Help with my Video Card Choice

[Animeguy]

The ones I have in line are

SAPPHIRE 100199L Radeon X1950GT 256MB - $95 + $6 Ship = $101 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102034&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL090707-_-VideoCards&VideoDevices-_-E1M-_-14102034&CMP=EMC-IGNEFL090707&ATT=N82E16814102034)

SAPPHIRE 100200L Radeon X1950GT 512MB - $120 + $6ship = $126 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102094&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL090707-_-VideoCards&VideoDevices-_-E2R-_-14102094&CMP=EMC-IGNEFL090707&ATT=N82E16814102094)

HIS Hightech H260PRQT512DDN-R Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB - $135 - $30 (MIR) + Free ship = $104 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161098)

SAPPHIRE 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB - $137 + $6ship = $143 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061)

HIS Hightech H195PRQT256DDN-R-V2 Radeon X1950PRO 256MB - $170 - $40 (MIR) + $7ship = $137 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161092)

All the cards are PCI-E.

The top two are from Neweggs Newsletter which I tink is the only ones that are on sale. If there better choices please post. I looking to spend about $150. I really want something for video and some gaming. Games like CS, Fear and maybe WOW or other MMORPG.

[darthbudge]

I would either get the Sapphire X1950GT 512MB version or the HIS 2600PRO if you are interested in DX10.

[Animeguy]

Any Reason to get the 512 over 256 ?

[Oktoberfest]

I think basically higher VRAM means you can play at higher resolutions with higher framerates... if you're playing at relatively lower resolution (1280x1024 or something), going 512MB instead of 256MB won't make a difference.

I'm pretty sure the x1950's offer better performance than the 2600PRO, but it has DirectX10, so it's up to you to make that decision...

[InuFaye]

get a 8800 gts 320 mb. Everything else is a waste of money now.

[Animeguy]

Even with the news of the 10.1 Cards ? Also 200$+ is not something i really want to spend as I don't need that great of a card. Cheapest I find for the card is about 250$ shipped aka A Wii

[SOSTrooper]

I would also consider a nVidia 7900GS (http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4970851?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG). The performance of this card falls between 1950GT and 1950PRO. For $100 AR it isn't a bad deal either. You don't need 512MB, it's not like any of these cards will run games at high resolution anyway.

But if you have to pick one out of your list, I'd go for the cheapest one, 1950GT 256MB.

[Achilles]

Any Reason to get the 512 over 256 ?

like oktober said, if u have a "regular" monitor there will be no difference... btw, vram will not increase framerate... and since higher resolutions actually take longer to draw, your framerate effectively decreases.

oh, and HDCP if you're into that

[ofacto]

get a 8800 gts 320 mb. Everything else is a waste of money now.

He/she said they were only looking to spend less than $150. Last time I checked 8800 GTS were around $275-300. Also judging from the from the list of games he/she wants to play, any of the cards listed would be more than fine, so I would go with the cheapest one the 1950 GT with 256MB.

[speedshutters]

I'd go with either of the x1950pro's.
The HD2600 just sucks in terms of pure performance compared to the x1950pro.
Unless you really want dx10. But looking at the games you want to play, there's no reason for dx10.
So I suggest going with the x1950pro.