Price Guide, January 2006: Video Cards
by Haider Farhan on January 9, 2006 1:49 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Mid-Range Graphics
Here is where AGP users will find their best card for the best possible price: the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO 256MB [RTPE: 100131] on sale for $220. While this card has gone up about $20, it's still a decent deal.
One of the last cards in its category available, the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 256MB [RTPE: 100130SR] is going for $206. For something a bit cheaper while still being a decent performer, the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO 256MB [RTPE: 100129] would be a great choice at about $45 cheaper than the GTO2 mentioned above, for a cost of $160.
Competing with the above cards is the 6800 GS series. Going for $194, the eVGA GeForce 6800GS 256MB [RTPE: 256-P2-N386] is an excellent deal. Thankfully, the 6800 GS cards have come down considerably in cost. In our last video card price guide, we mentioned that many of the 6800 GS cards had shot up to about $300, taking them right up to the 7800GT pricing league. At the moment though, these are priced very fairly for their performance standpoint.
Update: The AGP version of the 6800GS has recently dropped into the market. Our RTPE is currently only listing one card from two vendors, but as the channel strength increases, and the more vendors have it in stock, we'll be able to bring you more information. At the moment, we are seeing the eVGA GeForce 6800GS 256MB [RTPE: 256-A8-N387] going for $235.
The GeForce 6600GT's are doing fairly well. For you looking for an AGP card, your best bet this week would be to go with the eVGA GeForce 6600GT 128MB [RTPE: 128-A8-N350] going for $140. Coming in close behind is the Chaintech GeForce 6600GT 128MB [RTPE: SA6600G-128] for $147 and the XFX GeForce 6600GT 128MB [RTPE: PV-T43A-ND] for an even $146.
PCIe users are looking at about the same prices as AGP users are, although a bit cheaper, the cheapest 6600GT (PCIe) this week is the XFX GeForce 6600GT 128MB [RTPE: PV-T43G-ND] going for $130. Close behind is the Chaintech GeForce 6600GT 128MB [RTPE: SE6600G-128] on sale for $137. You can find a few others going for about $140 from manufacturers like Albatron, eVGA, Gigabyte, LeadTek and PNY.
The X700 cards are fairly decent performers, although the 6600GT's generally perform slightly better. We recommend going with a 6600GT rather than an X700, but if the price is right, an X700 should be ok. For just under $100, the Sapphire Radeon X700 128MB [RTPE: 100121SR] is quite difficult to beat.
As long as you can get an X800 GTO/GTO2 for about $200, these X1600 cards are not what we would suggest going with. Especially because of the performance we saw from them, they're not too appealing compared to the competition.
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jcsamp - Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - link
I don't know if it is a price/performance ratio or what, but these video card price guides continually leave out the low-mid range cards. For instance, I would love to know what the AT community thinks of the Geforce 6600 DDR2 and its price. The guides always skip from 6600GT/X700/X1600 straight down to the 6200/X300/X1300 lines. There are a lot of good cards in that missing region.Chriz - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Didn't even see it shown in the price guide. Maybe cause it's so new?rrcn - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Yes, I have already contacted the RTPE administrator and we are working on getting the AGP version of the 6800GS in there.Thanks.
Chriz - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Good news. I also still see the ATI radeon X850XT and PE versions in AGP are still being sold. I saw the PE on Newegg, and the XT is the hot deal everyone's been talking about, for 200 at Microcenter after 50 dollar MIRyacoub - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
So for $27 you gain an additional 256MB AND it performs better than the more expensive 512MB 7800GTX anyway? Hmmmm.
JarredWalton - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
I've tweaked this slightly to convey the intended meaning. X1800 XT cards for under $500 are faster than 7800 GTX 256MB cards overall, and while slower than the 7800 GTX 512MB cards, they're at least available. From what we heard at CES, it doesn't sound like 512MB GTX cards are going to be any easier to acquire in the near future, outside of some OEM systems.yacoub - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Okay, care to tell us WHY?
rrcn - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
Sorry about that, it should read, "By the way, purchasing a single high-end card and hoping to purchase another one for an SLI setup down along the line is a bad idea. We suggest either going with a single higher performing card or two cards for SLI right off the bat."The problem here is you will be stuck with a single card and the option to upgrade to SLI at a premium won't be worth it.
Like the case where probably a decent number of people out there that bought the 6800 Ultra for a lot of money, with the intent of purchasing a second one when the price dropped below $300. Take a look at the 6800U prices now...no where near $300.
Of course there will be the occasional situation like the 6800GT where the prices did drop to a reasonable level, but it isn't something we would count on happening all the time.
Spacecomber - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
I'm curious about the 6800XT in terms of its relative price and performance. It is selling for a bit more than the 6600GT and a bit less than the 6800 (vanilla), but I'm not sure if it atually is any faster than the 6600GT. I think that this was meant to be an OEM only card, but it is showing up at place like NewEgg, now.Space
Ecmaster76 - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
I got my x1600xt for $160 a couple of weeks ago. Not bad considering the 6600gt at the same price is slower and less feature rich.