SlyOne77

If I was building on a budget right now of less than $100 (about what you said) I'd get a 4830 like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814121289R
or the one linked by dralb...

The 4830 is fantastic - especially for $90!

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linskingdom

This should give you some numbers. The old 9600gso = 8800gs. The one in my link is new 9600GSO G94, it should be better than 8800gs.

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Tainok

I just set up a 2.7GHZ AMD Dual Core (5000+) with a 9600GSO for a friend. (Very budget - 4GB 800 RAM, 250GB HD, mid-range OCZ PSU)

It can play everything I have except GTA4. Even Fallout 3 on Medium settings, and FarCry 2 on Medium settings. This is on a 19" 1440x900 LCD.

Not sure how much of a boost you'll get with a 9800GT, but if it's anything like an 8800GS vs 8800GT, it's a noticeable difference.

linskingdom

Agreed. If he has budget, should go for 9800GT, 4830 or 4850.

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rasa123

I found this card for around $100 which I think is a candidate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150323
And it's a lot better than that 8800gts 320 I was looking at for around $20 more.

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Tainok

If you can wait for an MIR, then yes, that's a great choice.

Also comes with a free Far Cry 2. Not as terrible as most people claim... I enjoyed it for a little while.

BlackOmega

My 9600gso's are very good cards for the money. Mine have a lot of RAM (768mb)and its GDDR3. And they overclock like crazy too. I can get a 30% OC is SLI and quite a bit higher in single card cinfig.
So far, they have been great. There isnt a game that I have that is unplayable or has poor frame rates, that includes crysis. In crysis with everything at high @ 1680x1050 I average 25.21 FPS. Defintely VERY good for how cheap the card was. I dont think that I have a game that I cant run @ 16:10 with everything maxed (or as high as the card will allow). In CSS with every thing on max and 16xAA/AF I get an average of 130FPS+, same with TF2. Even Oblivion with everything maxed runs REALLY well 50fps+.
And BTW, the NEW GSO's are WORSE than the older ones. Not to mention they have half the stream processors and have lower bit interface, 128bit as opposed to 192.

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rasa123

So it would be worth getting a 192-bit card with gddr2 and 96 stream processors over a 256-bit card with gddr3 and 48 stream processors, right? From what I can tell, the stream processors have more to do with performance than bandwidth and the speed of the memory.

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sgdude

4830. $100 shipped, $90 after rebate. the only card to get in that price range im getting 1 for my bro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102803

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slickwilly

This card would serve you well and with a better power supply you could run two in SLI later on if you wanted to.
P.S. hang on to your 8600 it will make a good Physx card.

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