[SOLVED] Video card advice wanted

[cogadh]

I am in the market for a new video card to replace my GeForce FX 5200 and I am looking to get the best gaming bang for my buck. I have a budget of $100 or less and it must be an Nvidia AGP card. I've done a little research and have found a few cards that fit these requirements and am looking for some opinions on the models I have found:

• e-GeForce 7600 GS 256MB
• MSI GeForce 7600 GS 256MB (is it really any different than the e-GeForce?)
• ZOGIS GeForce 6800XT 256MB
• XFX GeForce 6200 256MB
• e-GeForce 6200 256MB (is it really any different than the XFX one?)
  

If anyone has any other recommendations beyond these, that would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[hikaricore]

As far as the 6200/7600's go. Read the specs on them, paying close attention to the clock and ram speed.
Some of these cards are stock overclocked making them more prone to failure, and less stable to software overclock.

Personally I've only used the 6200 series, and I'd have to guess 7600 would be your best bet since the 6200 is a bit dated and you may not notice much difference from your current hardware.

[Hobo Joe]

Like hikaricore said, look closely at the specs.

If you don't really understand it, put links of to all of them, and we'll help you.

[hikaricore]

Hobo: your avatar scares me lol

[Snipersnest]

For me I have loved every MSI card I've bought.. Its been the other way for eVGA cards.. eVGA cards die on me, overheat, come DoA everytime for me. But other people swear by them.

Best thing you can do is look of the specs, find "user" reviews, and then once you think you've found your match google for problems with that card.

It saved me a fortune last time I bought cards. Honestly cards are like cars one year somebody puts out a lemon but yet the next year its smokin'..

[cogadh]

I have compared the specs on the cards already, I just wanted to get some opinions from Ubuntu people who have actually used these cards (what can I say, your opinions matter to me). Like Snipernest said, "one year somebody puts out a lemon but yet the next year its smokin'.." I'd like to avoid just going for the card with the best specs, in case that card turns out to be a lemon.

[Sockerdrickan]

Most bang for the buck would actually be GeForce 8500 and overclock (You can a lot!)

[buttons]

Most bang for the buck would actually be GeForce 8500 and overclock (You can a lot!)

At the moment, nvidia's linux support of the 8 series cards is rather poor. In addition to not utilising their power, they don't even support motion compensation. I believe nouveau might soon, though.

I haven't used any of those cards, but the 7600GT has long been said to be the best bang for the buck. In my experience, below a certain price point the performance tails off exponentially. You might be better off waiting until you can swing the 7600, honestly.

YMMV

[Sockerdrickan]

My 8800 works well with DOOM 3 Quake 4 etc though my CPU is bottlenecking, I recommend 8500! Cheap, modern and nice to use!

[cogadh]

I appreciate the recommendation, but I did say in the original post that I have a maximum budget of $100. If you can find the 8500 for under $100, please point me towards the store/website that sells it for that much. So far, the best I can find is the 7600 for $129.99 with a $30.00 rebate and free shipping.

EDIT - Does the 8500 even come in an AGP version? I thought that series was all PCI-Express only.