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**Praetor** · 02-26-2006, 02:00 PM

Category C - "I'm building a gaming box, but I dont have a fortune to spend on the top-tier parts; I'd still like to play my games at near-max settings if possible"
As the title suggests, this category caters to those who are looking to build machines that will be able to play all the current games at somthing in the ballpark of maximum settings. As a minimum, cards qualifying for this category:

Must have at least 12 pixel shader pipes
Must utilize a 256bit memory bus
Must have at least 256MB of video memory
Must fall in the $150 to $275 bracket

Note that reccomendations for this category will take into account overclocking, unlocking etc.

[PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100169L Radeon X800GTO 512MB ($157.00), Sapphire 100129FBSR Radeon X800GTO 256MB ($159.00). With the former packing a whopping 512MB framebuffer and the latter being highly overclockable, both options are extremely competitive and of high value
[PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100130L-BL X800GTO² 256MB ($149.00 after $20.00 MIR). Known to be unlockable to a 16pipe card, this card offers exceptional value after unlocking. If you plan on running the card in it's stock condition, I would advice purchasing either of the previously reccomended cards
[PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100105SR-BL Radeon X800XL 256MB ($169.00). This is the cheapest 16pipe card to make it on this list: with similar clocks to the X800GTO, the extra four shader pipelines will allow this card to pull ahead of the former
[PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N389-AX GeForce 6800GS CO SE 256MB ($154.00 after $15.00 MIR). Featuring a copper based cooler, the best warranty in the industry and out-of-the-box overclocked components, this 12-pipe card will handedly compete with all other 12-pipe cards and even some 16-pipe cards
[PCIE][ATi] HIS Hightech HX80XLQ256-3TOEN Radeon X800XL IceQ II 256MB ($169.00 after $20.00 MIR) Featuring an aftermarket cooler which also doubles as a rear exhaust fan, this card is profiled to be overclocked: based on a proven 16-pipe card, it's a very solid buy
[PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100106-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB ($189.00), HIS Hightech HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Radeon X850XT 256MB ($197.00 after $50.00 MIR) . For it's generation, this was easily the best card on the market (granted there was the Platinum Edition but that card is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent). The HIS model features an exhaust-type aftermarket cooler: more then suitable for overclocking this already extremely impressive card
[AGP][nVidia] PNY VCG6800SAWB GeForce 6800GS 256MB ($189.00 after $40.00 MIR) Although significantly more expensive than it's PCI-Express brethen, this card offers a (relatively) good performance/price pair for users looking to buy an AGP solution
[PCIE][nVidia] MSI NX7800GT-VT2D256E GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($264.00 after $30.00 MIR), eVGA 256-P2-N516 GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($265.00 after $20.00 MIR) This is the first card to be able to userp the performance and value of the X850XT. Of the two, the eVGA model features a superior warranty as well as a higher clock
[AGP][ATi] ATI All-In-Wonder X800XT 100-714200 Radeon X800XT 256MB ($299.00) For this graphical performance for it's price, I would personally consider biting the bullet and shifting to a PCI-Express solution however this card offers VIVO and TV capabilities: all on an AGP solution.
[AGP][nVidia] eVGA 256-A8-N507 GeForce 7800GS 256MB ($299.00), XFX PVT70KUAD7 GeForce 7800GS 256MB ($309.00), eVGA 256-A8-N506-AX GeForce 7800GS CO 256MB ($309.00), eVGA 256-A8-N508-AX GeForce 7800GS CO Superclock 256MB ($319.00). This is about as good as the AGP products get: these 7800GS cards are all excessively overclocked from the reference clock speed with the last two featuring copper based heatsinks for even better heat dissipitation (and thus potentially even more overclocking). If you're not interested in the additional video features offered by the X800XT AIW, these cards are the ones to get if you want to make the most of your AGP machine

Praetor's Picks - Category C
[PCIE][nVidia]
Definitely not a hard choice here, the eVGA 256-P2-N516 GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($265.00 after $20.00 MIR) easily garnishes the pick due to it's extreme performance/price value. Being protected by the best warranty in the industry helps too!
Make eVGA
Model Name/# 256-P2-N516
Interface PCI-Express
GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GT
GPU Clock 460MHz
Memory 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 550MHz (DDR1100)
Memory Interface 256bit (35.2GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 20x7
Cooling Copper HSF
Shader Models 3.0
[b]Connectivity [/BDVI+DVI+SVideo
Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...6-AX&family=22
[AGP][nVidia]
A slightly closer and more difficult pick here, I ended up picking the eVGA 256-A8-N508-AX GeForce 7800GS CO Superclock 256MB ($319.00) since, if you're going to put the ballpark $300 into an effectively obsolete platform, you might as well maximize the performance if possible. Having the copper heatsink and best industry warranty is a big plus for users who really want to maximize the performance through overclocking
Make eVGA
Model Name/# 256-A8-N508-AX
Interface PCI-Express
GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GT
GPU Clock 460MHz
Memory 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 675MHz (DDR1350)
Memory Interface 256bit (43.2GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 20x7
Cooling Copper HSF
Shader Models 3.0
Connectivity DVI+DVI+SVideo
Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...256-A8-N508-AX
[PCIE][ATi]
A close call between both of the X850XTs, I ended up picking the HIS Hightech HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Radeon X850XT 256MB ($197.00 after $50.00 MIR) due to the inclusion of the exhaust aftermarket cooler. Either X850XT would have been more than satisfactory as the GPU is tried and true however the aftermarket cooler on the HIS unit definitively adds to it's value by increasing it's potential overclockability
Make HIS
Model Name/# HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II
Interface PCI-Express
GPU ATi Radeon X850XT
GPU Clock 520MHz
Memory 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 540MHz (DDR1080)
Memory Interface 256bit (34.6GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 16x6
Cooling Exhaust type HSF
Shader Models 2.x
Connectivity VGA+DVI+SVideo
Product Link http://www.hisdigital.com/html/produ...d=176&view=yes
[AGP][ATi]
Since there really only was a single AGP card for this category, the selection here was pretty simple. Featuring an "older" X800XT, this card's saving grace is the significantly improved functionality by means of the All-in-Wonder components
Make ATi
Model Name/# All-in-Wonder X800XT
Interface AGP 4x/8x
GPU ATi Radeon X800XT
GPU Clock 500MHz
Memory 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock 500MHz (DDR1000)
Memory Interface 256bit (32.0GB/s bandwidth)
Pipelines 16x6
Cooling Stock HSF
Shader Models 2.x
Connectivity VGA+DVI+VIVO+TV
Product Link http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx8...0xt/index.html

02-26-2006, 02:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 19,946	*Category C - "I'm building a gaming box, but I dont have a fortune to spend on the top-tier parts; I'd still like to play my games at near-max settings if possible"* As the title suggests, this category caters to those who are looking to build machines that will be able to play all the current games at somthing in the ballpark of maximum settings. As a minimum, cards qualifying for this category: Must have at least 12 pixel shader pipes Must utilize a 256bit memory bus Must have at least 256MB of video memory Must fall in the $150 to $275 bracket Note that reccomendations for this category will take into account overclocking, unlocking etc. [PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100169L Radeon X800GTO 512MB ($157.00), Sapphire 100129FBSR Radeon X800GTO 256MB ($159.00). With the former packing a whopping 512MB framebuffer and the latter being highly overclockable, both options are extremely competitive and of high value [PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100130L-BL X800GTO² 256MB ($149.00 after $20.00 MIR). Known to be unlockable to a 16pipe card, this card offers exceptional value after unlocking. If you plan on running the card in it's stock condition, I would advice purchasing either of the previously reccomended cards [PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100105SR-BL Radeon X800XL 256MB ($169.00). This is the cheapest 16pipe card to make it on this list: with similar clocks to the X800GTO, the extra four shader pipelines will allow this card to pull ahead of the former [PCIE][nVidia] eVGA 256-P2-N389-AX GeForce 6800GS CO SE 256MB ($154.00 after $15.00 MIR). Featuring a copper based cooler, the best warranty in the industry and out-of-the-box overclocked components, this 12-pipe card will handedly compete with all other 12-pipe cards and even some 16-pipe cards [PCIE][ATi] HIS Hightech HX80XLQ256-3TOEN Radeon X800XL IceQ II 256MB ($169.00 after $20.00 MIR) Featuring an aftermarket cooler which also doubles as a rear exhaust fan, this card is profiled to be overclocked: based on a proven 16-pipe card, it's a very solid buy [PCIE][ATi] Sapphire 100106-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB ($189.00), HIS Hightech HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Radeon X850XT 256MB ($197.00 after $50.00 MIR) . For it's generation, this was easily the best card on the market (granted there was the Platinum Edition but that card is, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent). The HIS model features an exhaust-type aftermarket cooler: more then suitable for overclocking this already extremely impressive card [AGP][nVidia] PNY VCG6800SAWB GeForce 6800GS 256MB ($189.00 after $40.00 MIR) Although significantly more expensive than it's PCI-Express brethen, this card offers a (relatively) good performance/price pair for users looking to buy an AGP solution [PCIE][nVidia] MSI NX7800GT-VT2D256E GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($264.00 after $30.00 MIR), eVGA 256-P2-N516 GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($265.00 after $20.00 MIR) This is the first card to be able to userp the performance and value of the X850XT. Of the two, the eVGA model features a superior warranty as well as a higher clock [AGP][ATi] ATI All-In-Wonder X800XT 100-714200 Radeon X800XT 256MB ($299.00) For this graphical performance for it's price, I would personally consider biting the bullet and shifting to a PCI-Express solution however this card offers VIVO and TV capabilities: all on an AGP solution. [AGP][nVidia] eVGA 256-A8-N507 GeForce 7800GS 256MB ($299.00), XFX PVT70KUAD7 GeForce 7800GS 256MB ($309.00), eVGA 256-A8-N506-AX GeForce 7800GS CO 256MB ($309.00), eVGA 256-A8-N508-AX GeForce 7800GS CO Superclock 256MB ($319.00). This is about as good as the AGP products get: these 7800GS cards are all excessively overclocked from the reference clock speed with the last two featuring copper based heatsinks for even better heat dissipitation (and thus potentially even more overclocking). If you're not interested in the additional video features offered by the X800XT AIW, these cards are the ones to get if you want to make the most of your AGP machine *Praetor's Picks - Category C* [PCIE][nVidia] Definitely not a hard choice here, the eVGA 256-P2-N516 GeForce 7800GT 256MB ($265.00 after $20.00 MIR) easily garnishes the pick due to it's extreme performance/price value. Being protected by the best warranty in the industry helps too! Make eVGA Model Name/# 256-P2-N516 Interface PCI-Express GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GT GPU Clock 460MHz Memory 256MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 550MHz (DDR1100) Memory Interface 256bit (35.2GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 20x7 Cooling Copper HSF Shader Models 3.0 [b]Connectivity [/BDVI+DVI+SVideo Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...6-AX&family=22 [AGP][nVidia] A slightly closer and more difficult pick here, I ended up picking the eVGA 256-A8-N508-AX GeForce 7800GS CO Superclock 256MB ($319.00) since, if you're going to put the ballpark $300 into an effectively obsolete platform, you might as well maximize the performance if possible. Having the copper heatsink and best industry warranty is a big plus for users who really want to maximize the performance through overclocking Make eVGA Model Name/# 256-A8-N508-AX Interface PCI-Express GPU nVidia GeForce 7800GT GPU Clock 460MHz Memory 256MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 675MHz (DDR1350) Memory Interface 256bit (43.2GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 20x7 Cooling Copper HSF Shader Models 3.0 Connectivity DVI+DVI+SVideo Product Link http://www.evga.com/products/moreinf...256-A8-N508-AX [PCIE][ATi] A close call between both of the X850XTs, I ended up picking the HIS Hightech HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Radeon X850XT 256MB ($197.00 after $50.00 MIR) due to the inclusion of the exhaust aftermarket cooler. Either X850XT would have been more than satisfactory as the GPU is tried and true however the aftermarket cooler on the HIS unit definitively adds to it's value by increasing it's potential overclockability Make HIS Model Name/# HX85XTTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Interface PCI-Express GPU ATi Radeon X850XT GPU Clock 520MHz Memory 256MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 540MHz (DDR1080) Memory Interface 256bit (34.6GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 16x6 Cooling Exhaust type HSF Shader Models 2.x Connectivity VGA+DVI+SVideo Product Link http://www.hisdigital.com/html/produ...d=176&view=yes [AGP][ATi] Since there really only was a single AGP card for this category, the selection here was pretty simple. Featuring an "older" X800XT, this card's saving grace is the significantly improved functionality by means of the All-in-Wonder components Make ATi Model Name/# All-in-Wonder X800XT Interface AGP 4x/8x GPU ATi Radeon X800XT GPU Clock 500MHz Memory 256MB GDDR3 Memory Clock 500MHz (DDR1000) Memory Interface 256bit (32.0GB/s bandwidth) Pipelines 16x6 Cooling Stock HSF Shader Models 2.x Connectivity VGA+DVI+VIVO+TV Product Link http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx8...0xt/index.html __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI