Ok so i’m putting together a budget system since mine has been nothing but problems lately… all i have left to get is the video card. i’m not a huge gamer or anything, but thats not to say i won’t use it for any games either… so i need a “casual gamer” card lol ~$100 would be nice, and it must be pci/pcie. i was looking at this one on new egg, any thoughts? or anything else i should be considering?
not bad :tup: good for a casual gaming card IMO and good price.
FYI, I have a PCI-e card I’m looking to get rid of in you’re interested. It’s an ATi x1950 pro
http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41957&highlight=x1950
sigh This thread is about to start a nerd war…
No, dont buy the 8600, its numbers are crap, the only marketable advantage it has is DX10. Its not that it is a bad card per-se, but the numbers do not support its price. If the performance of this card is all you are looking for, buy an ATI x1650 for $60.
If you want an actual performance card for ~$100 look for an ATI x1950 or better (but remember this wont have DX10). Nvidia’s cards take a large price jump from the 8600 series, so trying to get something better then it on the Geforce side is tough. But really the 8600 is not worth it, IMHO
Since everyone like pretty graphs and numbers:
Graphs
Review and Review
(BTW, recent games have been using the cpu more than previous games. This also may be a factor in your gaming experience)
while true, the real advantage of the 8600 is the HDCP compliant hardware and the nVidia PureVideo codec for a affordable price.
Like you said though… money could be spent better elsewhere, especially on DX9 hardware. But honestly for what it is, it’s not a waste of $$$ IMO. It’s certainly not an 8800 Ultra either though 
The main limiting factor is the 128bit bus :tdown:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2123&page=5
If you do want the x1950 though, lmk :tup:
I’ve got that card and it works pretty well. I’m going to be selling it by the end of the month though (it’s only 8 weeks old); because I need a Quadro card, and am getting one with my tax return. (Quadro FX4500 FTW)
but if after rebate its only gonna be 20 bones more, is it still a “bad deal”? like i said, i rarely use my computer for games, so i’m not too concerned about having the best out there, for the money this seems like a good fit?
zerodaze this goes for you too 
some reviews complain about fan noise, is it really that loud? or are people nitpicking lol
get the used 1950 on here cheap.
Define casual gaming… and if you’re running XP or Vista.
XP, sorry haha
and, by casual, i may buy the newest nhl game or somthing, but i’m not gonna be playing all the newest games on “max” settings
I reccomend…
ATI X1900 series card. $100 range
OR
Nvidia 7900 Series Card.
I just sold my 7950GT for $125.They can be hand on ebay for around $100 and they’re still a very solid card.
edit example…not a bad deal…
I can’t hear the fan, then again I have a massive CPU cooler with a 120mm fan in it; combined with dual 10K WD Raptor HDs; So over those, I don’t hear the Video Card Fan.
I guess I read “Casual gamer” differently than you intended. I thought it meant, “I like new games, and would like to play them”. If you’re only going to play maybe 1-2 games per year 8600 is fine. If you want to play some higher end FPS games with nice framerates, it’s waste of money.
The Dr. is correct on the HDCP, though personally I dont consider a budget box to include and HDMI monitor, an HD-DVD player, or a Blu-Ray drive. So the HDCP point is correct, but perhaps not a factor.
The DX10 is useful for aeroglass on Vista, but you’re running XP, which doesnt care about DX10.
right here bro, you will be happier with EVGA over xfx. Plus if you get like 100 more dollars or so after up to 3 months after you buy this card, you can use Evga’s step-up program.
Here is step up info
I have 2x this card running in SLI mode.
Works very well. I’m not 100% satisfied though. World in conflict lags a bit in high texture mode.
thanks for all the insight guys :tup: and yea , i guess i shoulda been more specific by “casual” gamer haha
I have an eVGA Nvidia 7950GT for sale in the classifieds… $125.
Faster than an 8600GT but lacks DX10 support… Of course DX10 support shouldn’t matter since if you want gaming performance, then you don’t run Vista anyway. DX10 really brings very little to the table for what you have to sacrifice in performance.
i’m still running a 6800gs agp8x and it runs doom 3, halo, COD, MOHAA, and UT2K4 on max settings w/ 50+fps(some AA and AS included)