackIR 4 looks nice.